Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron Newton
PC,
DL (18 March 1857 – 21 March 1942) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
diplomat and
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 ...
politician who served as
Paymaster General
His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party.
History
The post was ...
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 ...
.
Background and education
Newton was the son of
William Legh, 1st Baron Newton, and Emily Jane Wodehouse, daughter of the Venerable Charles Nourse Wodehouse,
Archdeacon of Norwich. The Legh family had been landowners in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
for centuries. Newton 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 ...
.
Political and administrative career
In 1879 he entered the
Diplomatic Service
Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...
and served as an
attaché
In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...
at the British Embassy in Paris from 1881 to 1886.
The latter year he was elected to 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 ...
as
Member of Parliament for his home constituency of
Newton, a seat he held until 1898,
when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Newton and took his seat in 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 was appointed a
deputy lieutenant of Cheshire on 23 February 1901.
In 1915 Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
appointed him
Paymaster General
His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party.
History
The post was ...
, with special responsibility for representing the
War Office
The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
in Parliament when the
Secretary of State for War
The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
was unable to attend. The same year he was admitted to the
Privy Council.
In 1916 Lord Newton became Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and was put in charge of two departments at the
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* United ...
, one dealing with foreign propaganda and the other with prisoners of war. In October 1916 he was appointed controller of the newly established Prisoner of War Department, and in this position he negotiated the release of thousands of British prisoners of war.
Lord Newton was appointed a
deputy lieutenant for
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
in February 1901.
He served as an officer in the
Lancashire Hussars Imperial Yeomanry, and was promoted to the substantive rank of
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
on 1 July 1901, before he resigned with the honorary rank of
lieutenant-colonel in October 1902.
Lord Newton was also the author of two biographies, one on
Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons, published in 1913, and the other on
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, (14 January 18453 June 1927), was a British statesman who served successively as Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State ...
, published in 1929. In 1941 he published his memoirs, entitled ''Retrospection''.
During the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, Lord Newton was a strong supporter of
General Franco and the fascists, serving on the Friends of National Spain committee.
Family

Lord Newton married Evelyn Caroline Davenport, daughter of
William Bromley-Davenport, in 1880. They had five children, two sons and three daughters. His younger son
Sir Piers Legh served as
Master of the Household from 1941 to 1953. Lady Newton died in September 1931. Lord Newton survived her by eleven years and died in March, 1942, aged 85. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son
Richard Legh. The latter's son,
Peter Legh, 4th Baron Newton, was also 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 ...
politician and government minister.
Arms
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron
1857 births
1942 deaths
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Deputy lieutenants of Cheshire
Legh, Thomas Wodehouse
People educated at Eton College
Legh, Thomas Wodehouse
Legh, Thomas Wodehouse
Legh, Thomas Wodehouse
Newton, B2
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Lancashire Hussars officers
British anti-communists
British people of the Spanish Civil War