Godfrey Elton, 1st Baron Elton (29 March 1892 – 18 April 1973), was a British historian, academic and Labour Party politician. Having served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was elected a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

in 1919 and appointed a lecturer in modern history by the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1934, he entered 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 ...

, having been made a peer by

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

. He stepped down from his university posts in 1939 and became secretary of the

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

Early life

Elton was born on 29 March 1892 in

Sherington Sherington is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is located north-east of Newport Pagnell, and north-east of Central Milton Keynes, immediately to the west of th ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. He was the eldest son of Edward Fiennes Elton and his wife Violet Hylda Fletcher. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, then an all-boys public school (i.e.

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

). At

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, he first studied '' Literae humaniores'' (i.e. classics), and gaining a first class in Moderations in 1913. He then changed course to study history. However, he never took his finals as, following the outbreak of the

, he volunteered for the

Career

Military service

On 19 September 1914, he was commissioned into the

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

as a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

( temporary) on 29 November 1914. He fought in the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

and was wounded during the siege of

Kut-el-Amara Kūt (), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare, Kut al-Imara, or Kut Al Amara is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad, and the capital of the Wasit Governorate. the estimated populatio ...

. After Kut fell in April 1916, he was taken prisoner by the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

. He spent the rest of the war in captivity, continuing his interest in history "so far as conditions allowed".

Academic career

After the war Elton was elected a Fellow of

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, in 1919, and was lecturer in modern history from 1919 to 1939, dean of the college between 1921 and 1923 and tutor from 1927 to 1934. In 1923 he published ''The Revolutionary Idea in France, 1789–1878''. In 1939 Elton gave up his teaching fellowship at Queen's College and the same year he became secretary of the

, a post he held until 1959.

Author

Elton was the author of several books, notably a biography of

, entitled ''The Life of James Ramsay MacDonald 1866–1919''. In 1938 he published his autobiography, ''Among Others''. In 1954 he published a biography of General Charles Gordon. Elton's writings were cited by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

in his famous essay ''

Notes on Nationalism Notes on Nationalism is an essay completed in May 1945 by George Orwell and published in the first issue of the British magazine '' Polemic'' in October 1945. Political theorist Gregory Claeys has described it as a key source for understanding O ...

'' as a prime example of what Orwell characterised as "Neo-Toryism".

Political career

Elton was also involved in politics. He joined the Labour Party shortly after the end of World War I and stood unsuccessfully for Thornbury in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and 1929 general elections. He was a strong supporter of

, whose son

Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm John MacDonald (17 August 1901 – 11 January 1981) was a British politician and diplomat. He was initially a Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP), but in 1931 followed his father ...

had been his pupil at Oxford, and followed him into National Labour. In the

1934 New Year Honours The 1934 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 29 December 1933. The recipients of honou ...

, it was announced that Elton was to be made a

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

"for political and public services". On 16 January 1934, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Elton, ''of

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

in the

County of Oxford Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershi ...

''. Elton's somewhat controversial elevation to the peerage caused fellow historian

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were '' The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ame ...

to remark: "In the eighteenth-century peers made their tutors under-secretaries; in the twentieth under-secretaries make their tutors peers" (Malcolm MacDonald was at the time serving as

Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs The position of Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British ministerial position, subordinate to that of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, created in 1925 to deal with British relations with the Dominions – Canada, Aust ...

). Lord Elton was a frequent speaker in the

and a member of several government committees.

Personal life

Lord Elton married Dedi, daughter of Gustav Hartmann of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, in 1921. They had three children, one son and two daughters: * Hon. Audrey Elton (born 22 June 1922) * Hon. Rosemary Elton (22 January 1925 – 2 June 2017) *

Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton (2 March 1930 – 19 August 2023), was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. Biography Rodney Elton was the son of Godfrey Elton, 1st Baron Elton, and his wife Dedi (née Hartmann). H ...

(2 March 1930 – 19 August 2023) Lord Elton died at the Dower House in

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has the Sutton Bonington Campus, a site just to the nor ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

on 18 April 1973 aged 81. His son Rodney succeeded him in the peerage and became a

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 ...

government minister. Lady Elton died in 1977.

Coat of arms

References

Sources

* Blake, Lord; Nicholls, C. S. (editors) ''The Dictionary of National Biography, 1971–1980'' Oxford University Press, 1986 * Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors) ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition) New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, *

External links

Contributions to the House of Lords – Hansard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elton, Godfrey Elton, 1st Baron 1892 births 1973 deaths Military personnel from Oxfordshire British World War I prisoners of war 1 Royal Hampshire Regiment officers People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford World War I prisoners of war held by the Ottoman Empire British Army personnel of World War I Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford British biographers National Labour (UK) politicians Barons created by George V