James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater

James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater, GCB, PC, JP, DL (1 April 1855 – 27 March 1949), was a British Conservative politician. He was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1905 and 1921. He was the longest-serving Speaker of the 20th century.

The Right Honourable The Viscount Ullswater GCB PC JP DL
Portrait by Philip de László, c. 1905
Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
In office 8 June 1905 – 28 April 1921
Monarchs	Edward VII George V
Prime Minister	Arthur Balfour Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith David Lloyd George
Preceded by	Sir William Gully
Succeeded by	J. H. Whitley
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Chairman of Ways and Means
In office 1895 – June 1905
Monarchs	Victoria Edward VII
Preceded by	John William Mellor
Succeeded by	Sir John Lawson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 22 September 1891 – 18 August 1892
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	Sir James Fergusson
Succeeded by	Sir Edward Grey
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 8 July 1921 – 27 March 1949 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	Peerage created
Succeeded by	The 2nd Viscount Ullswater
Member of Parliament for Penrith and Cockermouth
In office 14 December 1918 – 13 May 1921
Preceded by	constituency established
Succeeded by	Cecil Lowther
Member of Parliament for Penrith
In office 27 July 1886 – 14 December 1918
Preceded by	Henry Howard
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Member of Parliament for Rutland
In office 1 September 1883 – 18 December 1885
Preceded by	Gerard Noel
Succeeded by	George Finch
Personal details
Born	1 April 1855 (1855-04)
Died	27 March 1949(1949-03-27) (aged 93)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Mary Beresford-Hope (d. 1944)
Alma mater	King's College London Trinity College, Cambridge

Background and education

The son of Hon. William Lowther, a grandson of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, and for 25 years Member of Parliament for Westmorland, and Alice, 3rd daughter of James Parke, 1st Baron Wensleydale, Lowther was educated at Eton College, King's College London where he took an Associateship degree, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied classics and law. Lowther became a barrister in 1879, eventually becoming a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1906.

Political career

He was Member of Parliament for Rutland in 1883; contested Mid Cumberland in 1885; and sat for Penrith from 1886 to 1921. He was appointed 4th Charity Commissioner in 1887, and held junior ministerial office as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1891 to 1892. He was Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker from 1895 to 1905 and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1905 to 1921.

There are three golden rules for Parliamentary speakers: Stand up. Speak up. Shut up.

— J. W. Lowther, 1917

Other public appointments

Lowther caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1906

Lowther represented Great Britain at the International Conference at Venice in 1892, and at the International Conference on Emigration at Rome in 1924. He was Chairman of the Speakers' Electoral Reform Conference in 1916–1917, of the Buckingham Palace Conference (on the partition of Ulster) in 1914, of the Boundary Commissions (Great Britain and Ireland) in 1917, of the Royal Commission on Proportional Representation in 1918, Devolution Conference in 1919, of the Royal Commission on London Government, 1921–1922; of Review Committee Political Honours, 1923–1924, and Statutory Commission on Cambridge University, 1923; of the Agricultural Wages Board from 1930 to 1940; of the Lords and Commons Committee on Electoral Reform, 1929–1930; and of BBC Enquiry Committee, 1935. He was a Trustee of the British Museum from 1922 to 1931 and a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery from 1925. In 1907 his portrait was painted by Philip de László.

Honours

He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1898, created 1st Viscount Ullswater, of Campsea Ashe, in the County of Suffolk, on his retirement as Speaker in 1921, and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in July 1921. He also held the degrees of DCL from the University of Oxford, LL.D from the University of Cambridge and DCL from the University of Leeds.

Arms

Coat of arms of James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater

Crest A dragon passant Argent. Escutcheon Or six annulets three two and one and in chief a crescent for difference all Sable. Supporters On either side a horse Argent gorged with a wreath of laurel Vert and charged on the shoulder with a portcullis chained Or. Motto Magistratum Indicat Virum (The Office Shows The Man)

Family

On 1 March 1886, Lowther married Mary Frances Beresford-Hope (d. 16 May 1944). They had three children:

• Major Christopher William Lowther (b. 18 January 1887, d. 7 January 1935), the father of Lt. John Arthur Lowther and grandfather of Nicholas Lowther, the 2nd Viscount Ullswater.
• Arthur James Beresford Lowther (b. 28 October 1888, d. 2 March 1967)
• Mildred Lowther (b. 1890, d. 2 July 1973)

He was succeeded to the viscountcy by his great-grandson .

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by James Lowther
• Portraits of James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Campsea Ashe garden
• Electoral Reform Conference, 1917
• Proportional Representation Conference, 1918
• Devolution Conference, 1919