Sir Hamilton William Kerr, 1st Baronet (1 August 1903 – 26 December 1974) was a British

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 and journalist.

Early life

Kerr was born on 1 August 1903. He was second son born to Americans Olive (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Grace) Kerr and banker Henry Scanlan Kerr of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. After his father's death, his mother remarried to Charles Greville, shortly thereafter the 3rd

Baron Greville Baron Greville, of Clonyn, County Westmeath, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 December 1869 for the Liberal politician Fulke Greville-Nugent, Member of Parliament for Longford from 1852 to 1869. Born Fu ...

. His older brother was Henry Grace Kerr, who was killed in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His paternal grandparents were William Henry Kerr and Harriet Ellen (née Scanlan) Kerr. His mother was a niece of

Michael P. Grace Michael Paul Grace (1842 – September 20, 1920) was an Irish-American businessman who was a shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of W. R. Grace and Company shipping company of New York City and of Grace Brothers & Co. Ltd. of London ...

and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

William Russell Grace William Russell Grace (May 10, 1832 – March 21, 1904) was an Irish-American politician, the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York City, and the founder of W. R. Grace and Company. Early life Grace was born in Ireland in Riverstown near the C ...

, founder of

W. R. Grace and Company W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Career

After his graduation from Oxford, he then took up a career in journalism and worked on the ''

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'' and the ''

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''. At the 1931 general election, he was elected as the

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 Oldham constituency in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. He held the seat until losing it to

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 ...

at the 1945 general election. In the 1930s, Kerr served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

Alfred Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian. First elected to Parliament in 192 ...

, starting in 1933 when Cooper was

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. 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 a balloon squadron in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and briefly held office as

Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health was a junior ministerial office in the United Kingdom Government. The Ministry of Health was created in 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board. Local government functions were ev ...

in the 1945 caretaker government. At the 1950 general election, he was returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

as the MP for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, holding that seat until his retirement at the 1966 general election. In 1954, Kerr was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the future

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

. Kerr was made a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridge, in 1957. The title became extinct upon his death in 1974.

Legacy

The

Hamilton Kerr Institute The Hamilton Kerr Institute is a branch of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridgeshire, England, dedicated to the study and conservation of easel paintings. It is also part of the University of Cambridge. Facilities and logistics The institute wa ...

was established in 1976 in the riverside property given to Cambridge University for the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...

and endowed by Sir Hamilton Kerr.Hamilton Kerr Institute: History
/ref> The HKI provides

art conservation The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preve ...

services and training.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Hamilton William 1903 births 1974 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 People educated at Eton College Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966