Cecil Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth
Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth LLD (23 September 1869 – 13 August 1948), was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1915 and as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1919 and 1922.
The Lord Harmsworth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
| In office 4 February 1915 – 25 May 1915 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | Ellis Ellis-Griffith |
| Succeeded by | William Brace |
| Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 10 January 1919 – 19 October 1922 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | Lord Robert Cecil |
| Succeeded by | Ronald McNeill |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 September 1869 St John's Wood, London |
| Died | 13 August 1948 (aged 78) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Emilie Maffett (1873–1942) |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
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| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
Background
editHarmsworth was born at Alexandra Terrace, St John's Wood, London, the third son of Alfred Harmsworth and Geraldine Mary, daughter of William Maffett. He was the younger brother of newspaper proprietors Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, and Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, and the elder brother of Sir Leicester Harmsworth, 1st Baronet, and Sir Hildebrand Harmsworth, 1st Baronet. He also had four other younger brothers and four sisters. He was educated at St Marylebone Grammar School and Trinity College Dublin.[1]
Career
editHarmsworth was the Liberal candidate in the 1901 by-election for the North East Lanarkshire constituency, but lost to the Liberal Unionist candidate.[2] He was elected to the House of Commons for Droitwich in 1906, a seat he held until he was defeated at the January 1910 general election.[1][3] He re-entered the House of Commons as the representative for Luton in a 1911 by-election,[4] and continued to sit for the constituency until 1922.[1][5] He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Walter Runciman between 1911 and 1915 and then briefly held office under H. H. Asquith as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department between February and May 1915.[1] However, he did not serve in the coalition government formed by Asquith in May 1915.
After David Lloyd George became Prime Minister in December 1916, Harmsworth was a member of the Prime Minister's Secretariat between 1917 and 1919 and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1919 and 1922 in Lloyd George's coalition government. He also served briefly as Acting Minister of Blockade in 1919.[1] In 1939 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Harmsworth, of Egham in the County of Surrey.[6] He became a regular contributor in the House of Lords, making his last speech in June 1945.[7]
Apart from his political career Harmsworth was a director of Amalgamated Press and chairman of Associated Newspapers, founded by his brother Lord Northcliffe. He published Pleasure and Problem in South Africa (1908), Immortals at First Hand (1933) and A Little Fishing Book (1942).[1]
Harmsworth purchased Dr Johnson's House and restored it into a museum open to the public. He also was an active member of the Sylvan Debating Club, which was founded by his father, and served as its treasurer.
His diaries include social meetings with influential people including suffragists like Agnes Harben and her husband.[8]
Family
editLord Harmsworth married his cousin Emilie Alberta, daughter of William Hamilton Maffett, in 1897. His wife was born in 1873 and died in 1942. Lord Harmsworth survived her by six years and died in August 1948, aged 78. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest surviving son, Cecil.[1]
Arms
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References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g thepeerage.com Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth
- ^ "Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36571. London. 27 September 1901.
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Dover to Dulwich and West Norwood". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "No. 28516". The London Gazette. 25 July 1911. p. 5548.
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: London University to Lymington". Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "No. 34596". The London Gazette. 7 February 1939. p. 856.
- ^ Hansard Mr cecil Harmsworth
- ^ Harmsworth, Cecil; Thorpe, Andrew; Toye, Richard. Parliament and politics in the age of Asquith and Lloyd George: the diaries of Cecil Harmsworth, MP, 1909-1922. Vol. 50. Cambridge: Royal Historical Society (Great Britain). p. 109. ISBN 978-1-107-16245-7. OCLC 951557582.
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1959.
External links
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