Robert Venables Vernon Harcourt (7 May 1878 – 8 September 1962) was a British diplomat, playwright, farmer and

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 ...

politician.

Family and education

Harcourt was the son of a Liberal statesman,

Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby then West Monmouthshire and held the offices ...

, who was briefly leader of the Liberal Party from 1896 to 1898 and his second wife Elizabeth Cabot Motley who was the daughter of

John Lothrop Motley John Lothrop Motley (April 15, 1814 – May 29, 1877) was an American author and diplomat. As a popular historian, he is best known for his works on the Netherlands, the three volume work ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' and four volume ''His ...

sometime Minister of the United States in London and author of a number of works of history. His brother,

Lewis Vernon Harcourt Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born Reginald Vernon Harcourt; 31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922), was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet post of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. Lord ...

, was also a Liberal MP and government minister. Harcourt was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he took honours in the History

Tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

. At Cambridge, he was a committee member of

Cambridge University Liberal Club Cambridge University Liberal Association (CULA) is the student branch of the Liberal Democrats for students at Cambridge University. It is the successor to the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, which in turn was formed from the merger of Cam ...

from 1899 to 1900. He was engaged to be married to Margery (or Marjorie) Cunard, the granddaughter and heiress of the founder of the famous Cunard shipping concern, but the engagement was twice broken off. However, Miss Cunard was eventually persuaded to relent, and she married Harcourt in 1911. They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth.

Career

Harcourt went into the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

, serving as a Clerk on the diplomatic establishment of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

from 1900 to 1906. He was then briefly engaged in journalism, being parliamentary correspondent of the magazine Tribune until he was 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 a by-election in 1908. After leaving the Commons, Harcourt went into farming at his country home near Lyndhurst in Hampshire where he eventually built up a pedigree

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

herd of about 50 head of cattle.

War Service

During the First World War, Harcourt served as a lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

from 1914 to 1918. He later served as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

from February 1939 until August that year, after which he was promoted to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Politics

Harcourt followed the Liberal family tradition. He stood unsuccessfully for the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

seat of

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

in 1907, as a Progressive. The

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

swept that election however and Harcourt turned his sights towards Parliament. He first stood for Parliament without success at the Hastings by-election of 1908. However another chance soon arrived with the elevation to the peerage of

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

. Morley had been

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

since 1905 but he was given a seat in 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 ...

to ease the burden of performing this office, so creating a vacancy in his Montrose Burghs constituency. The by-election was held on 12 May 1908. In a three-cornered contest, Harcourt held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 1,146 over

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 ...

, with the Unionists in third place. Harcourt held his seat at Montrose at the general elections of

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and

December 1910 The following events occurred in December 1910: December 1, 1910 (Thursday) * Porfirio Diaz was inaugurated for his eighth term as President of Mexico."Record of Current Events", ''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (January 1911), pp ...

. He did not contest the seat at the 1918 general election and the seat was taken for the

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

Liberals by

John Leng Sturrock John Leng Sturrock (23 August 1878 – 22 July 1943) was a Scottish newspaper publisher and Liberal politician. Family and education John Leng Sturrock was born in Newport-on-Tay, Fife. He was educated at the High School of Dundee and at Unive ...

in a straight fight against Labour. Harcourt was sometime Chairman of the Reform Union.

Dramatist

Harcourt was also a playwright. He published two three-act comedies; ''An Angel Unawares'', which was produced by Miss Fanny Brough at Terry's Theatre in 1906, and ''A Question of Age'', produced by

Harley Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

which played at the Court Theatre in 1907. In addition while an MP he successfully agitated for the appointment of a Parliamentary inquiry into the Censorship of Plays and was a member of the Joint Committee set up to examine the issue.

Death

Harcourt died at the age of 84 years on 8 September 1962. He is buried at All Saints,

Minstead Minstead is a small village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, about north of Lyndhurst. There is a shop and a pub, the ''Trusty Servant''. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's grave is under a large tree at the back of the 13th century Al ...

near, Lyndhurst.The Times, 14 September 1962 p12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt, Robert Venables Vernon 1878 births 1962 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Members of HM Diplomatic Service Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 British dramatists and playwrights Progressive Party (London) politicians British male dramatists and playwrights Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Air Force officers 20th-century British diplomats