William Edward Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt (5 October 1908 – 3 January 1979) was an English aristocrat and businessman. Harcourt was a member of the distinguished Harcourt family, who descended from the ancient

House of Harcourt The House of Harcourt is a Duchy of Normandy, Norman family, and named after its Fief, seigneurie of Harcourt, Eure, Harcourt in Normandy. Its mottos were "Gesta verbis praeveniant" (Olonde branch), "Gesta verbis praevenient" (Beuvron branch), ...

in Normandy.

Early life

Harcourt was born in London, the fourth and final child but only son born to

Lewis 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 ...

(1863–1922) and Mary Ethel Burns (1874–1961), an American heiress who in 1918 was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Doris Harcourt, a socialite and member of the ''

Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemianism, Bohemian young Aristocracy (class), aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant costume party, f ...

'', was his eldest sister. He was a grandson of Sir William Harcourt (1827–1904), the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

. He was christened 9 November at

St Mary Undercroft The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft is a Church of England chapel located in the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The chapel is accessed via a flight of stairs in the south east corner of Westminster Hall. It had been a crypt below St Step ...

at 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. ...

. He was named after King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

, his godfather, who stood sponsor by proxy. His mother was a niece of banker J. Pierpont Morgan and a first cousin of J.P. Morgan Jr. The noble titles

Earl Harcourt Earl Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749 for Simon Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt. He was made Viscount Nuneham at the same time, also in the Peerage of G ...

Viscount Harcourt Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, was a title created twice for members of the Harcourt family, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created in the Peera ...

and

Baron Harcourt Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

had previously been in the family until the male line of that branch failed in 1830. In 1917, the title of Viscount Harcourt was revived in favour of his father, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Nuneham. He 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 was still a schoolboy there when he inherited the viscountcy in 1922. He then attended

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

Career

After Oxford, Harcourt spent most of his life in London. In 1931, he served as managing director of Morgan, Grenfell & Co. and was later chairman, 1968–73. He was also chairman of the

Legal and General Assurance Society Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

from 1958 to 1977. Domestically, he served on several committees, including the Radcliffe Committee on Monetary and Credit Policy, 1957–59 and the Plowden Committee on Overseas Representational Services, 1962–64. Internationally, Harcourt served as head of the British Treasury delegation at the British embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1954–57, and as executive director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

and of the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...

. Harcourt was heavily involved with the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

. From 1965 to his death, he was chairman of the governors of the museum. Since 1958, he was chairman of the Oxford Preservation Trust and from 1975 on, he was chairman of the Trustees of the

Rhodes House Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on ...

Military and honours

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Harcourt served with the

Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH) was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army's auxiliary forces, formed in 1798. It saw service in the Second Boer War with 40 and 59 Companies of the Imperial Yeomanry and was the first Yeomanry ...

, the 63rd (Oxford Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery. He was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE), Military Division, in February 1943. He was appointed to an Officer in the same order (OBE) in the

1945 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1945, celebrating the official birthday of King George VI, were announced on 14 June 1945 for the United Kingdom and British Empire.United Kingdom and British Empire: The recipients of honours are displayed here as th ...

. In 1952, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, and from 1963 to his death, he was served as Vice-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. While living in Washington, D.C., Harcourt was knighted in the

1957 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1957 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

as a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

Personal life

Harcourt was twice married; firstly, he was married in 1931 to Hon. Maud Elizabeth Grosvenor, a daughter of Francis Egerton Grosvenor, 4th Baron Ebury and Mary Adela (née Glasson). They had three daughters before the marriage was dissolved in 1942: * Hon. Elizabeth Ann Harcourt (1932–2020), who married Crispin Gascoigne, son of Maj.-Gen. Sir Julian Alvery Gascoigne. * Hon. Penelope Mary Harcourt (b. 1933), who married Maj. Anthony David Motion, son of Maj. Malcolm Davie Motion. * Hon. Virginia Vernon Harcourt (b. 1937), who married Julian Francis Wells, son of Dr. Arthur Quinton Wells, former

High Sheriff of Oxfordshire The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...

. In 1946, Harcourt married Elizabeth Sonia Gibbs, daughter of Sir Harold Snagge and widow of Capt. Lionel Gibbs. She died in 1959. He died in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, London, aged 70, at which point the Harcourt Viscountcy again became extinct. The manor house and the remainder of the estate of

Stanton Harcourt Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southeast of Witney and about west of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton, north of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 960. Arch ...

passed to his eldest daughter Elizabeth.

References

External links

William Edward Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt (1908-1979), Businessman
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt, William, 2nd Viscount 1908 births 1979 deaths Royal Artillery officers Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War II Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars officers People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Deputy Lieutenants of Oxfordshire William, Viscount English people of American descent