David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles (18 September 1904 – 24 February 1999), was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

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 ...

Education and early career

Eccles was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he obtained a second-class degree in PPE. He worked with the Central Mining Corporation in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. 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 worked for the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

from 1939 to 1940 and for the

Ministry of Production The Ministry of Production was a British government department created in February 1942, initially under the title Ministry of War Production, but the following month "War" was dropped from the title. Its purpose was to fill a gap in the machinery ...

from 1942 to 1943 and was Economic Adviser to the British

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

s at

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

from 1940 to 1942.

Political career

Eccles was elected as

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 ...

(MP) for

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

in a wartime

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 ...

in 1943, a seat he held until 1962. He served in the Conservative administrations of

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

, Eden and

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

respectively as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954 (in which position he helped organise the 1953 Coronation and was appointed KCVO), as Minister of Education from 1954 to 1957 and again from 1959 to 1962 and as

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...

from 1957 to 1959. Eccles was also President of the Board of Trade in January 1957. In 1962 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Eccles, of Chute in the County of Wiltshire, and in 1964 he was created Viscount Eccles, of Chute in the County of Wiltshire. Lord Eccles returned to the government in 1970 when

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

appointed him

Paymaster-General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...

and Minister for the Arts, a post he held until 1973. As Minister for the Arts he clashed with the Chairman of the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

Arnold Goodman over the funding of controversial plays and exhibitions and introduced mandatory admission charges at public museums and galleries. Lord Eccles was made a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(DSc) in 1966 by

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

. He also received an Honorary Science Doctorate from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

in 1972.

Personal life

Eccles married, firstly, the Hon. Sybil Frances Dawson (1904–1977), daughter of

Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn Bertrand Edward Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn, (9 March 1864 – 7 March 1945) was a physician to the British Royal Family and President of the Royal College of Physicians from 1931 to 1937. He is known for his responsibility in the deat ...

, on 1 October 1929. They had three children: * The Hon. John Dawson Eccles; later 2nd Viscount Eccles (born 1931). * The Hon. Simon Dawson Eccles (born 1934). * The Hon. Selina Eccles (born 1937); m. firstly Robin Andrew Duthac Carnegie (grandson of

Charles Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk JP DL (20 March 1854 – 10 November 1941), was a Scottish nobleman. Early life Carnegie was the son of the explorer and poet James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk and his first wife Catherine Hamilto ...

); m. secondly

George Petty-FitzMaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne George John Charles Mercer Nairne Petty-Fitzmaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne, DL (27 November 1912 – 25 August 1999), was a British peer and Conservative politician. Background Petty-Fitzmaurice was the only son of Lord Charles Mercer Nair ...

; became The Marchioness of Lansdowne. A collection of the couple's wartime letters were published under the title ''By Safe Hand: Letters of Sybil & David Eccles 1939-42'' (Bodley Head, 1983). Widowed in 1977, he married again, this time to book collector and philanthropist Mary Morley Crapo Hyde (1912–2003) on 26 September 1984. He died in 1999 at the age of 94, at home of natural causes, leaving an estate of approximately £2.4 million.

Styles and honours

* Mr David Eccles (1904–1943) * Mr David Eccles MP (1943–1953) * Sir David Eccles KCVO MP (1953–1962) * The Rt. Hon. The Lord Eccles KCVO PC (1962–1964) * The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Eccles KCVO PC (1964–1984) * The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Eccles CH KCVO PC (1984–1999)

Notes

References

Mary, Viscountess Eccles: obituary, ''The Independent'', 5 September 2003
* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, David Eccles, 1st Viscount 1904 births 1999 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford British Secretaries of State for Education Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour 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 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 People educated at Winchester College Presidents of the Board of Trade UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs who were granted peerages United Kingdom Paymasters General Viscounts created by Elizabeth II