Marcus Binney

Marcus Hugh Crofton Binney ( Marcus Hugh Crofton Simms; 21 September 1944) is a British architectural historian and author. He is best known for his conservation work regarding Britain's heritage. Early and family life Binney is the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Crofton Simms MC and his wife, Sonia (née Beresford Whyte). His father was in the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) in the Second World War. He was captured in Libya in January 1942 prior to being held as a prisoner of war in Italy and escaped from a lorry in transit in Northern italy and stayed free until he was able to cross the Allied lines in Southern Italy. His mother worked in code-breaking. Following his father's death and his mother's remarriage to Sir George Binney (DSO) in 1955, Marcus took his stepfather's surname. Binney was educated at Eton College and read history of art at the University of Cambridge. The architect Walter Ison was a family friend, who encouraged the young Binney to study Sir Robert Taylor for his PhD. Personal life Binney married the Honourable Sara Anne Vanneck, daughter of Gerald Charles Arcedeckne Vanneck, 6th Baron Huntingfield, on 23 August 1966. They were divorced in 1976. She died in 1979. Binney remarried, to Anne Hills. Binney has two children.