Neil Primrose | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury withLord Edmund Talbot | |
| In office 14 December 1916 – 2 March 1917 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | Lord Edmund Talbot John Gulland |
| Succeeded by | Lord Edmund Talbot Hon. Freddie Guest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 December 1882 |
| Died | 15 November 1917(1917-11-15) (aged 34) |
| Resting place | Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery |
| Party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Victoria Stanley (1892–1927) |
| Children | Ruth Wood, Countess of Halifax |
| Parent(s) | Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Hannah de Rothschild |
| Awards | Military Cross |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1909–1917 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
Neil James Archibald Primrose (14 December 1882 – 15 November 1917) was a BritishLiberal politician and soldier. The second son of Prime MinisterLord Rosebery, he representedWisbech in parliament from 1910 to 1917 and served asUnder-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1915 and as joint-Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1916 to 1917. He died from wounds received in action inPalestine in 1917.
Primrose was born atDalmeny House nearEdinburgh, the second son ofArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery,Prime Minister toQueen Victoria from 1894 to 1895, andHannah de Rothschild, daughter ofBaron Mayer de Rothschild. He was the brother ofHarry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery and writerLady Sybil Grant.
He was educated atEton andOxford and played No.1 for theOxford Polo team in 1904 and 1905.[1] While at Oxford he was also a keen steeplechase rider.[2]
Primrose entered theHouse of Commons at theJanuary 1910 general election asMember of Parliament (MP) forWisbech.[3][4] In 1913 he became a member of theAnglo-American Peace Centenary Committee.[5] In February 1915 he was appointedUnder-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs inH. H. Asquith'sLiberal administration, but was not offered a post when thecoalition government was formed in May of the same year. WhenDavid Lloyd George became prime minister in December 1916, Primrose returned to the government as joint-Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (government chief whip) alongside ConservativeLord Edmund Talbot, a post he only held until March of the following year. In June 1917 he was sworn of thePrivy Council.[6]
Primrose was commissioned into theBuckinghamshire Yeomanry (Royal Bucks Hussars) in 1909.[7] PromotedCaptain in 1915, he was awarded theMilitary Cross in theKing's Birthday Honours of June 1916.[8] He died in November 1917 from wounds received in action atGezer during theSinai and Palestine Campaign while leading hissquadron of the1/1st Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry against Turkish positions on the Abu Shusheh ridge during theThird Battle of Gaza.
When news of the death of Primrose reached the UK,Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George paid tribute in the House of Commons on 19 November 1917, alongside his report of the death of Lieutenant General SirStanley Maude:
May I be permitted before I sit down to utter one word of another who held an inconspicuous position in the Army but who was well known to all Members of this House. I refer to Captain Neil Primrose. The House knew his bright and radiant spirit well. To his intimates he was one of the most lovable men we ever met. He had ability far above the average, and, in spite of the reserve and shyness which held him back, his future was full of hope. He had already rendered distinguished service in the field, and for that service he had been recognised at the suggestion of his commanding officer; and he might well, for he had many offers, have occupied positions where he could have rendered services to the public, positions honourable to him, but positions of personal safety, and the fact that he had been chosen by his constituents to serve in this House would have rendered his acceptance of these positions honourable to himself. He chose deliberately the path of danger. He fell charging at the head of his troops, at the very moment of victory, and Members of the House will, I feel certain, join me in an expression of deepest sympathy with those whom he has left behind to mourn him.
— David Lloyd George, House of Commons parliamentary debate, 19 November 1917[9]
Responding to the Prime Minister, the former Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith (who had himself lost a son in 1916) referred to "two very great national losses" and also paid his respects:
In regard to the other loss to which my right hon. Friend has referred, and which more particularly affects this House, a more familiar and well-loved face has passed from among us, and I only trust myself to say this, that there are few who can realise better than myself how much of hope and of promise there was for his future, and I am sure that his distinguished father and family will have the heartfelt sympathy of every Member of this House.
— H. H. Asquith, House of Commons parliamentary debate, 19 November 1917[10]
Primrose is buried in theRamleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery atRamla, inIsrael.[11][12] The inscription on his gravestone reads:HE LIVES BY LOVE.[11] Primrose is commemorated on Panel 8 of theParliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs that died duringWorld War I to be named on that memorial.[13][14] Primrose is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber.[15] A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-styleilluminated book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of Primrose.[16][17] Memorial tablets were erected by his father inSt Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, in the Church of St Mary the Virgin,Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, and at Christ Church,Epsom Common, Surrey. Additional memorials were erected to his memory in the form of a stained glass window inSt Mary's Church, Knowsley, Merseyside, by his widow's parents,[18][T 1] and a further plaque was erected by his father in All Saints Church,Postwick, Norfolk.[19][T 2]
![St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh[T 3]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.m.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMemorial_to_Neil_James_Archibald_Primrose.jpg)
![Christ Church, Epsom Common[T 4]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.m.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNeil_Primrose_memorial_at_Christ_Church%2c_Epsom_Common_2.jpg)
![St Mary the Virgin, Mentmore[T 5]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.m.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSt_Mary_the_Virgin_Mentmore-_memorial_(3)_(geograph_2601688).jpg)
Primrose married Lady Victoria Stanley, daughter ofEdward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, on 7 April 1915.[20]They had one daughter:Ruth Alice Hannah Mary Primrose (18 April 1916 – 1989), who marriedCharles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax, on 25 April 1936.
Lady Victoria married as her second husbandMalcolm Bullock, and had one daughter,Priscilla, by him. Lady Victoria died in a hunting accident in November 1927.
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The delegates from Great Britain and the British Colonies, who have come to the United States to arrange with the American committee for the celebration in 1913 of 100 years of peace among English-Speaking peoples, were formally welcomed to New York by Mayor Gaynor yesterday morning.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWisbech January 1910 – 1917 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs February–May 1915 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 1916–1917 With:Lord Edmund Talbot | Succeeded by |
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