Frederic Wyndham Freke Hewitt threw himself into his privileged world on 8 September 1901, giving his extremely difficult mother a terrible time (something she declared to be the case until the day she died).

At Eton during WW1, Wyn knew how to behave but was generally tempted not to. Tinkering with problems and finding ways to make things work; that was his bag. Learning to drive aged eight and owning 66 cars and bikes in his lifetime was absolutely his thing. Defying death and opening up the skies with the infamous pilot ‘Smithy’ as they crossed continents in a wooden box with no radio and a school atlas for navigation; that’s what it was all about. Getting married time and time again, filling any gaps with one young mistress after another; now we’re talking.

Wyn’s rather enviable selfish streak, oodles of charm and no regrets drove him to pursue anything he cared to over 94 years of phenomenal societal change, two world wars, global flux and industrial evolution. As a pioneering engineer, he was there on the frontline in a fast car with something quite delicious on his arm, making money and pushing boundaries. These are his doings as he and those in the know remember them.