Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison
Noel Buxton | |
---|---|
Succeeded by | Sir John Gilmour |
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries | |
In office 4 June 1929 – 5 June 1930 | |
Monarch | George V |
Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald |
Preceded by | George Rous |
Succeeded by | Herbrand Sackville |
Minister without portfolio | |
In office 1 April 1921 – 14 July 1921 | |
Monarch | George V |
Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
Preceded by | Laming Worthington-Evans |
Succeeded by | Anthony Eden |
Minister of Health | |
In office 24 June 1919 – 1 April 1921 | |
Monarch | George V |
Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
Preceded by | office established Himself (as President of the Local Government Board) |
Succeeded by | Alfred Mond |
President of the Local Government Board | |
In office 10 January 1919 – 24 June 1919 | |
Monarch | George V |
Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
Preceded by | Auckland Geddes |
Succeeded by | office abolished Himself (as Minister of Health) |
Minister of Reconstruction | |
In office 17 July 1917 – 10 January 1919 | |
Monarch | George V |
Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
Preceded by | New office |
Succeeded by | Auckland Geddes |
Minister of Munitions | |
In office 10 December 1916 – 17 July 1917 | |
Monarch | George V |
Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
Preceded by | Edwin Montagu |
Succeeded by | Winston Churchill |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
In office 22 May 1937 – 11 December 1951 as a hereditary peer | |
Preceded by | Peerage created |
Succeeded by | The 2nd Viscount Addison |
Member of Parliament for Swindon | |
In office 25 October 1934 – 14 November 1935 | |
Preceded by | Reginald Mitchell Banks |
Succeeded by | Wavell Wakefield |
In office 30 May 1929 – 27 October 1931 | |
Preceded by | Reginald Mitchell Banks |
Succeeded by | Reginald Mitchell Banks |
Member of Parliament for Shoreditch Hoxton (1910–1918) | |
In office 10 January 1910 – 15 November 1922 | |
Preceded by | Claude Hay |
Succeeded by | Ernest Griffith Price |
Personal details | |
Born | 19 June 1869 Hogsthorpe, Lincolnshire |
Died | 11 December 1951 | (aged 82)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour (after 1922) Liberal (until 1922) |
Spouses | Isobel Gray
(m. 1902; died 1934)Beatrice Low (m. 1937) |
Alma mater | University of London |
Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison, .
He was a prominent anatomist and perhaps the most eminent doctor ever to enter the Commons.[2] He was a leader in issues of health, wartime munitions, housing and agriculture. Although not highly visible, he played a major role in the post war governments after both world wars. Addison worked hard to promote the National Insurance scheme in 1911. Lloyd George made him the first Minister of Health when the department was created in 1919, and Addison oversaw an expansion of council housing after the Great War with an increase in public funding to local authority housing schemes with the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919. He later joined the Labour Party.
Background and education
Addison was born in the rural parish of Hogsthorpe in Lincolnshire, the son of Robert Addison and Susan, daughter of Charles Fanthorpe.[3] His family had owned and run a farm for several generations and he maintained a strong interest in agriculture and rural matters throughout his life. He attended Trinity College, Harrogate, from the age of thirteen. He trained in medicine at Sheffield School of Medicine and St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. His education was expensive for his family, and he insisted on re-paying his parents once he had begun his career.[citation needed]
In 1892, Addison graduated from the University of London as a Bachelor of Medicine and Science with honours in forensic medicine. A year later he qualified as a Medical Doctor and two years after that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He combined private practice with academic research, and taught anatomy at Sheffield School of Medicine. In 1896 he became professor of anatomy at the newly formed University College of Sheffield, and edited the Quarterly Medical Journal from 1898 to 1901. In 1901, he moved to London again, teaching at Charing Cross Hospital. He published his research on anatomy and became Hunterian professor with the Royal College of Surgeons.[3]
Addison's principal contributions to anatomy were in his writings in three volumes of the Journal of Anatomy, 1899–1901, "On the topographical anatomy of the abdominal viscera in man". Subsequently, he contributed to the three-dimensional mapping of the abdomen, which was based on numerous bodily measurements, "some 10,000 measurements made on forty bodies". He linked his measurements to an imaginary plane of section, known as "Addison's transpyloric plane".[3]
Political career
1907–1914
Motivated by concern for the treatment of the poor, and that the effects of poverty on health could be fought only by governments, not by doctors, Addison entered politics. He was adopted as Liberal candidate for Hoxton, Shoreditch, in 1907, and was duly elected in the January 1910 general election.[4]
The
World War
Addison became
Addison introduced a degree of intervention in the free market known as "War Socialism" to prompt faster munitions production. Private enterprise in key sectors was brought under the control of government, which erected its own factories, and great care was taken to improve the welfare of the munitions workers, both male and female. Ammunition supply-lines dictated the tempo of the war, especially in the first year of fighting, so stability and productivity within this industry were of the utmost importance. The government subsidised housing estates, such as Vickerstown on Walney Island (now in Cumbria), with integral religious, social and recreational amenities, to enable pools of munitions workers and their families to move next to expanded armament factories. Raymond Unwin, an influential civil servant from this, time injected some of the late Victorian/utopian/Fabian philosophy of garden suburbs and ideals from the cheap cottages movement launched in 1905.[citation needed]
With hindsight, this may be seen as something of a prototype of the municipal housing that followed in the post-war period and the beginnings of town planning as an accepted concern of the state. Fellow idealists might well have regretted the design, layout and landscaping compromises inevitably struck in the pursuit of rapid construction to support homeland defence as an over-riding priority. Improved dimensions of kitchens, bathrooms and gardens for working-class houses might also be seen as a response to a more equal valuation of women as competent industrial workers and a political force.[citation needed]
The
Postwar planning
In July 1917, he became a Minister Without Portfolio with responsibility for analysing the problems that Britain would face after the war and preparing plans for reconstruction. He worked with Arthur Greenwood to develop programmes for sweeping social reforms. Perhaps Addison's greatest achievement was the establishment of a costing system which by the end of the war had saved an estimated £440 million.
Addison's Hoxton constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election, when he was elected for the new Shoreditch constituency.[7]
Although Lloyd George was increasingly influenced by the
1922–1937
Addison lost his seat in the 1922 general election. Since the end of the war, he had found himself increasingly detached from both warring factions of the Liberal Party. His belief in social reform and progressive policies brought him close to the socialism of the Labour Party, and he campaigned for Labour candidates at the 1923 general election.[citation needed]
During this time he returned to his family farm and published a number of books, including The Betrayal of the Slums, on the link between poor housing and poor health, and Practical Socialism. He stood unsuccessfully as Labour's candidate in the constituency of
Facing economic crisis in 1931, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Snowden, proposed swingeing cuts to public spending, particularly to unemployment benefit. Addison voted against these cuts in cabinet and went into Opposition when MacDonald formed a National Government with the Conservatives and Liberals. Addison lost his seat at the 1931 general election. In 1934 he regained his Swindon seat in a by-election, but lost it a second time at the 1935 general election.[10] During the Spanish Civil War he helped organise medical aid to Spain, as president of the Spanish Medical Aid Committee.[11]
1937–1951
In May 1937, Addison joined the Labour party's meagre caucus in the
As Leader of the House of Lords, Addison had the key responsibility of steering government legislation through the upper chamber. He formed a good relationship with the leader of the Conservative opposition in the Lords, the Marquess of Salisbury. Through general consultation, Addison developed new guidelines for peers, particularly with regard to declaration of interests. He was also Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in Attlee's first cabinet, directing the transformation of the Dominion Affairs Office into the Office of Commonwealth Relations and playing an instrumental role in Labour's early anti-imperialist policies and the strengthening of the British Commonwealth. In 1946, he became the first Labour politician to be made a Knight of the Garter. As his health began to deteriorate he withdrew from foreign affairs in 1947, subsequently holding a number of sinecure positions in combination with his leadership of the Lords, until Labour lost office in October 1951.[citation needed] As a result of Addison's success in steering legislation through the House of Lords, the Attlee ministry issued few major reforms to the institution beyond limiting its delaying power to one year during its time in power.[14]
Family
Lord Addison married firstly Isobel, daughter of Archibald Gray, in 1902. They had two daughters and three sons.[15] Isobel, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish businessman and shipping agent, supported her husband morally and financially when he embarked upon a career in politics. After her death in 1934 Addison married secondly Dorothy, daughter of Frederick Percy Low, in 1937. Lord Addison died in December 1951, aged 82, only two months after the end of his political career. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Christopher. Lady Addison died in September 1982.[16]
Selected publications
Addison wrote an important paper, "On the Topographical Anatomy of the Abdominal Viscera in Man, especially the Gastro-Intestinal Canal", that was published in four parts in the
- Part I. July 1899, Vol. 33 (Part 4), 565.5.
- Part II. July 1900, Vol. 34 (Part 4), 427–450.9.
- Part III. January 1901, Vol. 35 (Part 2), 166–204.11.
- Part IV. April 1901, Vol. 35 (Part 3), 277–304.9.
Commemoration
Addison cut the first sod for Bristol City Council's new Sea Mills estate on 4 June 1919. An oak tree was planted by city's lady mayoress as part of the same event, it survives and is known as the Addison Tree. Over 90 streets are named after Addison across Britain, all in areas of social housing.[17]
Arms
|
See also
References
- ^ Hannah Lowery (1999). "Catalogue of the papers of Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison (1869–1951)". Bodleian Library, Oxford University.
- ^ Roger Cooter, "The rise and decline of the medical member: Doctors and Parliament in Edwardian and Interwar Britain." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 78#1 (2004): 59-107.
- ^ a b c England, Royal College of Surgeons of. "Addison, Sir Christopher, Viscount Addison of Stallingborough - Biographical entry - Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Horncastle to Hythe". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "No. 29641". The London Gazette. 27 June 1916. p. 6333.
- ^ Addison, Christopher, "Politics from Within: 1911-1918", London: Jenkins, 1924, pgs. 267-276
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Shankill to Southampton". Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d Morgan, Kenneth & Jane (1980). Portrait of a progressive : the political career of Christopher, Viscount Addison. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 103, 104, 105.
- ^ Michael Kinnear, "The Fall of Lloyd George", Macmillan, 1973, p. 11.
- ^ a b "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Sudbury to Swindon South". Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Aid to Spain". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ "No. 34408". The London Gazette. 15 June 1937. p. 3856.
- ^ "No. 37166". The London Gazette. 6 July 1945. p. 3517.
- ISBN 978-0-333-56081-5.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30342. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Letters of Condolence to Dorothy, Viscountess Addison". Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
- ^ For instance, Addison Crescent in Oxford: '100 years of council housing in Oxford' (Oxford City Council, 30 November 2020)
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 1977.
Further reading
- Cooter, Roger. "The rise and decline of the medical member: Doctors and Parliament in Edwardian and Interwar Britain." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 78#1 (2004): 59–107.
- Honigsbaum, Frank. "Christopher Addison: a realist in pursuit of dreams." Clio medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 23 (1993): 229–246. reprinted in Dorothy Porter, and Roy Porter, eds. Doctors, Politics and Society: Historical Essays (1993) pp 229–46.
- Morgan, Kenneth O., and Jane Morgan. Portrait of a progressive: the political career of Christopher, Viscount Addison (Oxford University Press, 1980).
External links
- Internet Archive (Please sign up for access to reference and footnote details): Link
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Addison
- Materials relating to the life of Lord Addison
- Addison, Christopher, With the Abyssinians in Somaliland, London: Hodder, 1905
- Addison, Christopher, British Workshops and the War, London: Unwin, 1917
- Addison, Christopher, The Betrayal of the Slums, London; Jenkins, 1922
- Addison, Christopher, Politics From Within, 1911-1918, Vol. I, London: Jenkins, 1924
- Addison, Christopher, Politics From Within, 1911-1918, Vol. II , London: Jenkins, 1924
- Addison, Christopher, Problems of a Socialist Government, London: Gollancz, 1933
- Addison, Lord, A Policy for British Agriculture, London: Gollancz, 1939