Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded bySir William Harcourt
Succeeded byCharles Ritchie
In office
24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byHugh Childers
Succeeded bySir William Harcourt
President of the Board of Trade
In office
21 February 1888 – 11 August 1892
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byThe Lord Stanley of Preston
Succeeded byA. J. Mundella
Personal details
Born(1837-10-23)23 October 1837
London
Died30 April 1916(1916-04-30) (aged 78)
Coln St Aldwyn, Gloucestershire
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouses
  • Caroline Susan Elwes
    (m. 1864; died 1865)
  • Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue
    (m. 1874)
Children4, including Michael
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn,

House of Commons from 1885 to 1886. Due to the length of his service, he was Father of the House
from 1901 to 1906, when he took his peerage.

Background and education

Born at Portugal Street in London, Hicks Beach was the son of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 8th Baronet, of Beverston, and his wife Harriett Vittoria, second daughter of John Stratton.[1] He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford,[2] where he graduated with a first class degree in the School of Law and Modern History in 1858. In 1854 he succeeded his father as ninth Baronet.[1]

Political career, 1864–1888

In 1864 he was returned to

Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs. In 1874 he was made Chief Secretary for Ireland, and was included in the Cabinet in 1877. From 1878 to 1880 he was Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 1885 he was elected for Bristol West,[4] and became Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. After Gladstone's brief Home Rule Ministry in 1886 Hicks Beach entered Lord Salisbury's next Cabinet again as Irish Secretary, making way for Lord Randolph Churchill
as Leader of the House; but troubles with his eyesight compelled him to resign in 1887.

Political career, 1888–1902

Michael Hicks Beach (centre) with Arthur Balfour (left) and Joseph Chamberlain (right), by Sir Francis Carruthers Gould.
Erin
.

From 1888 to 1892 Hicks Beach returned to active work as

Lowe. The sale of his Netheravon estates in Wiltshire to the War Office
in 1898 occasioned some acrid criticism concerning the valuation, for which, however, Sir Michael himself was not responsible. On Lord Salisbury's retirement in August 1902 Hicks Beach also left the government.

Following his resignation, Sir Michael and Lady Lucy Hicks Beach, with their family, visited Egypt in late 1902.[5]

Other public appointments

Memorial to Sir Michael Edward Hicks Beach in Gloucester Cathedral

He accepted the chairmanship of the Royal Commission on Ritualistic Practices in the Church, and he did valuable work as an arbitrator; and though when the fiscal controversy arose he became the first president of the

Coln St Aldwyn, in the County of Gloucester,[7] and in 1915 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Quenington, of Quenington, in the County of Gloucester, and Earl St Aldwyn, of Coln St Aldwyn, in the County of Gloucester.[8]

Family

Memorial service booklet for Lord St Aldwyn and his son
Susan Elwes, aka Lady Hicks Beach.
Part of a letter from St. Aldwyn, 8 January 1915.

Lord St Aldwyn married firstly (6.1.1864, South Molton, Devon), Caroline Susan Elwes (3 Prior Buildings, Cheltenham 4 April 1845 – 41 Portman Square, Marylebone 14 August 1865), daughter of John Henry Elwes by Mary Bromley, sister of Henry John Elwes, and secondly Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue, daughter of Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue, in 1874. They had one son, Viscount Quenington, also a politician, and three daughters.

His second daughter, Susan Hicks Beach (1878-1965), was the sitter representing Britannia on the reverse of the Edward VII silver florins (two shilling pieces) issued from 1902 to 1910 and designed by George William de Saulles. She resided with her mother for sundry years subsequent to World War II, cultivating and caring for the family land in the Cotswolds.

Lord St Aldwyn died in April 1916, aged 78, only a week after his son was killed in action in the

First World War, and was succeeded in his titles by his grandson Michael, who also became a Conservative politician. Lucy, The Countess St Aldwyn had been involved with Elizabeth Malleson in the creating of a Rural Nursing Association in the 1880s. This organisation was successful and incorporated in similar initiatives by Queen Victoria.[9] The countess died in March 1940. The coastal town of Beachport
in the Australian state of South Australia was named after Lord St Aldwyn in 1878.

References

  1. ^ a b Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 109.
  2. ^ Quinn, James. "Beach, Sir Michael Edward Hicks". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
  5. ^ "Latest intelligence - Lord Kitchener in Cairo". The Times. No. 36911. London. 29 October 1902. p. 3.
  6. ^ "No. 22467". The London Gazette. 1 January 1861. p. 45.
  7. ^ "No. 27873". The London Gazette. 9 January 1906. p. 187.
  8. ^ "No. 29084". The London Gazette. 26 February 1915. p. 1975.
  9. .

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for
Gloucestershire East
1864–1885
With: Robert Stayner Holford 1864–1872
John Yorke
1872–1885
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Bristol West
18851906
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Father of the House of Commons

1901–1906
Succeeded by
George Finch
Political offices
Preceded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board

February–August 1868
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department

August–December 1868
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Secretary for Ireland
1874–1878
Succeeded by
James Lowther
Preceded by Secretary of State for the Colonies
1878–1880
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Exchequer
1885–1886
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the House of Commons
1885–1886
Succeeded by
Preceded by
John Morley
Chief Secretary for Ireland
1886–1887
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Minister without Portfolio
1887–1888
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Board of Trade
1888–1892
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Exchequer
1895–1902
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the National Union of
Conservative and Constitutional Associations

(jointly with Lord Randolph Churchill)

1884
Succeeded by
Preceded by Conservative Leader in the Commons
1885–1886
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Earl St Aldwyn
1915–1916
Succeeded by
Viscount St Aldwyn

1906–1916
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Beverston)
1854–1916
Succeeded by