Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Wilfrid William Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple,
PC (13 September 1867 – 3 July 1939) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
soldier and
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
politician. He served as
Minister of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...
between 1924 and 1929 under
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
.
Background and education
Ashley was the son of
Hon. Evelyn Ashley, second surviving son of the social reformer
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (28 April 1801 – 1 October 1885), styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was a British Tory politician, philanthropist, and social reformer. He was the eldest son of The 6th Earl of Shaftesbury ...
. His mother was Sybella Charlotte Farquhar, daughter of Sir Walter Farquhar, 3rd Baronet.
William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple
William Francis Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple, PC (13 December 1811 – 16 October 1888), known as William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper") before 1869 and as William Cowper-Temple between 1869 and 1880, was a British Liberal statesman.
B ...
, was his great-uncle. He was educated at
Harrow and
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
.
["Lt.-Col. Wilfred William Ashley, 1st and last Baron Mount Temple"](_blank)
''The Peerage'', 18 August 2011 He left Oxford without taking a degree, and then travelled widely, including in Africa and the Americas.
Military career
Ashley served in the Ayrshire militia (1886–9), then held an active commission in the regular army with the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
(1889–98), before returning to the militia when he was commissioned with the 3rd battalion of the
Hampshire Regiment
The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...
(1899–1902).
[Feuchtwanger, E. (3 January 2008). Ashley, Wilfrid William, Baron Mount Temple (1867–1939), politician. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.'' Retrieved 15 Nov. 2020, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30471.] Though in the militia, he volunteered for active service in South Africa during the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
(1899–1902), but was invalided home. He resigned from the militia with the honorary rank of
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in December 1902.
Political career
Ashley's father was a Liberal Unionist and Ashley initially acted as private secretary to
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannermann, beginning in 1899, when he was leader of the opposition. After being invalided home from the South Africa in 1901, he congratulated Campbell-Bannermann on his "methods of barbarism" speech in June 1901.
Ashley, who held the rank of
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, was well known as an activist in various
pressure group
Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...
s before commencing his party political career. He was a leading figure in the
Navy League and also set up the anti-state intervention No More Waste Committee 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 was subsequently involved in the foundation of the
Comrades of the Great War
The Comrades of The Great War were formed in 1917 as an association to represent the rights of ex-service men and women who had served or had been discharged from service during World War I. Comrades of The Great War was one of the original four e ...
in 1917 and as President of the group helped to ensure that the ex-servicemen's movement was closely linked to the Conservative Party at its foundation.
Ashley was elected to
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 ...
in 1906 to represent
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
, holding the seat until 1918 before subsequently sitting as member for
Fylde until 1922 and
New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
from 1922 to 1932.
[Cameron Hazlehurst, Sally Whitehead, Christine Woodland, ''A guide to the papers of British cabinet ministers, 1900-1964'', Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 30] Ashley commanded the 20th battalion of the
King's Regiment (Liverpool)
The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which we ...
in 1914 in the rank of lieutenant-colonel before returning to England in 1915 to become parliamentary private secretary to the financial secretary to the War Office.
Ashley, who owned
Classiebawn Castle
Classiebawn Castle is a country house built for The 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) on what was formerly a estate on the Mullaghmore Peninsula near the village of Cliffoney, County Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland. The current castle wa ...
in southern Ireland, was a fierce opponent of
Irish republicanism
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
and wrote to
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 ...
, then Prime Minister, in 1921 to ask for the protection of his Irish estates.
He served under
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 ...
and
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
as
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport was a junior position at the British Ministry of Transport. The office was renamed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport in 1941, but resumed its former name at the end of the S ...
and
Parliamentary Secretary to the Office of Works from October 1922 until October 1923, when he was appointed
Under-Secretary of State for War
The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for ...
, which he remained until January 1924.
Ashley 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 February 1924 and when the Conservatives returned to power under Baldwin in November of that year he was made
Minister for Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...
, an office he retained until the fall of the Baldwin administration in 1929. He left 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. ...
in 1932 and was raised to the peerage as Baron Mount Temple, of Lee in the County of Southampton, a revival of the title held by his great-uncle.
Lord Mount Temple remained active within 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 ...
and was a vocal supporter of the policy of
appeasement
Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...
towards
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. He admired
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
for his
anti-communism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
, although much of his conviction rested on the belief that the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
had been unjust to begin with and that it should be revised regardless of who was in government in Germany. In 1935, in order to underline his support for the Germans, Lord Mount Temple was instrumental in establishing the
Anglo-German Fellowship
The Anglo-German Fellowship was a membership organisation that existed from 1935 to 1939, and aimed to build up friendship between the United Kingdom and Germany. It was widely perceived as being allied to Nazism. Previous groups in Britain wit ...
. He served as chairman of both this group and
Anti-Socialist Union The Anti-Socialist Union was a British political pressure group that supported free trade economics and opposed socialism. It was active from 1908 to 1948 with its heyday occurring before the First World War.
Organizational history Formation
Coming ...
simultaneously in the later 1930s. In October 1938, after the
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
, he was among twenty-six signatories of a letter to ''The Times'', calling the agreement "the rectification of one of the most flagrant injustices in the peace treaties".
As AGF chairman, Lord Mount Temple (as he now was) visited Germany in mid-1937 and held a meeting with Hitler. Unlike some of his contemporaries in the Fellowship, the
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
Mount Temple did not support ideological
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
(perhaps due in part to the fact that his first wife was Jewish). In the aftermath of
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
he resigned in protest from the chairmanship although his membership of the group continued.
Personal life
![László - Mrs Wilfrid Ashley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_-_Mrs_Wilfrid_Ashley.jpg)
In 2008, the British historian
Edward Feuchtwanger described Ashley as "a strikingly good-looking man, of military bearing, courteous and tactful, with strongly held, rather conventional views, sometimes regarded as reactionary".
Lord Mount Temple married Amalia Mary Maud Cassel, daughter and only child of financier
Sir Ernest Cassel, in early January, 1901.
Amongst the wedding guests was
The Prince Albert Edward,
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(the wedding taking place on 4 January, only eighteen days before Albert Edward became
King-Emperor
A king-emperor (the female equivalent being queen-empress) is a sovereign ruler who is simultaneously a king of one territory and emperor of another. This title usually results from a merger of a royal and imperial crown, but recognises that the ...
), who was a friend of Cassel. The couple had two daughters:
*
Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (1901–1960), who married
The 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)
*
Ruth Mary Cholmondeley, Lady Delamere (1906–1986), who married
Alec Cunningham-Reid
Captain Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid (20 April 1895 – 26 March 1977), known in his early life as Alec Stratford Reid, was a British First World War flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. After the war, he entered politics as a Con ...
(1895–1977) in 1927. They divorced in 1940. She then married Major Ernest Laurie Gardner. They divorced in 1943. In 1944 she married
the 4th Baron Delamere (1900–1979). They divorced in 1955.
Following his first wife's early death in 1911, he married in 1914
Muriel Emily ("Molly") Forbes-Sempill, the former wife of
Rear-Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...
The Hon. Arthur Forbes-Sempill, daughter of
The Rev.
The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...
Walter Spencer of Fownhope Court,
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, and sister of
Margery, Viscountess Greenwood.
The couple commissioned the architect
Oliver Hill to design two Westminster town houses, naming them both Gayfere House.
The first house, built at 12 Gayfere Street (1923–26),
had a drawing room completely decorated with
gold leaf
Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...
.
[ The second, at the corner of Gayfere Street and Great Peter Street (1929–32), was decorated in ]Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style, making much use of mirrored walls and ceilings, most famously in a bathroom called by the Press "Lady Mount Temple's Crystal Palace".[ She died on 30 June 1954 at Culver House, ]Penshurst
Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England.
The village is situa ...
, Kent aged 73.
The family also owned Classiebawn Castle
Classiebawn Castle is a country house built for The 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) on what was formerly a estate on the Mullaghmore Peninsula near the village of Cliffoney, County Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland. The current castle wa ...
on the west coast of Ireland.
Lord Mount Temple collapsed and died following a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
at his home Broadlands
Broadlands is an English country house, located in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The formal gardens and historic landscape of Broadlands ...
in July 1939, aged 71, at which time the barony became extinct and the Broadlands estate passed to his eldest daughter Edwina Ashley
Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, (''née'' Ashley; 28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960), was an English heiress, socialite, relief worker and the last vicereine of India as the wife of (the then) Rear Admiral ...
. the wife of Lord Louis Mountbatten
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of Germa ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount temple, Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron
1867 births
1939 deaths
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
Ashley, Wilfrid
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Wilfrid
Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...
People educated at Harrow School
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
British Militia officers
Deputy Lieutenants of Hampshire
Secretaries of State for Transport (UK)
Grenadier Guards officers
King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers
British Army personnel of World War I
Barons created by George V