Thomas Lionel Dugdale, 1st Baron Crathorne, (20 July 1897 – 26 March 1977), known as Sir Thomas Dugdale, 1st Baronet, from 1945 to 1959, was a British Conservative Party politician. He resigned as a government minister over the Crichel Down Affair, often quoted as a classic example of the convention of individual

ministerial responsibility In Westminster system, Westminster-style governments, individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention that a Cabinet (government), cabinet minister (government), minister bears th ...

Background and early life

Thomas Dugdale was the son of Captain James Lionel Dugdale, of Crathorne Hall near Yarm in Yorkshire. His grandfather John Dugdale (died 1881) was from a family of Lancashire cotton manufacturers, and had bought the Crathorne estate in 1844. Dugdale was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. He joined the Army in 1916, serving with the

Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the Army of Scotland that became a regiment of the British Army in 1707 upon the Union of Scotland and England, continuing until 1971 when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of ...

in 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 the Yorkshire Hussars in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Political career

In 1929, Dugdale was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, where he remained until 1959. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to several ministers, including

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...

, and Deputy

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

. He was later

Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

and Chairman of the Party's Agricultural Committee. 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 ...

in the 1945 New Year Honours "for political and public services".

The Crichel Down affair

When the Conservatives won the 1951 election, Churchill made Dugdale his Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Crichel Down was a piece of farmland in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

which had been bought compulsorily by the government for defence use. Commander George Marten, whose wife Mary was the only child and heiress of the original owner of the land, Lord Alington, wanted to buy the land back in the 1950s, because it was no longer used by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. However, the Ministry of Agriculture resisted, wanting to use the land for experimental farming in a time of

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 ...

and agricultural development. Marten, a former

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

to the royal family, had very influential friends and stirred up considerable trouble in the local Conservative Party and on the government backbenches. There followed a public inquiry that criticised the department's decision and its civil servants, especially their methods, which were seen as an example of an over-powerful state. In 1954, Dugdale announced that Marten could buy the land back, and told the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

he was resigning, having been the responsible minister.

Resignation

Dugdale's resignation went down in history as an honourable, even heroic, one: a minister taking responsibility for

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

s' actions, which would lead to the perceived code of

individual ministerial responsibility In Westminster-style governments, individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department. Individual ministerial responsi ...

. However, in papers released thirty years after the affair it was found that Dugdale had known and approved of his civil servants' actions, and had to an extent passed the buck to them himself. It was also found that the inquiry was inaccurate and biased, having been led by a former Conservative candidate who was very opposed to civil servants and state interference. Dugdale's junior minister,

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secreta ...

, also tendered his resignation, but it was refused. He went on to be Foreign Secretary, resigning the post in 1982 over the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. Commander Marten received his land, but not a Conservative parliamentary seat, for which he had hoped. In 1959, Dugdale himself was raised to the peerage as Baron Crathorne, of Crathorne in the North Riding of the County of York. Subsequently, he had a second political career in Europe, building links with parliamentarians in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

Family

Dugdale married Nancy Gates (''née'' Tennant; 1904–1969), daughter of

Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Baronet, (4 November 1823 – 4 June 1906) was a Scottish businessman, industrialist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. Early life Tennant was the son of John Tennant (1796–1878) and Robina (née Arrol ...

, and his wife Marguerite (''née'' Miles), in 1936. He died in March 1977, aged 79. His son James succeeded him in the barony.

Arms

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crathorne, Thomas Dugdale, 1st Baron 1897 births 1977 deaths Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom British Army personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War I Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK) Dugdale, Thomas Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II People educated at Eton College Royal Scots Greys officers Tennant family Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Dugdale, Thomas Yorkshire Hussars officers