Brian Burnie sits outside Doxford Hall. Photo: Derek Blair
By Emma Cook
There can't be many multi-millionaires around who are as eager to cast their wealth aside as 64-year-old Brian Burnie. Nor any at all, that spring to mind, who wish to flog their country pile worth millions, along with the acres of antiques and finery that furnish it, so they can give it all to charity and live frugally in a modest two-bedroom flat instead.
When Burnie announced his intentions earlier this month, the story instantly became national news, surely because his extreme generosity seemed such a rarity; a relic from another, more selfless, era. Here was a man who was privileged and rich but passionately wanted to give everything away to the public, not bamboozle more out of us. What a striking contrast amid the daily revelations of greedy MPs and their bogus expenses.
"It would be amazing to know how much money in total they've all claimed, and what you could have done with it," reflects Burnie. "Possibly I could have built a hospice with that sum. But I don't judge, we're all different."
Burnie is, evidently, rather more different than most. I meet him on a glorious, bright afternoon in Alnmouth, Northumberland, home to his estate, Doxford Hall.
"Welcome to God's own land," he says in a warm Geordie accent, leaning on a battered old Ford hatchback in the train car park. He is smart-casual in a checked shirt and flannel trousers but certainly doesn't look the country squire. So has he left the Range Rover at home today?
"No, that's not me. I couldn't be less interested in motors," he tells me as we rattle along country roads in his dusty Fiesta. "I've always lived a very, very ordinary life. My three kids went to local state schools. We've holidayed in bed and breakfasts. I've no interest in the Caribbean. If I had my way I'd never leave Northumberland again."
Not many people would, I'm sure, if they could live in the splendour of Doxford Hall, a classical 19th-century hall in landscaped gardens, complete with a luxury hotel, spa, swimming pool – and the largest yew tree maze in Britain. We drink tea in his palatial drawing room, where a sweep of floor-to-ceiling Georgian windows look out onto manicured lawns, and Burnie tells me why he can't wait to be rid of it all.
"I want to fund charitable work," he smiles. "It's for my own personal pleasure."
It’s this promise of euphoric satisfaction that drives him more than anything, although watching his wife Shirley, 60, suffer from breast cancer five years ago played a part. [rc]
Click to read more
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
Related report
Millionaire donates entire hotel profits to cancer charity
June 25, 2009
UK: 'I just can't wait to give all of this away'
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LONDON, England / The Telegraph / News / June 25, 2009
So impressed was businessman Brian Burnie with the treatment his wife received for cancer that he is selling his Georgian country pile and giving the proceeds to cancer charities, he tells Emma Cook.
Brian Burnie sits outside Doxford Hall. Photo: Derek Blair
By Emma Cook
There can't be many multi-millionaires around who are as eager to cast their wealth aside as 64-year-old Brian Burnie. Nor any at all, that spring to mind, who wish to flog their country pile worth millions, along with the acres of antiques and finery that furnish it, so they can give it all to charity and live frugally in a modest two-bedroom flat instead.
When Burnie announced his intentions earlier this month, the story instantly became national news, surely because his extreme generosity seemed such a rarity; a relic from another, more selfless, era. Here was a man who was privileged and rich but passionately wanted to give everything away to the public, not bamboozle more out of us. What a striking contrast amid the daily revelations of greedy MPs and their bogus expenses.
"It would be amazing to know how much money in total they've all claimed, and what you could have done with it," reflects Burnie. "Possibly I could have built a hospice with that sum. But I don't judge, we're all different."
Burnie is, evidently, rather more different than most. I meet him on a glorious, bright afternoon in Alnmouth, Northumberland, home to his estate, Doxford Hall.
"Welcome to God's own land," he says in a warm Geordie accent, leaning on a battered old Ford hatchback in the train car park. He is smart-casual in a checked shirt and flannel trousers but certainly doesn't look the country squire. So has he left the Range Rover at home today?
"No, that's not me. I couldn't be less interested in motors," he tells me as we rattle along country roads in his dusty Fiesta. "I've always lived a very, very ordinary life. My three kids went to local state schools. We've holidayed in bed and breakfasts. I've no interest in the Caribbean. If I had my way I'd never leave Northumberland again."
Not many people would, I'm sure, if they could live in the splendour of Doxford Hall, a classical 19th-century hall in landscaped gardens, complete with a luxury hotel, spa, swimming pool – and the largest yew tree maze in Britain. We drink tea in his palatial drawing room, where a sweep of floor-to-ceiling Georgian windows look out onto manicured lawns, and Burnie tells me why he can't wait to be rid of it all.
"I want to fund charitable work," he smiles. "It's for my own personal pleasure."
It’s this promise of euphoric satisfaction that drives him more than anything, although watching his wife Shirley, 60, suffer from breast cancer five years ago played a part. [rc]
Click to read more
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
Related report
Millionaire donates entire hotel profits to cancer charity
Brian Burnie sits outside Doxford Hall. Photo: Derek Blair
By Emma Cook
There can't be many multi-millionaires around who are as eager to cast their wealth aside as 64-year-old Brian Burnie. Nor any at all, that spring to mind, who wish to flog their country pile worth millions, along with the acres of antiques and finery that furnish it, so they can give it all to charity and live frugally in a modest two-bedroom flat instead.
When Burnie announced his intentions earlier this month, the story instantly became national news, surely because his extreme generosity seemed such a rarity; a relic from another, more selfless, era. Here was a man who was privileged and rich but passionately wanted to give everything away to the public, not bamboozle more out of us. What a striking contrast amid the daily revelations of greedy MPs and their bogus expenses.
"It would be amazing to know how much money in total they've all claimed, and what you could have done with it," reflects Burnie. "Possibly I could have built a hospice with that sum. But I don't judge, we're all different."
Burnie is, evidently, rather more different than most. I meet him on a glorious, bright afternoon in Alnmouth, Northumberland, home to his estate, Doxford Hall.
"Welcome to God's own land," he says in a warm Geordie accent, leaning on a battered old Ford hatchback in the train car park. He is smart-casual in a checked shirt and flannel trousers but certainly doesn't look the country squire. So has he left the Range Rover at home today?
"No, that's not me. I couldn't be less interested in motors," he tells me as we rattle along country roads in his dusty Fiesta. "I've always lived a very, very ordinary life. My three kids went to local state schools. We've holidayed in bed and breakfasts. I've no interest in the Caribbean. If I had my way I'd never leave Northumberland again."
Not many people would, I'm sure, if they could live in the splendour of Doxford Hall, a classical 19th-century hall in landscaped gardens, complete with a luxury hotel, spa, swimming pool – and the largest yew tree maze in Britain. We drink tea in his palatial drawing room, where a sweep of floor-to-ceiling Georgian windows look out onto manicured lawns, and Burnie tells me why he can't wait to be rid of it all.
"I want to fund charitable work," he smiles. "It's for my own personal pleasure."
It’s this promise of euphoric satisfaction that drives him more than anything, although watching his wife Shirley, 60, suffer from breast cancer five years ago played a part. [rc]
Click to read more
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
Related report
Millionaire donates entire hotel profits to cancer charity
