Walter Layton, 1st Baron Layton
Walter Thomas Layton, 1st Baron Layton CBE (15 March 1884 – 14 February 1966), was a British economist, editor, newspaper proprietor and Liberal Party politician.
Background and education
Layton was the son of Alfred John Layton of
University College, London and Trinity College, Cambridge
.
Career
He became a lecturer in economics at
First World War, then at the fledgling Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations. In 1922 he was appointed editor of The Economist, a post he held until 1938, and from 1944 to 1963 was also Chairman of The Economist Newspaper Ltd. His editorship was of profound importance to the newspaper, and he was probably the person to whom it owes most thanks for its survival and continued independence. He was editorial director of the News Chronicle (1930–40), and returned to the Chronicle after the war, where he remained until the newspaper ceased publication in 1960.[1]
He was a member of the
Second World War, holding positions in the Ministry of Supply (from May 1940) and the Ministry of Production. Head of Joint War Production Staff 1942 to 1943. After the war, he served as Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
from 1949 to 1957.
Honours
Layton was made a
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1919.[2] He was knighted in 1930[3] and in 1947 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Layton, of Danehill in the County of Sussex.[4]
Liberal politics
Layton stood unsuccessfully for parliament three times as a Liberal. He fought
. Layton would later chair the executive committee of the Liberal Industrial Inquiry which produced the celebrated Yellow Book of 1928.Marriage and children
Lord Layton married Eleanor Dorothea Osmaston, daughter of Eleanor Margaret and Francis Beresford Plumptre Osmaston, in 1910.[5] They had seven children:
- The Hon. Margaret Dorothea Layton MA (13 March 1911 – 5 July 1962), married Alfred Geiringer (1911-1996) of Reuters, four children
- Michael John Layton, 2nd Baron Layton(28 September 1912 – 23 January 1989), married Dorothy Rose Cross (1916-1994), two children
- Lt. Col. the Hon.
- The Hon. Jean Mary Layton (14 April 1916 – 8 July 2017),[8] violinist and music therapist,[8] 100th birthday marked by Classic FM in 2016,[9] married Paul Eisler (d.1966), two children
- The Hon. Olive Shirley Layton (18 December 1918 – 22 June 2009),[10] actress, married Peter Gellhorn, composer and conductor (1912-2004), four children
- The Hon. (Elizabeth) Ruth Frances Layton (27 April 1923 – 4 June 2016),[11] served in ATS, married Edward Gutierrez Pegna (1919-2009), four children
- The Hon. Christopher Walter Layton (born 31 December 1929), married (1) Anneliese Margaret von Thadden, two children; married (2) Margaret Ann Moon, three children; married (3) Wendy Elizabeth Christine Bartlett, one child
Layton died in February 1966, aged 81, and was succeeded in the barony by his
eldest son
.
References
- ^ Dennis Griffiths (ed.) The Encyclopedia of the British Press 1422–1992, London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p.364
- ^ "No. 31316". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 April 1919. p. 5421.
- ^ "No. 33617". The London Gazette. 20 June 1930. p. 3874.
- ^ "No. 37872". The London Gazette. 4 February 1947. p. 613.
- , retrieved 20 May 2023
- ^ Alastair Hatchett, David Layton obituary in The Guardian dated 29 September 2009
- ^ "LAYTON, Hon Mrs David (Joyce E nee PARKINSON)". groups.google.com.
- ^ a b "Jean Eisler: 14 April 1916 – 8 July 2017". Nordoff Robbins: Life-changing music. 21 July 2017.
- ^ "Classic FM plays 100th birthday request for former pupil of Holst". Classic FM.
- ^ Telegraph death notice 27 June 2009, from Peerage News user group.
- ^ "PEGNA - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk.
Further reading
- Hubback, David. No Ordinary Press Baron: A Life of Walter Layton, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985
- Grayson, Richard S. Walter Layton in Brack & Randall (eds.) The Dictionary of Liberal Thought, Politico's Publishing, 2007 pp206–208
- Grayson, Richard S. Walter Thomas Layton in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography OUP, 2004–09
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]
- Layton, Christopher. Walter Layton (Lord Layton) in Brack et al. (eds.) Dictionary of Liberal Biography, Politico's Publishing 1998 pp217–219
- Oxbury, Harold. Great Britons: Twentieth Century Lives. Oxford University Press, 1984.
External links
- Photograph (1953-01-10): Jean Monnet and Lord Layton on European NAvigator
- Newspaper clippings about Walter Layton, 1st Baron Layton in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
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