Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury (6 March 1887 – 30 January 1971) 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. He served as a government minister between 1931 and 1941 and served as Governor-General of Ceylon between the years 1949 and 1954.

Background

Ramsbotham was the son of Herwald Ramsbotham, of Crowborough Warren (son of James Ramsbotham and Jane Fielden), and Ethel Margaret Bevan. He went to

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

, Uppingham, Rutland, England.

Military career

Ramsbotham was commissioned a Temporary Lieutenant in 1915 and was promoted to temporary Captain later the same year. He was promoted to temporary Major by 1918 and received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

. He was appointed an OBE in 1919 and relinquished his commission that year.

Political career

Ramsbotham was elected

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 Lancaster in 1929. In 1931 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education by Ramsay MacDonald, a post he retained when Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister in June 1935, and then served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries between November 1935 and July 1936. In September 1936 he was made Minister of Pensions by Baldwin. He continued in this office when Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister in May 1937. In June 1939 he was appointed

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 ...

and sworn of the Privy Council. Ramsbotham entered the cabinet in April 1940 as

President of the Board of Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Ca ...

. He remained in this office after

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

became Prime Minister in May 1940 but was succeeded by

R. A. Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary ...

in July 1941. In August he was raised to the peerage as Baron Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham, and made Chairman of the Assistance Board, a post he held until 1948. Chairman of the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

1944–45. Between 1949 and 1954 he served as Governor-General of Ceylon. He was appointed a

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

in 1949 and a

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

on 20 April 1954. On 10 June of that year, he was further honoured when he was created Viscount Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham.

Family

Lord Soulbury died in January 1971 at the age of 83. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his elder son James Herwald Ramsbotham. His younger son Sir Peter Ramsbotham notably 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 ...

from 1974 to 1977.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soulbury, Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount 1887 births 1971 deaths British Secretaries of State for Education Ramsbotham, Herwald Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire Governors-general of Ceylon Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Ramsbotham, Herwald, 1st Viscount Soulbury Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Officers of the Order of the British Empire Barons created by George VI Viscounts created by Elizabeth II People of British Ceylon Recipients of the Military Cross Ramsbotham, Herwald Ramsbotham, Herwald Ramsbotham, Herwald UK MPs who were granted peerages Presidents of the Classical Association