Richard Kidston Law, 1st Baron Coleraine, (27 February 1901 – 15 November 1980) was a British Conservative politician.

Early life

He was the youngest son among six children born to businessman and Conservative politician

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a ...

(who would go on to serve as

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 advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

from 1922 to 1923) and Law's wife, the former Annie Pitcairn Robley, a daughter of Harrington Robley, a merchant from Glasgow. Richard's brother Charlie, a lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, was killed at the Second Battle of Gaza in April 1917,Taylor (2007) p. 11 followed by brother James, a captain in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

, who was shot down and killed on 21 September 1917.Taylor (2007) p.12 His sister Isabel married

Sir Frederick Sykes Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes, (23 July 1877 – 30 September 1954) was a British military officer and politician. Sykes was a junior officer in the 15th Hussars before becoming interested in military aviation. He was the first Off ...

, and another sister Catherine married The 1st Baron Archibald in 1961.Adams (1999) p. 293 He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

Political career

Law 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 Kingston upon Hull South West in the general election of 1931 and held the seat until 1945. In 1940 he was appointed Financial Secretary to the War Office. He was then transferred to the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs until 1943. While in the latter post he took part in the Bermuda Conference on the fate of European Jewry and was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in the

1943 New Year Honours The 1943 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 29 December 1942.United Kingdom (additiona ...

. He was then

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

, also at the Foreign Office, until 1945, when he served briefly as Minister of Education in Churchill's

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

. In a

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 November 1945 he became MP for Kensington South, which he held until February 1950. Law was again elected as an MP in the election of 1951, this time for

Haltemprice Haltemprice is an area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, directly to the west of Hull. Originally an extra-parochial area, it became a civil parish in 1858, in 1935 it was expanded by the combination of the urban districts of Cottingham, ...

, but he resigned this seat in January 1954 and in February was elevated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as Baron Coleraine of

in the East Riding of the

County of York Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. After his elevation to the peerage, he went on a two-week lecture tour in the United States, following two weeks in Russia at the invitation of the Russian government.

Published works

In 1950, Law published ''Return from Utopia'', a book in which he stated his belief that trying to use the power of the state to create any sort of

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

is not just unattainable but positively evil, because one of the first principles to be sacrificed is the principle of

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

and individual choice. Law argued:

To turn our backs on Utopia, to see it for the sham and the delusion that it is, is the beginning of hope. It is to hold out once again the prospect of a society in which man is free to be good because he is free to choose. Freedom is the first condition of human virtue and Utopia is incompatible with freedom. Come back from Utopia and hope is born again.Richard Law, ''Return from Utopia'' (London: Faber & Faber, 1950), p. 9.

In 1970, Lord Coleraine published another book, ''For Conservatives Only'', in which he criticised the Conservative leadership of the time for, in his view, sacrificing Tory principles for electoral expediency and the pursuit of the "middle ground". At this time he was Patron of the Selsdon Group of Conservative MPs.

Personal life

On 26 January 1929, Lord Coleraine (when still Richard Law) married Mary Virginia Nellis, the second daughter of Abraham Fox Nellis, of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. Her father, a silk manufacturer, had died in 1923. Together, they were the parents of two children: * James Law, 2nd Baron Coleraine (b. 1931), who married Emma Elizabeth Richards, only daughter of Nigel Richards, in 1958. After their divorce in 1966, he married Anne ''Patricia'' Farrant in 1966. She was the second daughter of Maj.-Gen. Ralph Henry Farrant. * Hon. Andrew Bonar Law (b. 1933), who married Joanna Margarette Neill, daughter of Raymond Neill of Ireland, in 1961. Lady Coleraine died on 3 April 1978 in Helensburgh,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Lord Coleraine died on 15 November 1980, age 79, and was succeeded in the barony by his son James Martin Bonar Law.

Descendants

Through his elder son James, he was a grandfather of Hon. Elizabeth Mary Law (b. 1961), who married Charles Ironside, 3rd Baron Ironside (only son and heir of

Edmund Ironside, 2nd Baron Ironside Edmund Oslac Ironside, 2nd Baron Ironside (21 September 1924 – 13 January 2020) was a British hereditary peer, who sat in the House of Lords from 1959 to 1999. Prior to entering the Lords, he served in the Royal Navy and worked for Marconi. ...

) in 1985; Hon. Sophia Anne Law (b. 1964); Hon. James Peter Bonar Law (1975-2019), Hon. Henrietta Margaret Law (1968–1993), and Hon. Juliana Caroline Matilda Law (b. 1971). Through his son Andrew, he was a grandfather of Richard Pitcairn Bonar Law (b. 1963) and Charlotte Mary de Montmorency Law (b. 1964).

Arms

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleraine, Richard Law, 1st Baron 1901 births 1980 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford British Secretaries of State for Education Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Law, Richard Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II People educated at Shrewsbury School Law, Richard Law, Richard Law, Richard Law, Richard Law, Richard UK MPs who were granted peerages War Office personnel in World War II