Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead
Hereditary Peerage | |
---|---|
Preceded by | The 1st Earl of Birkenhead |
Succeeded by | The 3rd Earl of Birkenhead |
Personal details | |
Born | Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith 7 December 1907 |
Died | 10 June 1975 | (aged 67)
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse |
Sheila Berry (m. 1935) |
Children | |
Education | |
Writing career | |
Notable works | Rudyard Kipling (1978) |
Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (7 December 1907 – 10 June 1975) was a British biographer and Member of the House of Lords. He is best known for writing a biography of Rudyard Kipling that was suppressed by the Kipling family for many years, and which he never lived to see in print.
Biography
The son of F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, he was known as Viscount Furneaux from 1922, when his father, then 1st Viscount Birkenhead, was created Earl of Birkenhead. He had two sisters, Eleanor (1902–1945) and Pamela (1914–1982). Lord Furneaux was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.[1][2] He inherited his father's peerages in 1930.[3]
In 1935, he married The
For the first three years of the Second World War, Lord Birkenhead served with a
Lord Birkenhead served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to
As a writer, Lord Birkenhead primarily authored political biographies, including books on Lord Cherwell and Lord Halifax.[7] In the late 1940s, Lord Birkenhead was commissioned by Rudyard Kipling's daughter Elsie Bambridge to write a biography of Kipling.[8] An agreement with Lord Birkenhead gave Bambridge control over the contents, ownership of copyright, and two-thirds of any profits.[8] Ultimately, Bambridge did not accept Lord Birkenhead's work, and it remained unpublished through his death in 1975 and her death in 1976.[8] The biography was finally published in 1978 with the agreement of Bambridge's heirs.[8]
Lord Birkenhead died in June 1975 at age 67.[7] At the time of his death, he was working on a biography of Winston Churchill (who was his godfather); the completed portion, covering Churchill's life until 1922, was published in 1989.[9]
Books
- F.E.: The Life of F.E. Smith, first Earl of Birkenhead (London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1960).
- The Professor and the Prime Minister: The Official Life of Professor LCCN 61-15385.
- Frederick Edwin Earl of Birkenhead (1933 and 1936)
- Strafford (Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, 1938) ASIN B0006AO3R0
- Lady Eleanor Smith: a memoir (1953) ASIN B000G3JKWU
- Life of ISBN 978-0241902264
- The life of ISBN 978-0297176992
- ISBN 978-0297775355
- ISBN 978-0245547799
Arms
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References
- ^ "Eton Lives Over Its Past". Evening Standard. London. 11 February 1927. p. 9. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "(untitled)". The Guardian. London. 1 November 1928. p. 15. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Birkenhead Succumbs To Long Illness". The Arizona Republic. UP. 1 October 1930. p. 23. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Genealogy site Archived 2 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, users.uniserve.com; accessed 3 July 2014.
- ^ "Birthday Honours lists 2014". gov.uk. Honours. HM Government. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ The Daily Telegraph, Obituary, 4 December 2014
- ^ Baltimore, Maryland. AP. 11 June 1975. p. 17. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Clew, William J. (31 December 1978). "Suppressed Biography". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. p. 12D. Retrieved 7 December 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Sexton, Michael (27 January 1990). "Yet another one on Churchill". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 49. Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1959.