Sir Percy Angier Hurd (18 May 1864 – 5 June 1950)
was a British journalist and
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 who served as a Member of Parliament for nearly thirty years. He was the first of four generations of Hurds to serve as Conservative MPs.
Early life
Percy Hurd was the eldest son of London-based solicitor William Hurd (1831–1913) and his wife Elizabeth (''née'' Angier, died 1910).
He was editor of ''
The Outlook'', a weekly magazine published in London from 1898 to 1928.
He later became editor of the ''
Canadian Gazette'' and London editor of the ''
Montreal Star
''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike.
It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...
'' and other journals in Canada. During the
First World War
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 ...
, he made various visits to the battle-front to study and record the work of the Canadian contingent. He was also a member of the executive committee of the Agricultural Relief of Allies Fund, and twice reported on the needs of the farmers in the provinces of France from which the Germans had been pushed back.
Hurd was a fervent advocate of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and wrote several books on the subject, including one written jointly with his brother Archibald (later Sir
Archibald Hurd
Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold".
Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon .
Erkanbald, bishop o ...
, a naval critic who was editor of the ''Naval and Military Record'' from 1896–1899 and then a journalist with the ''
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'' until 1928.
Political career
Hurd was first elected 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. ...
at the
1918 general election as the
Coalition Conservative
The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...
MP for the
Frome division of
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, lord_ ...
. The seat had been held by the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
for all but nine of the preceding fifty years, but Hurd's possession of the "
coalition coupon
The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...
" issued to supporters of
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
's Liberal-Conservative coalition government combined with a strong showing from a
Labour Party candidate allowed him to win the seat, ousting
Sir John Barlow who had represented Frome since 1896. At the
1922 general election, Hurd faced only a Labour opponent, and was re-elected with a modest majority of only 2.4% of the votes. However, at the
1923 general election, Frome was one of many seats won by the Labour Party.
Hurd did not stand again at Frome, and at the
next general election in October 1924 he stood instead in the
Devizes division of
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, a Conservative-leaning constituency which had been gained by the
Liberals in 1923. Hurd took the seat with a majority of over 20% of the vote, and remained as MP for Devizes until he retired from
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
at the
1945 general election.
He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in the 1932
King's Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...
, "for political and public services".
According to his grandson,
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995.
A career diplomat and political secretary to P ...
, Percy "wasn't very political. He used to go round villages in Wiltshire telling funny stories."
Family
In 1893 Percy married Hannah (died 1949), daughter of Rev. William Jackson Cox, of Dundee, Angus, Scotland,
[The New Extinct Peerage, 1884-1971, L. G. Pine, Heraldry Today, 1972, p. 154] and they had four children:
*
Robert Philip Andrew Hurd (1905–1963), an architect.
*
Anthony Richard Hurd (1901–1966), a farmer and agricultural journalist who followed his father into politics and served as MP for
Newbury from 1945 to 1964. Anthony was knighted in 1959 and became 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 ...
in 1964.
* Douglas William Hurd (''c.''1895–1916), a Captain in the
Middlesex Regiment
The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...
who was killed in the
First World War
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 ...
.
* Angier Percy Hurd (1897–1918), a Lieutenant in the
Hertfordshire Regiment
The Hertfordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originating in units of Rifle Volunteers formed in 1859, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First and Second Wor ...
who was killed during the
German spring offensive in the First World War.
Anthony's eldest son
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
(born 1930),
was an MP from 1974 to 1997 (for
Mid Oxfordshire and then
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
), rising to become
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
and then
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
; he was made a life peer in 1997. Douglas's son,
Nick
Nick may refer to:
* Nick (given name)
* A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat
* British slang for being arrested
* British slang for a police station
* British slang for stealing
* Short for nickname
Place ...
(born 1962) was MP for
Ruislip-Northwood from 2005 to 2019.
Publications
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Percy A
1864 births
1950 deaths
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1918–1922
UK MPs 1922–1923
UK MPs 1924–1929
UK MPs 1929–1931
UK MPs 1931–1935
UK MPs 1935–1945
Knights Bachelor
English male journalists
British magazine publishers (people)
Percy
The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...