Harry Hyams

Harry John Hyams (2 January 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a British millionaire who initially made his money as a speculative property developer.

[2] Hyams made much of his fortune developing office space in London at a time in the 1960s and 1970s when rents there were rising significantly.

It was also used by him as justification for keeping his 33-storey Centre Point development empty for years after its completion: he claimed he could find no tenant willing to lease all 202,000 sq ft (18,800 m2) of space.

[7] In 1965 Hyams bought Ramsbury Manor, near Marlborough, Wiltshire, and surrounding land for £650,000 – said at the time to be the highest price paid for a private house in England.

[8] In his will, Hyams gave the house and his collections of fine art[9] and cars to the nation via his Capricorn Foundation, in a bequest reported to be worth £450m.