Montagu William Lowry-Corry, 1st Baron Rowton, (8 October 1838 – 9 November 1903), also known as "Monty", was a British philanthropist and public servant, best known for serving as Benjamin Disraeli's private secretary from 1866 until the latter's death in 1881.

Background and education

Born in Grosvenor Square, London, Lowry-Corry was the second son of the Honourable Henry Lowry-Corry by his wife Lady Harriet, daughter of the 6th Earl of Shaftesbury. The social reformer, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, was his maternal uncle.thepeerage.com Montagu William Lowry-Corry, 1st and last Baron Rowton
/ref> He was educated at Harrow and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1863. He practised for three years on the Oxford Circuit.

Career

Lowry-Corry's father, a younger son of

Somerset Lowry-Corry, 2nd Earl Belmore Somerset Lowry-Corry, 2nd Earl Belmore (11 July 1774 – 18 April 1841), styled The Honourable from 1781 to 1797 and then known as Viscount Corry to 1802, was an Irish nobleman and politician. Politics and inheritance Lowry-Corry was the only ...

, represented County Tyrone in

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

continuously for forty-seven years (1826–1873), and was a member of Lord Derby's third ministry (1866–1868) as Vice-President of the Council and afterwards 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 ...

. Lowry-Corry was thus brought up in close touch with Conservative party politics, but it is said to have been his winning personality and social accomplishments rather than his political connections that recommended him to the favourable notice of

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...

, who in 1866 made Lowry-Corry his private secretary. From this time till the statesman's death in 1881 Corry maintained his connection with Disraeli, the relations between the two men being more intimate and confidential than usually subsist between a private secretary and his political chief. When Disraeli resigned office in 1868 Lowry-Corry declined various offers of public employment to be free to continue his services, now unpaid, to the Conservative leader. When the latter returned to power in 1874, Corry resumed his position as official private secretary to the prime minister. He accompanied Disraeli (who in 1876 had been ennobled as Earl of Beaconsfield) to the

Congress of Berlin The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at th ...

in 1878, where he acted as one of the secretaries of the special embassy of Great Britain. In the latter year he was awarded the CB, in the Civil Division. On the defeat of the Conservatives in 1880, Corry was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

as Baron Rowton, ''of Rowton Castle in the County of Shropshire'' on 6 May 1880, which was then his country residence and ultimately inherited in 1889 from his maternal aunt, Lady Charlotte Barbara Lyster. He was a DL and JP for the same county. Lord Rowton was in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

when Beaconsfield was stricken with his last illness in the spring of 1881; but returning post-haste across Europe, he was present at the death-bed of his old chief. Beaconsfield bequeathed to Rowton all his correspondence and other papers. In 1897 he was made KCVO and in 1900 he was sworn of 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 ...

. Lord Rowton is also well-remembered as a philanthropist as the originator of the Rowton Houses, six large hostels for working men which were much better than existing lodging houses. He was inspired by projects of that kind founded by Lord Iveagh in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and at the time of his death was chairman of both the Rowton Houses Company and the

Guinness Trust The Guinness Partnership is one of the largest providers of affordable housing and care in England. Founded as a charitable trust in 1890, it is now a Community Benefit Society with eight members. Bloomberg classify it as a real estate owner an ...

. In 1890 he served as treasurer of the Salop Infirmary in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Personal life

Lord Rowton never married. He is alleged to have had an affair with Violet, Marchioness of Granby, and also alleged to be the father of Lady Violet Manners, legally the second daughter of her mother's husband, the 8th Duke of Rutland. Lady Violet, known as Letty, married firstly Hugo Charteris, Lord Elcho (killed in action 1916), and was mother of two sons, the 12th Earl of Wemyss and Lord Charteris of Amisfield. Lord Rowton died at his London home in Berkeley Square in November 1903, aged 65. He was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

, and is also commemorated by a plaque at St Michael's Parish Church,

Alberbury Alberbury is a village in Shropshire, England, west of Shrewsbury on the B4393 road which travels from Ford to Lake Vyrnwy. It is on to the England-Wales border, marked by Prince's Oak. The River Severn runs just north of the village, and mo ...

, in whose parish Rowton Castle lies.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowton, Montagu Corry 1838 births 1903 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Montagu Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria