Arthur Kattendyke Strange David Archibald Gore, 8th Earl of Arran (5 July 1910 – 23 February 1983), styled Lord Arran, was a British columnist and politician who served as the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
whip in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
. He is known for leading the effort in the House of Lords to decriminalise male homosexuality in 1967, following the suicide of his gay brother.
Early life and education
Gore was the second son of
Arthur Gore, 6th Earl of Arran and Maud Jacqueline Marie Beauclerk, only daughter of 3rd Baron Huyssen van Kattendyke of
Kattendijke
Kattendijke is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Goes on the Oosterschelde about 5 km northeast of the city of Goes.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1214 as Cattindic. The etymolo ...
, Zeeland, Holland.
He was affectionately known as "Boofy".
He was educated at
Eton and
Balliol College, Oxford.
Career
During the Second World War, Gore worked first as a press attaché at the
British Legion in
Bern (1939–45) and at the British Embassy in
Lisbon (1941–42). He was deputy director of the overseas general division of the
Ministry of Information (1943–45) and was secretariat director at the
Central Office of Information
The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...
(1945–49).
In 1958, Gore succeeded
his elder brother, who had committed suicide reportedly because he was gay,
to become the 8th Earl of Arran and became an active member of the House of Lords.
Arran was the sponsor in the House of Lords of
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP
Leo Abse
Leopold Abse (22 April 1917 – 19 August 2008) was a Welsh lawyer and politician. He was a Welsh Labour MP for nearly 30 years, noted for promoting private member's bills to decriminalise male homosexual relations and liberalise the divorce l ...
's 1967
private member's bill which, as the
Sexual Offences Act 1967
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60). It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained t ...
, decriminalised homosexual acts between two consenting adult men. He was of the opinion that "no amount of legislation will prevent homosexuals from being the subject of dislike and derision, or at best of pity". He also sponsored a bill for the protection of
badgers
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...
, and was once asked why this effort had failed whereas decriminalising homosexuality had succeeded. Arran is reported to have replied: "There are not many badgers in the House of Lords."
He was an outspoken columnist for many years, writing for ''
The Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after bei ...
'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
Encounter
Encounter or Encounters may refer to:
Film
*''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar
* ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film
* ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film
* ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film
* ...
'', ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'', ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', ''
The Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publishe ...
'', and others. At one point he described himself as "a poor man's
Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...
and a rich man's
Godfrey Winn". His columns, which often contained inflammatory and abusive language, were tagged as coming from "The outrageous Arran, the Earl you love to hate."
As an example, he once wrote of the Irish, in the ''Evening Standard'' in October 1974: "I loathe and detest the miserable bastards
.. savage murderous thugs. May the Irish, all of them, rot in Hell".
Marriage and issue
He married
Fiona Bryde Colquhoun (1918–2013), eldest daughter of
Sir Iain Colquhoun, 7th Baronet
Sir Iain Colquhoun, 7th Baronet, 29th Laird of Luss, KT, DSO & Bar, FRSE (20 June 1887 – 12 November 1948), was a Scottish landowner and British Army soldier during the First World War.
Military career
During the First World War, Colquh ...
. She was a speedboat racer and, like her husband, an animal rights activist. The couple had homes in
Hertfordshire and Scotland.
They had two sons:
*
Arthur, Viscount Sudley (born 1938), who succeeded his father as 9th Earl of Arran
* Hon. Philip Gore (1943–1975)
He died at his home near
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
, aged 72.
Popular culture
Gore was portrayed by
David Bamber
David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Early years
Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...
in the 2018 BBC limited television series ''
A Very English Scandal''. BBC 'Travel' documented the
Inchconnachan island and the in-habitation of
kangaroos
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
by speaking to Lady Colquhoun in mid to late 2021.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arran, Arthur Gore, 8th Earl
1910 births
1983 deaths
British people of Dutch descent
Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers
Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Earls of Arran (Ireland)
British columnists
20th-century British journalists