Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, 1st Viscount Devonport, (1 September 1856 – 5 September 1934), styled Lord Devonport between 1910 and 1917, was an English grocer and politician. He founded the International Tea Company's Stores, became the first chairman of the

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

, and served as

Minister of Food Control The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister of Agriculture. In the Great War the Minist ...

during

World War I 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 ...

Early life and business career

Devonport was the tenth and youngest child of George Ewbanke Kearley (1814–1876) and his wife, Mary Ann Hudson. He studied at Surrey County School (now

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

) and joined Tetley & Sons in 1872. In 1876, Devonport founded a tea importing company, known as Kearley and Tonge from 1887, and began retailing his own goods in 1878. In 1890, he had over 200 branches trading as

International Stores International Tea Co. Stores was a leading chain of grocers based in London. It was an original constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The business was founded in 1878 by Hudson Kearley ...

and in 1895, both companies were combined to form International Tea Company's Stores and shares were offered to the public.

Marriage and family

Hudson Kearley married Selina Chester in 1888. They had three children: daughter Beryl, and sons Gerald, 2nd Viscount Devonport, and Mark.

Public service

Devonport was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Devonport in the 1892 general election. He worked hard for a number of years on ensuring that the more than £1m within

Patriotic Fund The Lloyd's Patriotic Fund is a British patriotic fund and charity. The fund issues financial payments and has issued presentation swords and other awards. The fund was founded on 28 July 1803 at Lloyd's Coffee House by a group of Lloyd's of London ...

was unlocked and made available for the purposes that it had been donated. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in 1901. In 1903, he was appointed

Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in the United Kingdom was a member of Parliament assigned to assist the Board of Trade and its President with administration and liaison with Parliament. It replaced the Vice-President of the Board ...

, assisting the

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 ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Wittington in the Parish of

Medmenham Medmenham () is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about southwest of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and east of Henley-on-Thames. The parish also includes Danesfield, a housing estate ...

in the County of Buckingham, on 22 July 1908 and became a member of the Privy Council in 1909. He retired from the lower house after the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

. He played an important part in the passage of the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Se ...

Bill in 1908 and served as unpaid chairman of the

from 1909 until 1925. He was elevated to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

as Baron Devonport, ''of Wittington in the County of Buckingham'' on 15 July 1910. It was reported in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' that he declined to contribute to party funds in return for the peerage, feeling that his party contribution and unpaid services in relation to the Port of London were great enough to warrant the distinction without payment. After proposing to submit the related correspondence to the press, no money was exchanged. This did not save him from being the subject of a savage

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

by Hilaire Belloc: ''The grocer Hudson Kearley, he'' ''When purchasing his barony'' ''Considered first, we understand,'' ''The title of Lord Sugarsand,'' ''Or then again he might have been'' ''Lord Underweight of Margarine:'' ''But being of the nobler sort'' ''He took the title Devonport.'' He was appointed as

in December 1916 by Lloyd George and he submitted a proposal for compulsory

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...

in May 1917, seemingly delayed as to protect the interests of retailers. He came under attack, particularly from

Noel Pemberton Billing Noel Pemberton Billing (31 January 1881 – 11 November 1948), sometimes known as Noel Pemberton-Billing, was a British aviator, inventor, publisher and Member of Parliament for Hertford. He founded the firm that became Supermarine and promoted ...

, with insinuations of

war profiteering A war profiteer is any person or organization that derives unreasonable profit (economics), profit from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term typically carries strong negative connotations. General profiteerin ...

. On 1 June 1917 he resigned due to "ill health". Announced in the

1917 Birthday Honours The 1917 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

he was created Viscount Devonport, ''of Wittington in the County of Buckingham'' on 22 June 1917. Wittington was his estate where Wittington House was constructed in 1897 based on Sir

Reginald Blomfield Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Early life and career Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...

's design. Bloomfield was asked to significantly enlarge the house in 1908. The gardens of Kearley's estate were maintained by hundreds of gardeners.

In literature and popular culture

Devonport's wartime measures for the rationing of sugar and other imported commodities were satirised by Neil Munro in his Erchie MacPherson story "The Last of the Bridescakes", first published in the ''

Glasgow Evening News The ''Glasgow Evening News'' was an important Scottish newspaper in the early 20th century. It was founded as the ''Glasgow Evening Post'' in 1866 and became the ''Evening News'' in 1915. In 1922, Gomer Berry (later 1st Viscount Kemsley) bought ...

'' of 12th February 1917.Munro, Neil, "The Last of the Bridescakes", in Osborne, Brian D. & Armstrong, Ronald (eds.), (2002), ''Erchie, My Droll Friend'',

Birlinn Limited Birlinn Limited is an independent publishing house based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1992 by managing director Hugh Andrew. Imprints Birlinn Limited is composed of a number of imprints, including: *Birlinn, which publishes Sc ...

, Edinburgh, pp. 476 - 479,

References

* * In the 1890s he built a shooting lodge called Gwylfa Hiraethog on the top of the Denbigh Moors. Although abandoned since the 1950s, its ruins are still a prominent landmark for miles around.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devonport, Hudson Kearley, 1st Viscount 1856 births 1934 deaths Deputy lieutenants of Buckinghamshire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Kearley, Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, Hudson Ewbanke UK MPs who were granted peerages People educated at Cranleigh School Parliamentary Secretaries to the Board of Trade Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers Barons created by George V Viscounts created by George V People from Uxbridge Politicians from the London Borough of Hillingdon Food ministers of the United Kingdom