Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery, 2nd Earl of Midlothian, (8 January 1882 – 31 May 1974), styled Lord Dalmeny until 1929, was a British liberal politician who briefly served as

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

in 1945. He was the Member of Parliament for

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

from 1906 to 1910. He became the Earl of Rosebery and Midlothian in 1929 and was thus a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

until his death.

Early life

He was born at Dalmeny House west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 8 January 1882. His parents were

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

, Liberal

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

(from 1894 to 1895) and Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery, a member of the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

. He was the brother of Neil Primrose and the writer Lady Sybil Grant. He was educated at Eton then undertook military training at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Career

Lord Dalmeny was commissioned into the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

as a Second lieutenant 12 February 1902. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in France from 1914 to 1917 as Camp Commandant and ADC to General Allenby and subsequently in Palestine as Allenby's Military Secretary.

Cricket career

As Lord Dalmeny he was a prominent cricketer. He played two first-class matches for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

in 1902. He served as captain of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

from 1905 to 1907. He played in 102 first-class matches in all, scoring 3551 runs at an average of 22.47, including two centuries. His highest score was 138 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in 1905, when he added 260 for the sixth wicket in 130 minutes with J. N. Crawford. He was a hitter of notable power and though never consistent he could on occasions "knock the best bowling all over the field", as when he hit 58 against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

on a difficult wicket at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in 1905. Against

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in 1906 he scored 52 in 37 minutes in the first innings and 58 not out in 45 minutes in the second. Rosebery was also a notable race-horse owner. He won The Derby with

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

and Ocean Swell, and won most other classic British flat races, with horses bred at his Mentmore and Crafton Studs.

Political career

He commenced his political career by being elected Liberal Member of Parliament for the Scottish seat of Edinburghshire. This was a county, better known by its modern name of

, which was an area where the Roseberys had long been prominent landowners. Dalmeny was one of almost 400 Liberals returned in the great landslide victory of the 1906 election. He retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

in January 1910. At the time of his death he was the last survivor of the 1906 Liberal MPs. Rosebery entered the

on the death of his father in 1929. The same year he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian, a post he held until 1964. In 1938 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Hugh Macmillan, Baron Macmillan, Sir

Thomas Henry Holland Sir Thomas Henry Holland (22 November 1868 – 15 May 1947) was a British geologist who worked in India with the Geological Survey of India, serving as its director from 1903 to 1910. He later worked as an educational administrator at Ed ...

, James Pickering Kendall and James Watt. In February 1941, during the Second World War, he was appointed Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence in Scotland. When the wartime coalition government broke up in 1945,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

formed a caretaker administration to hold office until the 1945 general election. The new government was composed of members of the Conservative Party and the small groups which had allied with it in the National governments in office 1931–1940. Amongst these allies was the National Liberal Party to which Rosebery belonged. One of the most unexpected appointments Churchill made was to install Rosebery as a member of the Privy Council and

. Both men had served together in the Liberal Parliamentary Party in the 1906–1910 Parliament. The caretaker Ministry was in office May to July 1945. So brief was his tenure at the Scottish Office that during the Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs (1952-4) he declined to give evidence on the grounds that he did not know what to say. Reputedly, his last words prior to his departing from the Scottish Office were "Well. I didn't make a bad job of this, did I? Didn't have the time".

Later life

He was created a Knight of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

(KT) in 1947 by King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

. Rosebery was President of the National Liberal Party 1945–1957. From 1951 to 1974 he was the president of the influential Scottish conservation organisation the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association, often subtitled Edinburgh Civic Trust, is an architectural, conservation, and urban planning monitoring organisation in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. The Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, is one o ...

. He was also appointed Chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland in 1952.

Personal life

In 1909, Harry Primrose married Dorothy Alice Margaret Augusta Grosvenor, daughter of Lord Henry George Grosvenor (a son of the

1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

) and Dora Mina Erskine-Wemyss. Before their divorce in 1919, they had a son and a daughter: * Archibald Ronald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny (1910–1931), a 2nd Lieutenant in the General List. * Lady Helen Dorothy Primrose (1913–1998), who married Major Hon. Hugh Adeane Vivian Smith, son of Vivian Smith, 1st Baron Bicester and Lady Sybil Mary McDonnell (a daughter of the 6th Earl of Antrim), in 1933. In 1924 Primrose remarried to Dame Eva Isabel Marian Strutt, a daughter of Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare. They were the parents of two children, only one of whom survived: * Neil Archibald Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery (1929–2024), who married Alison Mary Deirdre Reid, daughter of Ronald William Reid, in 1955. * Lady Mary Primrose (1935–1935), who died at birth.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, pp. 1277–1278, volume 3, page 3398. Lord Rosebery died at

Mentmore Towers Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

on 30 May 1974 and was succeeded in his titles by his younger son,

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...

References

Sources

* ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Vol. II: 1886–1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978) * Pottinger, George, ''The Secretaries of State for Scotland, 1926-1976'' (Scottish Academic Press, 1979) * Torrance, D., ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (Birlinn, 2006)

External links

*
The Scottish Secretaries
A website dedicated to the Scottish Secretaries *
David Torrance's Scottish Office blog
davidtorrance.blogspot.com; accessed 18 April 2016

content-uk.cricinfo.com; accessed 18 April 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosebery, Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of 1882 births 1974 deaths Nobility from Edinburgh Politicians from Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War I British racehorse owners and breeders British sportsperson-politicians Buckinghamshire cricketers Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Midlothian, Harry Primrose, 2nd Earl of 6 Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Grenadier Guards officers Jewish British politicians Knights of the Thistle Lord-lieutenants of Midlothian Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Middlesex cricketers Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 North v South cricketers Owners of Epsom Derby winners Presidents of Surrey County Cricket Club Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Presidents of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society Recipients of the Military Cross Rothschild family Scottish Liberal Party MPs Scottish cricketers Scottish people of German-Jewish descent Secretaries of State for Scotland Surrey cricket captains Surrey cricketers UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs who inherited peerages Harry People educated at Eton College