Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton
Whig | |
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Spouse | Hon. Annabel Crewe (d. 1874) |
Children | 3, including Florence and Robert |
Parent |
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Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice.
Background and education
Milnes was born in London, the son of
He went to Italy and Greece, and published in 1834 a volume of Memorials of a Tour in some Parts of Greece, describing his experiences.[3]
Political career
Milnes returned to London in 1837, and was elected to Parliament as member for Pontefract as a Conservative. In parliament he interested himself particularly in the question of copyright and the conditions of reformatory schools. He left
During the Chartist riots of 1848, Matthew Arnold wrote to his mother:
Tell Miss Martineau it is said here that Monckton Milnes refused to be sworn in a special constable, that he might be free to assume the post of President of the Republic at a moment's notice.[4]
Milnes shared similar interests and concerns - such as
In 1863, Palmerston elevated Milnes to the peerage as Baron Houghton, of Great Houghton in the West Riding of the County of York.[9]
George W. E. Russell said of him: "As years advanced he became not (as the manner of most men is) less Liberal, but more so; keener in sympathy with all popular causes; livelier in his indignation against monopoly and injustice."[10]
Literary career and interests
Milnes' literary career was often influenced by church matters. He wrote a tract in 1841, which was praised by
Despite his piety, he had apparently an almost unsurpassed collection of erotic literature,[13] which he bequeathed to the British Library, a collection known to few in his lifetime. A man whom his biographer Saunders said, "had many fine tastes and some coarse ones,"[3] Milnes authored The Rodiad, a pornographic poem on the subject of flagellation.[14][15]
However, his chief distinctions were his sense of literary merit in others, and the way he fostered it. He was surrounded by the most brilliant men of his time, many of whom he had been the first to acclaim. His reputation rests largely on the part he played, as a man of influence in society and in moulding public opinion on literary matters, in connection with his large circle of talented friends. He secured a pension for
Women's rights
He admired the literacy brilliance in female writers and was a firm friend of the
Personal life
Milnes was a persistent suitor of Florence Nightingale (who finally refused to marry him), and one of her staunchest supporters along with the statesman Sidney Herbert. On 30 July 1851, he married the Honourable Annabella Hungerford Crewe, daughter of John Crewe, 2nd Baron Crewe.[3] Together they had three children:
- Hon. Amicia Henrietta Milnes (d. 4 Jul 1902). She married Sir Gerald FitzGerald. They had one known son, archaeologist Capt. Gerald Milnes FitzGerald (b. 5 October 1883).
- Hon. Florence Ellen Hungerford Milnes (d. 4 Apr 1923). She married Maj.-Gen. Arthur Henry Henniker-Major, son of John Henniker-Major, 4th Baron Henniker. They had no issue.
- Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st and last Marquess of Crewe (12 Jan 1858 – 20 Jun 1945)
She died in 1874. Lord Houghton died at Vichy, France, in August 1885, aged 76, and was buried at Fryston. He was succeeded in the barony by his son, Robert, who became a prominent Liberal statesman and was created Earl of Crewe in 1895 and Marquess of Crewe in 1911.
Richard and Annabella's two daughters were Amicia Henrietta and the novelist Florence Henniker.[22]
Milnes took an interest in parapsychology and was a member of the Society for Psychical Research.[23]
References
- ISBN 9780394487267. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ "Milnes, Richard Monckton (MLNS827RM)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c d e Saunders 1894.
- ^ George W. E. Russell, Collections & Recollections (Revised edition, Smith Elder & Co, London, 1899), at page 53.
- ^ Christie's (2022). "Christie's - Live Auction, Books - MARTINEAU, Harriet (1802-1876). Two autograph letters signed to Richard Monckton Milne". Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton". National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ Reid, T. W. (1890). The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes: First Lord Houghton, Volume 2. Cassell. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ Early English Text Society (Series).: Original series - 6th Report. N. Trubner & Co. 1870. p. 9, 24-30. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "No. 22760". The London Gazette. 7 August 1863. p. 3945.
- ^ George W. E. Russell, Collections & Recollections (Revised edition, Smith Elder & Co, London, 1899), at page 57.
- ^ "Fellows 1660–2007" (PDF). Royal Society. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
- ^ Hyde, Harford Montgomery (1965). A history of pornography. Heinemann. p. 14.
- ISBN 0-7486-0619-X.
- ISBN 0-271-01974-3.
- ISBN 184714179X.
..a champion of ...women's rights...
- ^ National Association for the Promotion of Social Science - Leeds Meeting (1871). Head, Hole & Co, Paternoster Row, London. 1872.
Local Officers of the Leeds Meeting - Vice-Presidents...[include]...Duke of Devonshire...Sir Titus Salt...Darnton Lupton...Lord Houghton...Secretaries - Darnton Lupton, Jun.
- ISBN 9781315411194. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
....Meta Gaskell.... a member of the North of England Council for Education of Woman...
- ISBN 9780824037291. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
Josephine E. Butler, President of .......Frances Elizabeth Lupton, Representative of the Leeds Ladies' Educational Association. ... Meta Gaskell, Representative of the Manchester Ladies' Educational Association....Ann J. Clough, Member of Executive...
- ^ "Miss Meta Gaskell". The Spectator. 1 November 1913. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
LORD HOUGHTON once said that the conversation and society to be met with in the house of the Gaskells at Manchester were the one thing which made life in that city tolerable for people of literary tastes. Miss Meta Gaskell, who died last Sunday...
- ^ "Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Volume 19". The Society. 1871. pp. 719–720. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
Announcement by the Council – Education of Girls – The following have agreed to be members of the Committee....Miss Gaskell, Manchester....Mrs Baden-Powell.....Mrs Charles Darwin...Erasmus Darwin Esq...Duchess of St Albans....Mrs Frances Lupton, Leeds....Miss Thackeray.....Henry Sidgwick Esq. Trinity College, Cambridge,...Mrs Kitchener...Miss Emily Davies.....
- ISBN 978-0330481861.
- ISBN 978-0521347679
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Saunders, Thomas Bailey (1894). "Milnes, Richard Monckton". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 38. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Houghton, Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard Monckton Milnes
- Works by Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)