Cuthbert James McCall Alport, Baron Alport, (22 March 1912 – 28 October 1998) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, minister, and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

Early life

"Cub" Alport was educated at

Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to: Australia * Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia **Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia China * Haileybury International School, an international ...

, Haileybury,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and graduated with a degree in History and Law from

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

in 1934. He was elected President of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debatin ...

the following year. Alport was a

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

at Ashridge College,

Little Gaddesden Little Gaddesden (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in the borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire north of Berkhamsted. As well as Little Gaddesden village (population 694), the parish contains the settlements of Ashridge (population 53), H ...

, Hertfordshire, from 1935 to 1937. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as an officer in the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

and the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions withi ...

, and was General Staff Officer 1 (GSO 1) of the East Africa Command between 1944 and 1945. He was made a Barrister-at-Law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1944.

Political career

Alport was an assistant secretary for the Conservative Party Education Department between 1937 and 1939. He was Director of the Conservative Political Centre between 1945 and 1950. He was elected 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 i ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the Colchester constituency, in the 1950 general election and held the seat until 16 February 1961, when he was created Baron Alport, of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

in the

County of Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Ac ...

. On his elevation to the peerage, the Colchester constituency was held by the Conservatives in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

Antony Buck Sir Philip Antony Fyson Buck (19 December 1928 – 6 October 2003) was a British Conservative politician. Early life and career The son of Arthur F. Buck, a farmer and agricultural merchant, and his wife Laura (née Fyson), a founder member o ...

. Alport held the post of

Assistant Postmaster-General The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government. The title of Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established ...

between 1955 and 1957. He was Parliamentary

Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom Government from 1947 until 1966. The holder was responsible for assisting the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in dealing with B ...

between 1957 and 1959. He held the office of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

for the Commonwealth Relations Office between 1959 and 1961. He was invested as a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1960. He held the office of British High Commissioner to the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

between 1961 and 1963. He was appointed

High Steward of Colchester The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester Borough Council, Essex, England. The High steward (civic), stewardship was established by royal charter of Charles I of England, Charles I dated 9 July 1635. The charter, ...

in 1967 and he was appointed deputy lieutenant of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1974.

Family life

In 1945 he married Rachel, the great granddaughter of

George Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan Charles George Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan, KP (8 May 1830 – 5 June 1914), styled Lord Bingham from 1839 to 1888, was an Irish peer and soldier. He was the eldest son of George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan and Lady Anne Brudenell. His maternal gra ...

. The marriage produced three children, two girls and one boy.

Published works

* Kingdoms in Partnership (1937) * Hope in Africa (1952) * The Sudden Assignment (1965)

Honorary Degrees

Lord Alport was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

in July 1997.

The Alport Papers

Lord Alport's correspondence and papers (the Alport Papers) are archived at the

library. Additional correspondence with

Roy Welensky Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky, (''né'' Raphael Welensky; 20 January 1907 – 5 December 1991) was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Born in Salisbury, Southern Rh ...

is archived at the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Arms

References

* Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alport, Cuthbert Baron Alport 1912 births 1998 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Artists' Rifles soldiers Borough of Colchester British Army personnel of World War II Colchester (town) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Essex King's African Rifles officers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Presidents of the Cambridge Union Royal Welch Fusiliers officers UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II