Harold Julian Amery, Baron Amery of Lustleigh, (27 March 1919 – 3 September 1996) 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 a

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 39 of the 42 years between 1950 and 1992. He was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

in 1960. Amery was created a life peer upon his retirement from 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 ...

in 1992. For three decades, he was a leading figure in the

Conservative Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...

. He was the son-in-law of Conservative prime minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as " Supermac", ...

. His brother,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, was hanged for high

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

for supporting

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and Fascist Italy 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 ...

Early and family life

Amery was born in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. His father was Leo Amery, a British statesman and Conservative politician. He was educated at Eaton House, Summer Fields School,

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

. While an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

, he had a brief romance with the future novelist Barbara Pym, who was six years his senior.

Military service

Before the

started, Amery was a war correspondent in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

and later an attaché for the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

. After the war began he joined the RAF as a sergeant in 1940, then was commissioned and transferred to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

on the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

in 1941, reaching the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He spent 1941–42 in the eastern Mediterranean (the Middle East,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

) and served as Liaison Officer to the Albanian Resistance Movement in 1943–44 ("The Musketeers": Captain Julian Amery, Major

David Smiley Colonel David de Crespigny Smiley, (11 April 1916 – 9 January 2009) was a British special forces and intelligence officer. He fought in the Second World War in Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Syria, the Western Desert and with Special Operations Ex ...

and Lieutenant-Colonel Neil McLean). The following year, Amery went to China to work with General Carton de Wiart, then Prime Minister's Personal Representative to Generalissimo

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

. Amery became a close friend of King

Zog of Albania Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's y ...

and described him as "the cleverest man I have ever met".

Political career

Amery won a Parliamentary seat in the first general election held after he returned to civilian life, in 1950. He was elected as Conservative MP for Preston North, going on to hold a number of government offices, all in governments led by his father-in-law, now the Prime Minister. He began with two Under-Secretaryships of State: for War (1957–58) and for the Colonies (1958–60). He was promoted to

Secretary of State for Air The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government, which existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by ...

(1960–62), followed by a promotion to the post of Minister of Aviation (1962–64). In this role and during this two-year period, Amery was involved in the planning stages of what would become the supersonic passenger service known as

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

. Amery lost his Preston North seat in 1966, but was re-elected to the Commons in 1969 representing Brighton Pavilion, a seat he would hold until 1992 when he retired. On 8 July 1992, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Amery of

Lustleigh Lustleigh is a small village and civil parish nestled in the Wrey Valley, inside the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. It is between the towns of Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead. The village is focused around the parish church of S ...

, of

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

in the County of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

and of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in the County of

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

. Under the

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

administration, Amery held three ministerial posts: Minister for Public Works (1970), Minister for Housing and Construction (1970–72) and Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1972–74).

Monday Club

For 30 years, Amery was an active member and later a Patron of the

, where he became friendly with General Sir Walter Walker, subsequently writing the foreword for Walker's anti-Soviet book, ''The Next Domino''. He was Guest of Honour at the club's Annual Dinner at the Cutlers' Hall in 1963. In 1965, he wrote the foreword for Club activist Geoffrey Stewart-Smith's book, ''No Vision Here''. On May Day 1970, he was one of the club's principal speakers at their 'Law and Liberty' rally in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

, held in answer to the 'Stop the Seventy Tour' campaign, designed to stop the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

n cricket tour. Amery was the Monday Club's Guest-of-Honour at their Annual Dinner held at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August ...

, London, in January 1974 and again at the dinner at the end of the club's two-day Conference in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

in March 1975.

Political views

Amery was in favour of entry to the European Common Market and also of the

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In addit ...

. Both caused some discord between himself and his old friend Enoch Powell but for many, he was seen as an archetypal Conservative from the "God and

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

" school. In 1948, Amery opposed GATT, arguing that it limited imperial preference. In late 1962 Amery made these comments after Egypt sent troops to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

to prevent an insurrection:

"The prosperity of our people rests really on the oil in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
, the
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
and tin of Malaya, and the
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
and
precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lu ...
s of South- and
Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Co ...
. As long as we have access to these; as long as we can realize the investments we have there; as long as we trade with this part of the world, we shall be prosperous. If the
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
s r anyone elsewere to take them over, we would lose the lot. Governments like Colonel Nasser's in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
are just as dangerous."

In 1963, Amery took charge of Quintin Hogg's campaign for leadership of the

. In early 1975, he took part in a

debate on the

Trades Unions Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances O ...

's invitation to Alexander Shelepin, the former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

KGB Chief, to visit Britain. He stated that "more and more people are beginning to look upon the TUC as a Communist-penetrated show and this invitation must strengthen that view." According to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's 1995 memoir, '' The Path to Power'', when

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

's Labour government proposed

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1976, "Julian Amery and Maurice Macmillan proved effective leaders of the anti-devolution Tory camp." Although he was Harold Macmillan's son-in-law, he did not defend him when Count

Nikolai Tolstoy Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky (russian: Граф Николай Дмитриевич Толстой-Милославский; born 23 June 1935), known as Nikolai Tolstoy, is a British monarchist and historian. He is a former ...

published '' The Minister and the Massacres'' in 1986, focusing the ultimate burden of blame sharply on Macmillan for the 1945 Bleiburg repatriations and the Cossack repatriations. Amery stated that the repatriations were "one of the few blots on Harold that I can think of".

Personal life

On 26 January 1950, he married Catherine Macmillan (19 November 1926 – 27 May 1991), daughter of Harold Macmillan. The couple had one son and three daughters.

Death

Amery died on 3 September 1996 in

Westminster, London Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buc ...

. He is buried with his wife (who predeceased him) at the Church of St John the Baptist in

, Devon.

Notes

;Citations ;Bibliography * Amery, Julian, PC, MP et al., ''Rhodesia and the Threat to the West'', London, Monday Club, 1976. * Amery, Julian, PC, MP, ''The Next Four Years'', in the ''

Primrose League The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883. At a late point in its existence, its declared aims (published in the ''Primrose League Gazette'', vol. 83, no. 2, March/April ...

Gazette'', vol. 87, no. 4, October 1983, London. * Amery, Julian, MP, The Rt. Hon., ''Facing up to Soviet Imperialism'', in the Monday Club's October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue of their newspaper, ''Right Ahead''. * Amery, Julian
ALBANIA IN WW II by Julian Amery, from ''Oxford Companion to the Second World War'' (1995), pp.24–26
* Byrne, Paula, ''The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym'', London, William Collins, 2021, * Clark, Alan, ''The Tories – Conservatives and The Nation State'', London, 1998, p324–5, * Copping, Robert, ''The Story of The Monday Club – The First Decade'', April 1972 ; and ''The Monday Club – Crisis and After'' (Foreword by John BiggsDavison, MP), May 1975, , pp.12, 24, published by the Current Affairs Information Service. * ''Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991'', London,‎ Vacher Dod Publishing Ltd, p.394, * Dorril, Stephen, ''MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service'', New York, The Free Press, 2000 () * Faber, David, ''Speaking for England'', London, Pocket Books, 2005, * Gash, Norman, with Donald Southgate, David Dilks, and John Ramsden; introduction by Lord Butler, KG, PC, ''The Conservatives – A History of their Origins to 1965'', London, 1977, pp.268–9. * Heffer, Simon, '' Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell'', London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998, * Horne, Alistair, ''Macmillan, 1894–1956'', (volume 1 of the official biography), London, Macmillan, 1988, , pp.81, 253, 275, 326, 388, 441. * ''The London Gazette'', https://www.thegazette.co.uk * Messina, Anthony M, ''Race and Party Competition in Britain'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989, p.138, * Smiley, Colonel David ''Arabian Assignment'' London, Cooper, 1975. MI6 – Oman and Yemen. * Smiley, Colonel David ''Albanian Assignment'', London, Chatto & Windus, 1984. Foreword by Sir

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 great ...

. SOE in Albania (1943–44). * Smiley, Colonel David ''Irregular Regular'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1994 (). Translated into French as ''Au cœur de l'action clandestine, des commandos au MI6'', L'Esprit du Livre Editions, 2008. The Memoirs of an SOE officer (Albania, Asia) and MI6 agent (Poland, Malta, Oman, Yemen), brotherinarms of Julian Amery. * Weale, Adrian, ''Patriot Traitors – Roger Casement, John Amery and the Real Meaning of Treason'', London, Viking, 2001,

Primary sources

* Amery, Julian
The Life of Joseph Chamberlain, Vol, Four, 1901–1903
At the Height of His Power, London: MacMillan, 1951. * Amery, Julian
The Life of Joseph Chamberlain, Vol. Five, 1901–1903
And the Tariff Reform Campaign, London: MacMillan, 1969. * Amery, Julian
The Life of Joseph Chamberlain, Vol. Six, 1903–1968
And the Tariff Reform Campaign, London: MacMillan, 1969.

External links

*
The Papers of Julian Amery
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amery, Julian 1919 births 1996 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Julian British Army General List officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Amery of Lustleigh, Julian Amery, Baron Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College People educated at Summer Fields School Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War II Secretaries of State for Air (UK) UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Politics of Preston Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association English people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Jewish British politicians Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964