Mark Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham-Carter
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
---|---|
In office 21 July 1986 – 4 September 1994 Life Peerage | |
Member of Parliament for Torrington | |
In office 27 March 1958 – 18 September 1959 | |
Preceded by | George Lambert |
Succeeded by | Percy Browne |
Personal details | |
Born | Marylebone, London, England | 11 February 1922
Died | 4 September 1994 Salerno, Italy | (aged 72)
Political party | Liberal (before 1988) Liberal Democrats (after 1988) |
Spouse |
Leslie Nast
(m. 1955; died 1992) |
Children | 3, including Jane |
Education | Winchester College |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Occupation | Publisher, politician |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1941–1945 |
Unit | Grenadier Guards |
Awards | Mentioned in dispatches |
Mark Raymond Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham-Carter (11 February 1922 – 4 September 1994)
Early life
He was the son of the
Educated at
In 1955, he married Leslie, Lady St Just, the former wife of Peter George Grenfell, 2nd
Torrington
Bonham-Carter's family continued its heavy involvement in Liberal politics, especially when his sister Laura married the Liberal leader Jo Grimond. It was in 1958 that the Torrington by-election was called in a safe Conservative seat, and Bonham-Carter became the Liberal candidate. Much to everyone's surprise, he won, overturning a 9,000 majority, giving the Liberals their first by-election gain since 1929. Bonham-Carter's margin of victory was extremely slim, at just 219 votes. Nonetheless, it was a major boost to the success-deprived Liberals and the first in a string of by-election victories that would make up the postwar Liberal Revival.
Grimond was personally hopeful that the articulate Bonham-Carter would be his designated successor, but it was not to be: at the 1959 general election, just 18 months after his victory, he narrowly lost the seat to the Conservatives. He continued to be a close advisor to Grimond throughout the latter's leadership but would never again be an MP, despite a third, unsuccessful, and equally close candidature for Torrington at the 1964 general election.
Later life and death
Bonham Carter found other outlets for his political and publishing interests. He continued to work as a prominent member of the Collins firm, becoming close friends with
He died from a heart attack in Italy on 4 September 1994.[1]
Arms
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See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "Lord Bonham-Carter". The Times. No. 65052. 6 September 1994. p. 23.
- ^ "No. 35385". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 December 1941. p. 7169.
- ^ Baker, pp.62-3
- ^ Baker, p.64
- ^ "No. 50609". The London Gazette. 25 July 1986. p. 9829.
References
- Baker, John (2006). Ballot Box to Jury Box: The Life And Times of an English Crown Court Judge. Waterside Press. ISBN 9781906534004.
- "Obituary: Lord Bonham-Carter". The Independent. 7 September 1994.