Stafford Harry Northcote, Viscount Saint Cyres

KStJ The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

(29 August 1869 – 2 February 1926) was an English diplomat and historian. The only son of Walter Stafford Northcote, 2nd Earl of Iddesleigh and Elizabeth Lucy Meysey-Thompson, he was styled as Viscount Saint Cyres from 1887 until his death. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, where he graduated BA with a First in modern history and later MA. He was Secretary and Counsellor in

Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with Foreign policy, foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Servi ...

and was also active as a historian. In 1914 he was awarded the honorary degree of

Doctor of Literature Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

. He was appointed a Knight of Justice of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

and was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

.''Burke’s Peerage'' volume 2 (2003), p. 2024 In 1922 he was living at 84,

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. On 9 July 1912, Northcote married Dorothy Morrison (born c. 1872), a daughter of

Alfred Morrison Alfred Morrison (1821 – 22 December 1897) was an English collector, known for his interest in works of art, autographs and manuscripts. Life The second son of James Morrison (1790–1857) the textile businessman, he inherited from his father a ...

. They had no children and he died on 2 February 1926 aged 56. His widow survived until 1936.

Selected publications

*''François de Fénelon'' (London: Methuen, 1901) *''The Gallican Church'',

The Cambridge Modern History ''The Cambridge Modern History'' is a comprehensive modern history of the world, beginning with the 15th century Age of Discovery, published by the Cambridge University Press in England and also in the United States. The first series, planned b ...

Vol. V (Cambridge University Press, 1908) *''Pascal'' (London: Smith, Elder & Company, 1909; New York: E. P. Dutton) *"The Sorrows of Mrs. Charlotte Smith", ''Cornhill Magazine'', vol. 15 (1903), pp. 686–96

In popular culture

Northcote is quoted in ''The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs'' (Yale, 2012): “We do not care for things once they are ours; what we enjoy is running after them.””Stafford Harry Northcote (Viscount St. Cyres)”, in ''The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs'' (Yale University Press, 2012),
p. 57
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northcote, Stafford Harry 1869 births 1926 deaths Saint Cyres People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 19th-century English historians Heirs apparent who never acceded