John Stonehouse had three children with his wife, Sheila Buckley, and one with a lover. John Thomson Stonehouse (1925–1988) was a Labour and Co-operative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a minister and was a member of Harold Wilson’s cabinet.
John is most known for his failed effort to fake his death in 1974.
Over 20 years after his death, it was revealed that John had been a military intelligence agent for the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
Where Have John Stonehouse’s Children and Wife Sheila Buckley Gone?
In 1948, John Stonehouse married Barbara Joan Smith.
The couple had three children: daughters Jane and Julia, as well as a son Mathew.
Things did not work out, and the couple split in 1978 after three decades of marriage.
On January 31, 1981, John married his mistress, Sheila Elizabeth Buckley, in Hampshire.
He and Sheila had a son named James William John in December 1982.
John is well known for his failed attempt to fake his death in 1974 when he left a pile of garments in Miami Beach to pretend to have drowned or been eaten by a shark.
He was presumed dead, and obituaries were written despite the fact that nobody had been discovered.
He was actually on his way to Australia, expecting to begin a new life with his mistress and secretary, Sheila Buckley.
Julia Stonehouse, John’s daughter, wrote a biography of her father, My Father: The True Story of the Runaway MP, in 2021.
Stonehouse: Cabinet Minister, Fraudster, Spy, a book by criminal defense solicitor Julian Hayes, John’s great nephew through his father, Michael Hayes, was released almost simultaneously.
Julia has her own website where she doubts the veracity of books and broadcasts about her father.
John Stonehouse’s Family History In Depth
On July 28, 1925, John Thomson Stonehouse was born in Southampton, England, United Kingdom.
William Mitchell Stonehouse and Rosina Marie (née Taylor) raised John as their second son and youngest child.
William, his father, was a Post Office engineer who eventually became a dockyard engine fitter.
He was also the trade union’s local secretary.
Rosina, his mother, was also a former scullery maid. She was also involved in politics, serving as the sixth female mayor of Southampton and as a councilor on the Southampton City Council from 1936 to 1970.
After the war, John attended Taunton’s School (now Richard Taunton Sixth Form College) and the London School of Economics (LSE), where he earned a BSc(Econ.).
He was the chairman of the Labour Society and the Chess Club at LSE.
At the age of 16, John joined the Labour Party.
Before Death Net Worth of John Stonehouse
There is no information available online about John Stonehouse’s net worth.
The information is no longer available because he died almost three decades ago.
On March 25, 1988, while filming a program about missing people for Central Weekend, John fell on set.
People at the studio provided him with emergency medical care and summoned an ambulance.
John was diagnosed with a small heart attack and admitted to the city’s general hospital for observation.
On April 14, around three weeks later, John suffered a major heart attack at his house in Totton, Hampshire.
The former MP could not be saved this time, and he died in the hospital at 2:30 a.m.
On April 22, 1988, John was cremated in Bassett Green, Southampton. Bruce Douglas-Mann, another former MP, also paid tribute.
In 1989, his fourth novel was released posthumously.
According to his testament, dated August 17, 1988, John left less than £70,000.
