Patrick James Boyle, 8th Earl of Glasgow, (18 June 1874 – 14 December 1963), was a Scottish nobleman and a

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

political activist, involved with fascist parties and groups.

Royal Navy

Boyle was trained for a naval career at the cadet ship HMS ''Britannia'' and graduated 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 Fr ...

Lieutenant on 22 June 1897.Captain Patrick James Boyle, Lives of the First World War
/ref> He was Flag Lieutenant to Rear Admiral

Edmund Jeffreys Admiral Edmund Frederick Jeffreys CVO (1 October 1846 – 19 March 1925) was a Royal Navy officer who became Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland Station. Naval career Jeffreys became commanding officer of the cruiser in July 1888 and commanding of ...

, Senior Naval Officer,

Coast of Ireland Station The Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland was both an admiral's post and a naval formation of the Royal Navy. It was based at Queenstown, now Cobh, in Ireland from 1797 to 1919. The admiral's headquarters was at Admiralty House, Cobh. History T ...

, serving on his flagship which was port guard ship at Queenstown. They transferred to in October 1901, when that vessel relieved the ''Howe''. He was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1908, and eventually obtained the rank of Captain before retiring in 1919. He saw action during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, commanding , and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

in 1915. Following his retirement from active duty he was admitted to the ceremonial role of Lieutenant of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a per ...

Right-wing politics

Boyle was also noted for his extremist views and took an active role in a number of rightist groups in the inter-war period. An

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

by inclination, his views were informed by a landing he made as a Naval Commander in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, ...

in 1917 where he claimed to witness examples of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

terror that helped to solidify his rightist opinions. He was one of a number of large landowners who joined the

British Fascists The British Fascists was the first political organisation in the United Kingdom to claim the label of fascist, although the group had little ideological unity apart from anti-socialism for much of its existence, and was strongly associated with c ...

in the early 1920s, largely inspired by slump in agriculture and the simultaneous rise in taxation that they blamed on

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...

and the rise of the left. Boyle served as leader of the British Fascists units in Scotland. Close to Brigadier R. B. D. Blakeney, Boyle joined Blakeney's splinter group the Loyalists in 1926 in order to support the work of the

Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies The Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies was a British right-wing movement, established in 1925 to provide volunteers in the event of a general strike. During the General Strike of 1926, it was taken over by the government to provide vital ...

. This group had agreed to disavow

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

in order to co-operate with the government. Boyle disappeared from the political scene soon afterwards when, virtually bankrupted by the burden of his large estates, he emigrated to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, remaining there until 1930. Following his return to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Boyle once again became involved in rightist politics and was a regular invitee to the

January Club The January Club was a discussion group founded in 1934 by Oswald Mosley to attract Establishment support for the movement known as the British Union of Fascists. The Club was under the effective control of Robert Forgan, working on behalf of ...

, a high society discussion club organised by the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

. According to contemporary Labour Party documents Boyle subsequently provided funding to Oswald Mosley's party, which was one of the intentions of the January Club. Boyle also joined the

Anglo-German Fellowship The Anglo-German Fellowship was a membership organisation that existed from 1935 to 1939, and aimed to build up friendship between the United Kingdom and Germany. It was widely perceived as being allied to Nazism. Previous groups in Britain wi ...

Peerage

Boyle succeeded to the title of 8th

Earl of Glasgow Earl of Glasgow is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for David Boyle, Lord Boyle. The first earl was subsequently one of the commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Union uniting the Kingdom of England and the Ki ...

on 13 December 1915, also succeeding to the subsidiary titles of 8th Viscount Kelburn, 2nd Baron Fairlie of Fairlie, Ayrshire, and 8th Lord Boyle, of Kelburn, Stewartoun, Finnick, Largs and Dalry. He also served as Vice- Lord-Lieutenant of Ayrshire from 1942 to 1963.

Personal life

Boyle married Hyacynthe Mary Bell, daughter of Dr William Abraham Bell, F.R.G.S., of Pendell Court, Bletchingley,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, on 29 May 1906 and had five children: * Rear-Admiral David William Maurice Boyle, 9th Earl of Glasgow (24 July 1910 – 8 June 1984) * Lady Grizel Mary Boyle (28 April 1913 – 26 September 1942) -- died after two weeks in a lifeboat in the open Atlantic after the sinking of the * Lady Hersey Margaret Boyle (11 July 1914 – 7 February 1993) * Captain Hon. Patrick James Boyle (23 May 1917 – 4 May 1946) * Lady Margaret Dorothea Boyle (20 November 1920 – 17 October 2021). Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, was his brother-in-law, being married to Boyle's sister.Griffiths, ''Fellow Travellers on the Right'', p. 218.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glasgow, Patrick Boyle, 8th Earl Of 1874 births 1963 deaths Earls of Glasgow Royal Navy officers of World War I Scottish expatriates in France Scottish fascists Patrick Scottish anti-communists British Union of Fascists politicians Members of the Royal Company of Archers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order