John Wynford Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids (30 May 1860 – 28 March 1938) was a British
Liberal politician.
Background and education
Philipps was the eldest son of Reverend Sir James Erasmus Philipps, 12th Baronet, Vicar of
Warminster
Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021.
The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...
and Prebendary of
Salisbury
Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
. He was the elder brother of
Ivor Philipps
Sir Ivor Philipps, (9 September 1861 – 15 August 1940) was a British officer in the British Indian Army and a Liberal Party politician. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1906 to 1922.
Early life
Philipps was the son of Rev. Sir J ...
and
Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant (25 March 1863 – 5 June 1937), known as Sir Owen Philipps between 1909 and 1923, was a British businessman and politician, jailed in 1931 for producing a document with intent to deceive.
Background
Phil ...
, both also
MPs, and of
Laurence Philipps, 1st Baron Milford
Laurence Richard Philipps, 1st Baron Milford (24 January 1874 – 7 December 1962), was a British peer. He was a founder and chairman of the shipping company Court Line.
Philipps was the sixth son of Reverend Sir James Erasmus Philipps, 12th ...
. A fifth brother, Bertram, was the last private owner of
Philipps House in Wiltshire.
Philipps was educated at
Felsted School
Felsted School is a co-educational independent school, independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school, situated in Felsted in Essex, England. It is in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, and was founded i ...
and at
Keble College
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, where he took a third-class honours degree in modern history in 1882. He studied law at the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
and was
called to the Bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1886.
Political career
Philipps sat as
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Mid Lanarkshire from 1888 to 1894.
He resigned his seat in 1894, but returned to Parliament sitting for
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
from 1898 to 1908. Four years before he succeeded his father in the baronetcy, he was raised to the peerage as Baron St Davids, of
Roch Castle in the
County of Pembroke. In 1918 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount St Davids, of Lydstep Haven in the County of Pembroke. He was appointed
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1922.
Election results
Personal life
Lord St Davids was married twice. Firstly, on 14 February 1888 to
Leonora Gerstenberg. They had two children:
*Capt. Hon. Colwyn Erasmus Arnold Philipps (11 December 1888 – 13 May 1915)
*Capt. Hon.
Roland Erasmus Philipps (27 February 1890 – 7 July 1916)
His first wife, Leonora, died on 30 March 1915. Both their sons died 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 ...
and thus predeceased their father and did not inherit his title.
Lord St Davids' second marriage was to
Elizabeth Frances Abney-Hastings on 27 April 1916. They had two children:
*
Jestyn Reginald Austin Plantagenet Philipps, 2nd Viscount St Davids (19 February 1917 – 10 June 1991)
* Hon. Lelgarde De Clare Elizabeth Philipps (23 September 1918 – 1984), who married, in 1950, Colin Charles Evans; they divorced in 1967.
[Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3472]
Arms
References
External links
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Davids, John Philipps, 1st Viscount
1860 births
1938 deaths
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Philipps, John
Lord-lieutenants of Pembrokeshire
Philipps, John
Philipps, John
Philipps, John
Philipps, John
Philipps, John
Philipps, John
Philipps, John
UK MPs who were granted peerages
People educated at Felsted School
Pembroke Yeomanry officers
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Peers created by Edward VII
Viscounts created by George V
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