Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Thomas Legh, see Thomas Legh (disambiguation).

George V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born18 March 1857 (1857-03-18)
Died21 March 1942 (1942-03-22) (aged 85)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Evelyn Davenport
​
​
(m. 1880; died 1931)​
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron Newton

First World War
.

Background and education

Newton was the son of William Legh, 1st Baron Newton, and Emily Jane Wodehouse, daughter of the Venerable Charles Nourse Wodehouse, Archdeacon of Norwich. The Legh family had been landowners in Cheshire for centuries. Newton was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.[1]

Political and administrative career

In 1879 he entered the

Privy Council
.

In 1916 Lord Newton became Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and was put in charge of two departments at the

Foreign Office, one dealing with foreign propaganda and the other with prisoners of war. In October 1916 he was appointed controller of the newly established Prisoner of War Department, and in this position he negotiated the release of thousands of British prisoners of war.[1]

Lord Newton was appointed a

lieutenant-colonel in October 1902.[6]

Lord Newton was also the author of two biographies, one on

Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons, published in 1913, and the other on Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, published in 1929. In 1941 he published his memoirs, entitled Retrospection.[1]

Family

Lady Newton, photographed on 24 June 1902.

Lord Newton married Evelyn Caroline Davenport, daughter of William Bromley-Davenport, in 1880. They had five children, two sons and three daughters. His younger son Sir Piers Legh served as Master of the Household from 1941 to 1953. Lady Newton died in September 1931. Lord Newton survived her by eleven years and died in March, 1942, aged 85. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Richard Legh. The latter's son, Peter Legh, 4th Baron Newton, was also a Conservative politician and government minister.[1]

Arms

Coat of arms of Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton
Crest
Issuant out of a ducal coronet Or a ram's head Argent armed Or in the mouth a laurel slip Vert the whole debruised by a pallet wavy Azure.[7]
Escutcheon
Gules a cross engrailed Argent in the chief point on an inescutcheon Sable semee of estoiles an arm in armour embowed of the second the hand Proper holding a pennon Silver all within a bordure wavy Or.
Supporters
Two mastiffs Proper collared Sable.
Motto
En Dieu Est Ma Foi (In God Is My Faith)

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34479. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: New Romney to Northampton[usurped]
  3. ^ a b "No. 27290". The London Gazette. 1 March 1901. p. 1500.
  4. ^ "No. 29189". The London Gazette. 11 June 1915. p. 5627.
  5. ^ "No. 27352". The London Gazette. 6 September 1901. p. 5877.
  6. ^ "No. 27483". The London Gazette. 17 October 1902. p. 6570.
  7. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 3807.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newton
1886–1898 		Succeeded by
Richard Pilkington
Political offices
Preceded by Paymaster General
1915–1916 		Succeeded by
New office
Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

1916–1919 		Office abolished
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron Newton
1898–1942 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Legh,_2nd_Baron_Newton&oldid=1199270558"