William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech, (11 April 1885 – 14 February 1964), was a British

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 in ...

politician and banker.

Background

Harlech, the son of George Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech, and Lady Margaret Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly, was born at

Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgra ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. 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, ...

and New College, Oxford. Article by K. E. Robinson.

Military service and First World War

Ormsby-Gore served in the Territorial Army, being commissioned a second lieutenant in the Shropshire Yeomanry in 1907 and promoted lieutenant in 1911. He was mobilized at the outbreak of 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 ...

and accompanied his regiment to Egypt, where he was promoted captain in 1915 and went onto the general staff. In 1916 he joined the

Arab Bureau The Arab Bureau was a section of the Cairo Intelligence Department established in 1916 during the First World War, and closed in 1920, whose purpose was the collection and dissemination of propaganda and intelligence about the Arab regions of ...

as an intelligence officer, attached to the British High Commissioner Sir Henry A. McMahon. He strongly opposed the Sykes-Picot treaty, arguing "we make professions of defending and helping small & oppressed nations... etwe parcel out between our allies & ourselves vast tracts of countries which do not want us." He argued that Britain should support self-determination for Arabs and Jews. He challenged claims that Africans were incapable of governing themselves. He saw white prejudices as the fundamental problem, not the incapability of non-whites. After becoming a MP, Ormsby-Gore pressured the British government to accept a League of Nations mandates system. He was recalled to England in 1917 to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Milner and as assistant secretary in the War Cabinet headed by Prime Minister

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 ...

, and to Sir Mark Sykes. Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, a personal friend, took refuge in Ormsby-Gore's London home while the former was in the capital for the cabinet approval of the Balfour Declaration. With Weizmann's approval, Ormsby-Gore was the British military liaison officer with the Zionist mission in the Holy Land (then lately liberated from Ottoman Turkish rule) during March to August 1918. After the armistice, he was part of the British delegation to the peace conference at Paris in 1919. Ormsby-Gore remained serving in the yeomanry after the war until 1921. In 1939 he was appointed an honorary colonel of the 10th Battalion of the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

Political career

Harlech 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 o ...

(MP) for Denbigh Boroughs by a majority of eight votes at the January 1910 general election, sitting for the seat until he was selected for and won Stafford at the 1918 general election. He sat in 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. T ...

until he entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

on succeeding to his father's peerage in 1938 as the 4th Baron Harlech. He was British representative to the

Permanent Mandates Commission The Permanent Mandates Commission (PMC) was the commission of the League of Nations responsible for oversight of mandated territories. The commission was established on 1 December 1920 and was headquartered at Geneva. The existence of the Commis ...

of the League of Nations from 1921 to 1922. He played a catalyst role in expanding the powers of the Commission and making colonial powers accountable to the Commission. He was influential in establishing a process whereby subjects in the mandates could petition the League of Nations and have their grievances publicized. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1922 to 1929 (with a brief interruption during the short-lived Labour government of 1924). In the 1927 New Year Honours, he was sworn of the Privy Council. Harlech also held office in the National Government as

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsible ...

in 1931, as

First Commissioner of Works The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ir ...

from 1931 to 1936 and as Colonial Secretary between 1936 and 1938, resigning, eight days after he entered the House of Lords, as protest of support of partitioning Palestine after pressure of Arab protests over Jewish immigration. After his resignation, he was appointed as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 1938 Birthday Honours. He was also a firm protester against Nazi Germany at that time. 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 opposi ...

, he was Civil Defence Commissioner for the North-East of England and then High Commissioner to South Africa from 1941 to 1944.

Cultural interests

He had an extensive library at his

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

home,

Brogyntyn Brogyntyn, or Porkington, is a mansion in the parish of Selatyn to the north-west of Oswestry in Shropshire, England. Brogyntyn Hall was the home of the Ormsby-Gore family from 1815, and had previously been the estate of their ancestors the Maur ...

near Oswestry, which he downsized after moving out of the mansion in 1955. He and his father deposited a valuable collection of Brogyntyn manuscripts at the National Library of Wales. He was author of: *''Florentine Sculptors of the Fifteenth Century'' (1930) *''Guide to the Mantegna Cartoons at Hampton Court'' (1935) *Three volumes in the series ''Guides to the Ancient Monuments of England''.

Further work

After retiring from politics he served on the board of

Midland Bank Midland Bank Plc was one of the Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. It ...

, owner of a banking house founded by his family, and was chairman of the Bank of West Africa. He also held the honorary post of Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire between 1938 and 1957. On 12 March 1948 he was appointed as Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG). Described as having "a deep interest in the arts", Lord Harlech was trustee of the National Gallery (with brief interval) from 1927, and of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

from 1945 to 1953, chairman of the advisory committee to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

and of the Standing Commission on Museums and Galleries from 1948 to 1956. He was the President of the national Library of Wales, 1950-58. He was Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales and Constable of

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 19 ...

and Caernarfon castles.

Personal life

Lord Harlech married Lady Beatrice Edith Mildred Gascoyne-Cecil (born 10 August 1891, died 1980), daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, in 1913. They had six children: * Mary Hermione Ormsby-Gore (born 7 September 1914, died 26 September 2006), married firstly Captain Robin Francis Campbell in 1936 (divorced 1946) and secondly in 1947 Sir Alexander Lees Mayall, KCVO, CMG. * Owen Gerard Cecil Ormsby-Gore (born 30 July 1916, died 3 October 1935) * William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech (born 20 May 1918, died 26 January 1985) * Katherine Margaret Alice Ormsby-Gore, DBE (born 4 January 1921, died 22 January 2017), married Maurice Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden, son of Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton and Lady Dorothy Cavendish. * Captain John Julian Stafford Ormsby-Gore (born 12 April 1925, died 18 April 2008), unmarried. * Elizabeth Jane Ormsby-Gore (born 14 November 1929, died 19 January 2004), married William Simon Pease, 3rd Baron Wardington.The Peerage, entry for Hon. Elizabeth Ormsby-Gore
/ref> Lord Harlech died in February 1964, aged 78, and was succeeded in the barony by his second, but eldest surviving son

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, who followed him into politics and served as

British Ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

in the 1960s. Beatrice, Lady Harlech, a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth, died in 1980.

Coat of arms

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * *

External links

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Arab Bureau officers 4 Eldest sons of British hereditary barons Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 Welsh landowners Place of birth missing Welsh art historians People associated with the Tate galleries People associated with the National Gallery, London