Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (7 December 1907 – 10 June 1975) was a British biographer and Member of 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 ...

. He is best known for writing a biography of

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 ...

that was suppressed by the Kipling family for many years, and which he never lived to see in print.

Background

The son of

F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, (12 July 1872 – 30 September 1930) was a British Conservative politician and barrister who attained high office in the early 20th century, in particular as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain ...

, he was born in London and was known as Viscount Furneaux from 1922, when his father, then 1st Viscount Birkenhead, was created Earl of Birkenhead. He had two sisters,

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

(1902–1945) and Pamela (1914–1982). Lord Furneaux was educated at Eton and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He inherited his father's peerages in 1930. For the first three years of the Second World War, Lord Birkenhead served with a Territorial Army Anti-Tank unit. Following a course at the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

, Major "Freddy" Birkenhead was assigned to the Foreign Office's Political Intelligence Department, popularly known as the Political Warfare Executive, or PWE for short. He saw action in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, as second-in-command of a sub-mission headed by

Randolph Churchill Major (rank), Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future List of British Prime Ministers, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a ...

, under Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean's 37th Military Mission, which included

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

. As a result, he plays a prominent role in Waugh's diaries.

Career

Lord Birkenhead served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He h ...

(1938–1939), and as

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

(1938–1940 and 1951–1952) and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

(1952–1955). In the documentary 'The Man Who Destroyed Oscar Wilde' broadcast by PBS America,

Merlin Holland Christopher Merlin Vyvyan Holland (born December 1945) is a British biographer and editor. He is the only grandchild of Oscar Wilde, whose life he has researched and written about extensively. Biography Born in London in December 1945, Christop ...

- grandson of Irish poet, author and playwright

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, explains that Lord Birkenhead (who was Holland's godfather) offered help to H. Montgomery Hyde with his biography of

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...

. Lord Birkenhead wrote Hyde a letter in 1950 (which is held in the

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a division within the Engaged Communities Group of the Department for Communities (DfC). The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is dist ...

), that he had known Carson and could tell him first hand of what Carson had said about his part in the infamous court case which led to the downfall, disgrace and subsequent imprisonment of Wilde. As a writer, Lord Birkenhead primarily authored political biographies, including books on Lord Cherwell and Lord Halifax. In the late 1940s, Lord Birkenhead was commissioned by

's daughter

Elsie Bambridge Elsie Bambridge (; 2 February 1896 – 24 May 1976) was the second daughter of British writer Rudyard Kipling. She was the only one of the Kiplings' three children to survive beyond early adulthood. On 22 October 1924, Elsie Kipling married Geo ...

to write a biography of Kipling. An agreement with Lord Birkenhead gave Bambridge control over the contents, ownership of copyright, and two-thirds of any profits. Ultimately, Bambridge did not accept Lord Birkenhead's work, and it remained unpublished through his death in 1975 and her death in 1976. The biography was finally published in 1978 with the agreement of Bambridge's heirs.

Personal life and death

In 1935, he married The Hon Sheila Berry (1913–1992), second daughter of the 1st Viscount Camrose. The couple had a son, Frederick William Robin Smith, 3rd Earl of Birkenhead, in 1936 and a daughter, Lady Juliet Margaret Smith (later Lady Juliet Townsend), in 1941. Lady Juliet served as Lady in Waiting to

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

from 1965 to 2002; her daughter Eleanor Townsend is a god-child of the Princess. Lady Juliet was made a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

having previously received the LVO in 1981 and was Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire from 1998 to 2014. She died on 29 November 2014. Lord Birkenhead died at a nursing home in Oxford on 10 June 1975, at age 67. At the time of his death, he was working on a biography of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

(who was his godfather); the completed portion, covering Churchill's life until 1922, was published in 1989.

Books

* ''F.E.: The Life of F.E. Smith, first Earl of Birkenhead'' (London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1960). * * ''Frederick Edwin Earl of Birkenhead'' (1933 and 1936) * '' Strafford'' (Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, 1938) * '' Lady Eleanor Smith: a memoir'' (1953) * ''Life of

'' (1965) * ''The life of Viscount Monckton of Brenchley'' (1969) * ''

'' (1978) * '' Churchill, 1874–1922'' (1989)

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkenhead, Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl Of 1907 births 1975 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars officers British Army personnel of World War II 20th-century English male writers