Sir Maurice Bonham-Carter (11 October 1880 – 7 June 1960) was an English Liberal politician, civil servant and first-class cricketer. He was

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

's Principal Private Secretary during Asquith's time as Prime Minister from 1910 to 1916 and later served in other government posts. He played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for Oxford University Cricket Club in the early 20th century. The actress Helena Bonham Carter is his granddaughter.

Early life

Bonham-Carter, who was widely known by the nickname "Bongie," was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London, on 11 October 1880. He was the eleventh child born to Sibella Charlotte (''

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 ...

'' Norman) and Henry Bonham-Carter. His brothers included General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter, Governor of the Crown Colony of Malta from 1936 to 1940 and the lawyer Sir Edgar Bonham-Carter. He was educated at Winchester College 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 ...

.Bonham-Carter, Sir Maurice
Obituaries in 1960. '' Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1961. Retrieved 2017-04-03. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper for Oxford University Cricket Club, playing thirteen times for the side in first-class cricket matches between 1901 and 1902.Maurice Bonham-Carter

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 2017-04-04. He was awarded his cricket Blue in 1902. His highest score in first-class cricket was 86 for Oxford versus H.D.G. Leveson Gower's XI at the Parks in 1902. Bonham-Carter also played one first-class match for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

in 1902.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 80–81.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)

Career

He was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1909.Maurice Bonham-Carter
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-04-03. Between 1910 and 1916, Bonham-Carter served as the

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office is ...

during Asquith's tenure as Prime Minister. He travelled around the country with Asquith at the start of World War I and accompanied the Prime Minister when he visited the frontline at Ypres in 1915.Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country'', p.96. Brighton: Reveille Press. He also visited Italy and, following the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, Ireland with Asquith in 1916. When Asquith was replaced as Prime Minister by David Lloyd George in 1916, Bonham-Carter moved to become Assistant Secretary of the

Ministry of Reconstruction The Ministry of Reconstruction was a department of the United Kingdom government which existed after both World War I and World War II in order to provide for the needs of the population in the post war years. World War I The Ministry of Recons ...

and then, in 1918, joined the Air Ministry and Road Transport Board. He became a leading figure in the

British Liberal Party The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Conservative Party, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Beginning as an alliance of Whigs, free trade–supporting Peelites and reformist Ra ...

and was a "keen supporter of new ideas and imaginative personalities." He was a partner in a firm of

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

s. He also held a number of business directorships with companies including: Aero Engine Ltd, Alpha Cement Ltd, Earls Court Ltd, Blackburn and General Aircraft, Hanworth Securities Ltd, Scophony Ltd, Power Jets Ltd and was a partner with merchant bankers O.T. Falk and Partners, and stockbrokers Buckmaster & Moore.

Honours

Bonham-Carter was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1916 in Asquith's resignation honours and in the

1917 Birthday Honours The 1917 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

was made a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(KCVO).

Personal life

On 30 November 1915, he was married to Violet Asquith, daughter of then-British prime minister

. As she was later made a

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 ...

ess, he and his wife were one of the few couples both of whom held titles in their own right. Together, they had four children: * The Honourable (Helen Laura) Cressida Bonham-Carter (1917–1998), who married Jasper Ridley. * The Honourable Laura Miranda Bonham Carter (1918–1994), who married Jo Grimond. * Mark Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham Carter of Yarnbury (1922–1994) * The Honourable Raymond Henry Bonham-Carter (1929–2004) He died in 1960 aged 79 and is buried in the churchyard at St Andrew's Church, Mells in Somerset.

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter Cressida, he was a grandfather to Sir

Adam Ridley Sir Adam Nicholas Ridley (born 14 May 1942) is a British economist, civil servant, and banker. After working at the Foreign Office and the Department of Economic Affairs, he was Director of the Conservative Research Department. With Chris Patten ...

. Through his eldest son Mark, he was a grandfather of three girls, including: Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham Carter of Yarnbury, wife of

Tim Razzall, Baron Razzall Edward Timothy Razzall, Lord Razzall, (born 12 June 1943) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and parliamentarian. Early life He was the son of Humphrey Razzall, a Liberal Party member who stood as Liberal Parliamentary Candidate for Sc ...

. Through his youngest son Raymond, he was a grandfather to three including: Helena Bonham Carter and

Edward Bonham Carter Edward Henry Bonham-Carter (born 24 May 1960) is the vice chairman of a British fund management group, Jupiter Fund Management plc. Early life Edward Henry Bonham-Carter was born and raised in Golders Green, London. He is the elder son of Raym ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonham Carter, Maurice 1880 births 1960 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English barristers Maurice Liberal Party (UK) politicians English cricketers Kent cricketers Oxford University cricketers Cricketers from Greater London Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Winchester College Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Spouses of life peers 20th-century English businesspeople