Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt
George V | |
---|---|
Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
Preceded by | The Earl of Crewe |
Succeeded by | Bonar Law |
Personal details | |
Born | Brook Street, London | 31 January 1863
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse |
Mary Ethel Burns (m. 1899) |
Children | 4, including Doris Harcourt and William Harcourt |
Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt
Early life and education
Harcourt was born at
He inherited the lordships of the manors of Stanton Harcourt,[3] Nuneham Courtenay, North Hinksey, Cogges, Northmoor and Shifford in Oxfordshire.[4]
Political career
Harcourt was private secretary to his father, Sir William, as Home Secretary from 1880 to 1885; and again when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1886, and 1892–95.[2] He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Rossendale, Lancashire, from 1904 to 1916 and served as First Commissioner of Works in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's 1905 ministry (appointed to Cabinet in 1907) and to H. H. Asquith's Cabinet between 1908 and 1910 and again between 1915 and 1916. In this role he authorised the placement in Kensington Gardens of the Peter Pan statue, sculpted by George Frampton, erected on 1 May 1912, and the plans for the rebuilding of Piccadilly Circus in 1915 (eventually executed in 1923).[5]
Between 1910 and 1915, he was Secretary of State for the Colonies under Asquith. In 1911 his home in Berkeley Square had windows smashed by suffragettes, including Ada Wright who were imprisoned for two weeks.[6] Harcourt was raised to the peerage as Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, in 1917.[4]
During the debate over Chancellor David Lloyd George's proposed "People's Budget" Harcourt was amongst its foremost critics, with Malcolm Thomson, Lloyd George's official biographer, writing that he was "the most inveterate in obstructing his proposals, while posing all the time as an ardent Radical".[7]
Public appointments and other interests
Harcourt acted as a Trustee of the British Museum, Wallace Collection, the London Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery, which has a portrait of him.[4][8]
Harcourt was interested in natural history and sought to protect birds, fish and other creatures from extinction. He received an
Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, is named after him. When the port was established in 1912, there was much controversy about the name it should receive. In August 1913, the Governor-General of Nigeria, Sir Frederick Lugard wrote to Harcourt, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, that "in the absence of any convenient local name, I would respectfully ask your permission to call this Port Harcourt". The Secretary of State replied, "It gives me pleasure to accede to your suggestion that my name should be associated with the new Port".[9]
Queen Victoria
Harcourt's diaries contain a report that one of
Marriage and children
On 1 July 1899, Harcourt married Mary Ethel Burns, daughter of American banker Walter Hayes Burns and his wife, Mary Lyman (née Morgan), a sister of J. P. Morgan. Through her, the family acquired the famous "Harcourt emeralds".[11]
Mary, Viscountess Harcourt, was appointed a Lady of Grace of the Order of St John and then Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1918; she died 7 January 1961.[12]
Lord and Lady Harcourt had four children:
- Hon. Doris Mary Thérèse Harcourt (30 March 1900 – 9 May 1981); married Alexander Baring, 6th Baron Ashburton: their elder son John succeeded as 7th Baron Ashburton.
- Hon. Olivia Vernon Harcourt Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother 1951–1961.[13]
- Hon. Barbara Vernon Harcourt OBE (28 April 1905 – 19 May 1961); married Robert Jenkinson (1900–1970), a great-great grandson of Col. John Jenkinson, brother of the 1st Earl of Liverpool, in 1927 (later divorced); with 1 son and 2 daughters. She remarried, in 1937, William James Baird (9 November 1893 – 2 February 1961). She died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound a few months after her husband's death.[14]
- OBE(5 October 1908 – 3 January 1979), succeeded as Viscount Harcourt at age 13.
Sexual misconduct
Harcourt was known in London society as a sexual predator of the young of both genders. He attempted to sexually assault Dorothy Brett, the daughter of Viscount Esher (allegedly a fellow paedophile), when she was about 15.[15] Brett wrote of him that "It is so tiresome that Loulou is such an old roué. He is as bad with boys as with girls... he is simply a sex maniac. It isn't that he is in love. It is just ungovernable sex desire for both sexes".[16]
Death
Harcourt died in his sleep at his London townhouse at
His physician, Dr Lindsay Scott, had last seen him on 30 January and testified that Harcourt was not in very good health, being weak and with an irregular heartbeat. He said that he did not expect him to die suddenly, but admitted, "I did not think he would live many years." The coroner dismissed the notion of suicide as "grotesque" given the evidence.
A memorial service for Lord Harcourt was held on 1 March at
See also
Sources
- Blake, Robert; Nicholls, Christine Stephanie (1986). The Dictionary of National Biography (Ninth Supplement), 1971–1980. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198652083.
- Viscount Lewis Harcourt (2006). Loulou: selected extracts from the journals of Lewis Harcourt (1880–1895). Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 9780838641033.
- ISBN 1408704129Chapter 1: Archie, Regie, Loulou and Bill
References
- ^ Roy Jenkins, "The Chancellors", Macmillan, 1998, p. 45.
- ^ a b Hesilrige 1921, p. 443.
- ^ "Stanton Harcourt: Manors and other estates Pages 274-281 A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 12, Wootton Hundred (South) Including Woodstock". British History Online. Victoria County History, 1990. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
- ^ "The rebuilding of Piccadilly Circus and the Regent Street Quadrant Pages 85-100 Survey of London: Volumes 31 and 32, St James Westminster, Part 2". British History Online. LCC 1963. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- OCLC 1016848621.
- ^ Thomson, Malcolm (1948). "The People's Budget". David Lloyd George: The Official Biography. London: Hutchinson. p. 183.
- ^ a b c "Death of Lord Harcourt". The Times. 25 February 1922. p. 14.
- .
- ^ Lamont-Brown, Raymond (December 2003). "Queen Victoria's 'secret marriage'". Contemporary Review. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009.
- ^ "Magnificent antique emerald and diamond tiara". Christies.
- ^ "Obituary: Dowager Viscountess Harcourt". The Times. 9 January 1961. p. 17.
- ^ "The Hon Mrs J. Mulholland", The Times, 4 August 1984, p. 8.
- ^ "Probate of a Will: In the Estate of Barbara Vernon Baird, Deceased". The Times. 8 September 1961. p. 17.
- ^ Parris, Matthew (22 October 2011). "Scandals in the House". Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022.
- ISBN 0-340-22973-X
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33692. Retrieved 18 December 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b "Lord Harcourt's Death. Coroner's verdict of misadventure. Bromidia and heart disease". The Times. 1 March 1922. p. 6.
- ^ "Memorial services. Viscount Harcourt". The Times. 2 March 1922. p. 15.
Book source
- Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921). Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy. London: Dean & Son. p. 443.