Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale (29 September 1903 – 10 March 1973), was

Governor of Southern Rhodesia The governor of Southern Rhodesia was the representative of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch in the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1980. The governor was appointed by the Crown and acted as the local ...

from 1942 to 1944,

High Commissioner for Southern Africa The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland ...

from 1944 to 1951, and

Governor of Kenya This article contains a list of chairmen, administrators, commissioners and governors of British Kenya Colony. The office of Governor of Kenya was replaced by the office of Governor-General in 1963 and then later replaced by a President of Kenya ...

from 1952 to 1959. Baring played an integral role in the suppression of the

Mau Mau rebellion The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

. Together with Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd, Baring played a significant role in the government's efforts to deal with the rebellion, and see Kenya through to independence. He was created

Baron Howick of Glendale Baron Howick of Glendale, of Howick in the County of Northumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1960 for Sir Evelyn Baring, the former Governor of Kenya. A member of the famous Baring family, he was the ...

in 1960.

Education and early career

Baring followed in the footsteps of his father, the famed "Maker of Modern Egypt" –

Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, (; 26 February 1841 – 29 January 1917) was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as the British controller-general in Egypt during 1879, part of the international control whic ...

. Baring went to

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 then to

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 ...

, graduating from Oxford University with First Class Honours in Modern History before serving in the Indian Civil Service. He then joined Britain's Foreign Office, where he was sent first to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

before being posted in South Africa as High Commissioner.

Seretse Khama

In 1949, while serving as

, Baring played a key role in preventing

Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Born into an influential royal famil ...

, the heir to the throne of the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom. It became the Botswana, Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966. History Scottish missionary ...

, from assuming the throne; doing so on the ground that Khama's marriage to a white woman, Ruth Williams, was opposed by the white-minority government of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, a neighbouring state which had recently implemented a system of

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

known as

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Working in close collaboration with Percivale Liesching, who was serving as Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs at the time, Baring was able to persuade government ministers to prevent Khama from assuming the throne of Bechuanaland, instead mandating him to stay in a government-imposed

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

in London, which lasted until 1956.

Governorship in Kenya

As Governor of Kenya, Baring declared a State of Emergency on 20 October 1952 before launching Operation Jock Scott, which targeted alleged Mau Mau leaders, especially Jomo Kenyatta. Baring's administration created the "dilution technique", a system of assaults and psychological shocks to detainees, to force the compliance. Baring requested and received approval to use "overpowering" force from the Colonial Secretary in London. In June 1957, Baring passed on to Alan Lennox-Boyd a secret memorandum written by Sir Eric Griffiths-Jones, the

Attorney General of Kenya The Attorney General of Kenya is the head of the Kenyan State Law Office, the principal legal adviser to the government of Kenya, and a member of the Cabinet (government), Cabinet. Dorcas Agik Oduor is the current and first woman Attorney-General ...

, which described the abuse of Mau Mau detainees. The paper alleges that Baring supplied a covering letter that asserted that inflicting "violent shock" was the only way of suppressing the Mau Mau rebellion.

Career after Kenya

Baring left Kenya in 1959. He was elevated to the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

in 1960. He retired to his family estate of Howick Hall, which was inherited by his wife Lady Mary Cecil Grey, daughter of the 5th Earl Grey. He was known to enjoy birdwatching. Lord Howick of Glendale later accepted a post with the government's Colonial Development Corporation.

Marriage and children

Baring married Lady Mary Cecil Grey, daughter of the 5th Earl Grey and Lady Mabel Laura Georgiana Palmer (daughter of the 2nd Earl of Selborne), on 24 April 1935. They had three children: *

The Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

Katherine Mary Alice Baring (born 30 March 1936), married Sir Humphry Wakefield, 2nd Baronet, * Charles Evelyn Baring, 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale (born 30 December 1937), and * The Hon. Elizabeth Beatrice Baring (born 10 January 1940), married Nicholas Albany Gibbs. Lord Howick of Glendale died from injuries sustained in a climbing accident on 10 March 1973, at the age of 69. He was climbing a cliff on his estate when he slipped and fell 15 feet. He was succeeded in the barony by his son, Charles.

Honours

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG), 1942, advanced to GCMG, 1955 *

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO), 1947 *

, 1960 * Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG), 1972

Arms

References

External links

Baring administrative tacticsMau Mau torture victims to receive compensation – Hague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howick Of Glendale, Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron 1903 births 1973 deaths Accidental deaths from falls British people of the Mau Mau rebellion British war criminals Colonial governors and administrators of Kenya Governors of Southern Rhodesia Ambassadors and high commissioners of the United Kingdom to South Africa Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Sport deaths in England Knights of the Garter Baring, Evelyn Evelyn British Kenya people Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II Mountaineering deaths