David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles (18 September 1904 – 24 February 1999), was an English

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and businessman.

Background

Eccles was born in London. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he obtained a second-class degree in PPE. He worked with the Central Mining Corporation in London and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. During the

Second World War 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 ...

he worked for the Ministry of Economic Warfare from 1939 to 1940 and for the

Ministry of Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

from 1942 to 1943 and was Economic Adviser to the British ambassadors at

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

from 1940 to 1942.

Political career

Eccles was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

in a wartime by-election in 1943, a seat he held until 1962. He served in the Conservative administrations of Churchill, Eden and Macmillan respectively as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954 (in which position he helped organise the 1953 Coronation and was appointed KCVO), as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from 1954 to 1957 and again from 1959 to 1962 and as

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...

from 1957 to 1959. Eccles was also President of the Board of Trade in January 1957. In 1962 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Eccles, of Chute in the County of Wiltshire, and in 1964 he was created Viscount Eccles, of Chute in the County of Wiltshire. Lord Eccles returned to the government in 1970 when

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

appointed him

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. History The post was ...

and Minister for the Arts, a post he held until 1973. As Minister for the Arts he clashed with the Chairman of the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

Arnold Goodman over the funding of controversial plays and exhibitions and introduced mandatory admission charges at public museums and galleries. Lord Eccles was made a

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

(DSc) in 1966 by

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. He also received an Honorary Science Doctorate from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in 1972.

Personal life

Eccles married, firstly, the Hon. Sybil Frances Dawson (1904–1977), daughter of Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn, on 1 October 1929. They had three children: * The Hon. John Dawson Eccles; later 2nd Viscount Eccles (born 1931). * The Hon. Simon Dawson Eccles (born 1934). * The Hon. Selina Eccles (born 1937); m. firstly Robin Andrew Duthac Carnegie (grandson of Charles Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk); m. secondly George Petty-FitzMaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne; became The Marchioness of Lansdowne. A collection of the couple's wartime letters were published under the title ''By Safe Hand: Letters of Sybil & David Eccles 1939-42'' (Bodley Head, 1983). Widowed in 1977, he married again, this time to book collector and philanthropist Mary Morley Crapo Hyde (1912–2003) on 26 September 1984. In his later years, he lived in Montagu Square, London, and his wife's home at Four Oaks Farm, in

Branchburg, New Jersey Branchburg is a township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 14,940, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 481 (+3.3%) from the 2010 cen ...

, United States; he died there on 24 February 1999, at the age of 94. He left an estate of approximately £2.4 million.

Styles and honours

* Mr David Eccles (1904–1943) * Mr David Eccles MP (1943–1953) * Sir David Eccles KCVO MP (1953–1962) * The Rt. Hon. The Lord Eccles KCVO PC (1962–1964) * The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Eccles KCVO PC (1964–1984) * The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Eccles CH KCVO PC (1984–1999)

Notes

References

Mary, Viscountess Eccles: obituary, ''The Independent'', 5 September 2003
* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, David Eccles, 1st Viscount 1904 births 1999 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford British Secretaries of State for Education Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 People educated at Winchester College Presidents of the Board of Trade UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs who were granted peerages United Kingdom Paymasters General Viscounts created by Elizabeth II English expatriates in the United States