Arthur Windham Baldwin, 3rd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (22 March 1904 – 5 July 1976) was a British businessman, RAF

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

, and author. His books included a combative defence of the posthumous reputation of his father,

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...

, the former

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the UK, in which he severely criticised several leading historians of the time.

Early life

Baldwin was the younger son of

, later 1st Earl of Baldwin of Bewdley, and his wife,

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

, . He was known to his family and friends by the nickname "Bloggs". He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

."Baldwin of Bewdley"
Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, April 2014, retrieved 5 August 2015

Career

In the inter-war years Baldwin was a director of several companies, including the Round Oak Steel Works, Redpath, Brown, and the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, and between 1938 and 1974 he was a director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Obituary, Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, ''The Times'', 8 July 1976, p. 18 Despising patronage, he successfully set out to gain a commission through the ranks.Buckley, L. R. "Reaching for the skies", ''The Times'', 7 September 1967, p. 7 Baldwin published three books in the 1950s and 60s. The first was a biography of his father, written as a result of his strong feeling that the official biography by G. M. Young did not do Stanley Baldwin justice. Baldwin strongly criticised not only Young, but other historians, including

John Wheeler-Bennett Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett (13 October 1902 – 9 December 1975) was a conservative English historian of German and diplomatic history, and the official biographer of George VI, King George VI. He was well known in his lifetime, and ...

, D. C. Somervell and Sir Lewis Namier for, in his view, misjudging the former prime minister. His second book, ''The Macdonald Sisters'' was a study of the four daughters of the Rev G. B. Macdonald: Alice married

John Lockwood Kipling John Lockwood Kipling (6 July 1837 – 26 January 1911) was an English art teacher, illustrator and museum curator who spent most of his career in India. He was the father of the author Rudyard Kipling. Life and career Lockwood Kipling was b ...

(

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's parents); Georgiana married

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

; Agnes married

Edward Poynter Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet (20 March 183626 July 1919) was an English painter, designer, and Drawing, draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy. Life Poynter was the son of architect Ambrose Poynter. He was born in P ...

; and Louisa married Alfred Baldwin (Stanley Baldwin's parents, thus Windham's grandparents). In 1967 he published a memoir of his wartime experiences. The reviewer in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', commented, "He tells it all with amusement and skill … the atmosphere of the RAF seeps unmistakably through."

Peerage

On 10 August 1958, on the death of the second earl, his elder brother, Oliver, Baldwin succeeded to the United Kingdom titles of

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Earl Baldwin of Bewdley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1937 for the Conservative politician Stanley Baldwin, who had served as MP for Bewdley from 1908 to 1937 and was Prime Minister of the United Kingdo ...

and Viscount Corvedale. He spoke in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from time to time, mostly on the subjects of transport and industry.

Personal life

On 25 August 1936, Baldwin married Joan Elspeth Tomes, daughter of Charles Alexander Tomes, merchant in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

with Shewan, Tomes & Co. They had one child: * Edward Alfred Alexander Baldwin, 4th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 January 1938 – 16 June 2021) The 3rd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley died on 5 July 1976, aged 72. The Countess Baldwin of Bewdley died in 1980.

Arms

Works

* * *

Notes, references and sources

;Notes ;References ;Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin of Bewdley, Arthur Baldwin, 3rd Earl of 1904 births 1976 deaths People from Kensington People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Earls Baldwin of Bewdley Royal Air Force officers English biographers English autobiographers Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Royal Air Force personnel of World War II

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...