Bolton Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell
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Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell, (22 February 1881 – 21 March 1969) was a British
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician who served as
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until 1931 and then as
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
.


Biography

His parents were Lt. Col. Bolton James Alfred Monsell, a soldier and a Chief Constable in the
Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
, and Mary Beverley, daughter of Sir Edmund Ogle, 6th Baronet. Bolton Monsell took the name Eyres upon his marriage to Caroline Mary Sybil Eyres in 1904, a marriage dissolved in 1950. Eyres-Monsell served in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, where he was promoted
sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...
on 15 July 1900, and
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
on 15 July 1901. In June 1902 he was posted to the newly completed
torpedo boat destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1 ...
HMS ''Success'', serving in the
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instructional flotilla, but only two months later, in August 1902, he was transferred to the
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
HMS ''Magnificent'', flagship of the second in command,
Channel Squadron Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
. He was elected as
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for the
Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...
Division of
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
in January 1910 general election, and served until 1935. During the First World War, he again served as a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
officer, achieving the rank of
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and was awarded the
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by the
Sultan of Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally i ...
. He was
Civil Lord of the Admiralty The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal N ...
from April 1921 to October 1922; then
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...
until May 1923, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from July 1923 to January 1924, and again from November 1924 to June 1929 and from September 1931 to November 1931. He became
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
in 1931, helped negotiate the
Anglo-German Naval Agreement The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA) of 18 June 1935 was a naval agreement between the United Kingdom and Germany regulating the size of the '' Kriegsmarine'' in relation to the Royal Navy. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement fixed a ratio wher ...
, retaining his office in government until 1936. He was appointed a
Knight Grand Cross 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 ...
(GBE) in 1929 and was created Viscount Monsell, of
Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...
in the
County of Worcester Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
on 30 November 1935. He married a second time on 25 July 1950 to Essex Leila Hilary French. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his son
Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...
. His second daughter, the Hon. Joan Eyres-Monsell (1912–2003),Her obituary in ''The Independent''
/ref> was married for the second time in 1968 to
Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greates ...
, the traveller and author. Lord Monsell's nephew was the British arctic explorer Henry George Watkins (1907–1932). A suburb of
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
is named
Eyres Monsell Eyres Monsell is an Ward (electoral subdivision), electoral ward and administrative division in Leicester, England. Geography Eyres Monsell is bounded to the north by the historic village of Aylestone. To the east is the village of South Wigst ...
after him; the housing estate was built on land he had owned before it was compulsorily purchased in the early 1950s.


Arms


See also

* Dumbleton Hall


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monsell, Bolton Eyre-Monsell, 1st Viscount 1881 births 1969 deaths Eyres-Monsell, Bolton First Lords of the Admiralty Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Treasurers of the Household Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton Eyres-Monsell, Bolton UK MPs who were granted peerages Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers People educated at Stubbington House School Viscounts created by George V