Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

(23 September 1869 – 13 August 1948), was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1915 and as

Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affa ...

between 1919 and 1922.

Background

Harmsworth was born at Alexandra Terrace,

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

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 ...

, the third son of Alfred Harmsworth and Geraldine Mary, daughter of William Maffett. He was the younger brother of newspaper proprietors

Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the '' Daily Mail'' and the '' Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journ ...

, and

Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, (26 April 1868 – 26 November 1940) was a leading British newspaper proprietor who owned Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is best known, like his brother Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Nort ...

, and the elder brother of

Sir Leicester Harmsworth, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Leicester Harmsworth, 1st Baronet (1 November 187019 January 1937) was a British businessman and Liberal politician. Background Harmsworth was the fourth son of Alfred Harmsworth, a barrister, and Geraldine Mary, daughter of William ...

, and

Sir Hildebrand Harmsworth, 1st Baronet Sir Hildebrand Aubrey Harmsworth, 1st Baronet (15 March 1872 – 18 April 1929) was a British newspaper proprietor, twice unsuccessful parliamentary candidate, and member of the Harmsworth publishing family. Early life and family Hildebrand H ...

. He also had four other younger brothers and four sisters. He was educated at

St Marylebone Grammar School St Marylebone Grammar School (SMGS) was a grammar school located in the London borough of the City of Westminster, from 1792 to 1981. History Philological School Founded as the Philological Society by Thomas Collingwood, under the patronage of ...

and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

.thepeerage.com Cecil Bisshopp Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth
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Career

Harmsworth was the Liberal candidate in the 1901 by-election for the North East Lanarkshire constituency, but lost to the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

candidate. He was elected to 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 ...

for

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

in 1906, a seat he held until he was defeated at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

. He re-entered the House of Commons as the representative for

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

in a 1911 by-election, and continued to sit for the constituency until 1922. He was

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...

to Walter Runciman between 1911 and 1915 and then briefly held office under

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department between February and May 1915. However, he did not serve in the coalition government formed by Asquith in May 1915. After

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 (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

became Prime Minister in December 1916, Harmsworth was a member of the Prime Minister's Secretariat between 1917 and 1919 and

between 1919 and 1922 in Lloyd George's

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. He also served briefly as Acting Minister of Blockade in 1919. In 1939 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Harmsworth, of Egham in the County of Surrey. He became a regular contributor in 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 Westminst ...

, making his last speech in June 1945. Apart from his political career Harmsworth was a director of

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

and chairman of

Associated Newspapers DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...

, founded by his brother

Lord Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

. He published ''Pleasure and Problem in South Africa'' (1908), ''Immortals at First Hand'' (1933) and ''A Little Fishing Book'' (1942). Harmsworth purchased

Dr Johnson's House Dr Johnson's House is a writer's house museum in London in the former home of the 18th-century English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson. The house is a Grade I listed building. Description Built at the end of the seventeenth century b ...

and restored it into a museum open to the public. He also was an active member of the Sylvan Debating Club, which was founded by his father, and served as its treasurer. His diaries include social meetings with influential people including

suffragists Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

like Agnes Harben and her husband.

Family

Lord Harmsworth married his cousin Emilie Alberta, daughter of William Hamilton Maffett, in 1897. His wife was born in 1873 and died in 1942. Lord Harmsworth survived her by six years and died in August 1948, aged 78. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest surviving son, Cecil.

Arms

References

External links

*
Cecil Harmsworth papers at the University of Exeter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmsworth, Cecil Harmsworth, 1st Baron 1869 births 1948 deaths Cecil Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs who were granted peerages Barons created by George VI