The Earl of Malmesbury | |
|---|---|
 The 3rd Earl of Malmesbury,c. 1867 | |
| Leader of the House of Lords | |
| In office 27 February 1868 – 1 December 1868 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Disraeli |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Derby |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Granville |
| Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal | |
| In office 21 February 1874 – 12 August 1876 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Disraeli |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Halifax |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Beaconsfield |
| In office 6 July 1866 – 1 December 1868 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli |
| Preceded by | The Duke of Argyll |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Kimberley |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 26 February 1858 – 18 June 1859 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Derby |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Clarendon |
| Succeeded by | Lord John Russell |
| In office 27 February 1852 – 28 December 1852 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Derby |
| Preceded by | The Earl Granville |
| Succeeded by | Lord John Russell |
| Member of theHouse of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 11 September 1841 – 17 May 1889 Hereditary Peerage | |
| Preceded by | The 2nd Earl of Malmesbury |
| Succeeded by | The 4th Earl of Malmesbury |
| Member of Parliament forWilton | |
| In office 22 July 1841 – 10 September 1841 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Baker |
| Succeeded by | James Agar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 March 1807 (2025-11-26UTC13:46:15) |
| Died | 17 May 1889 (1889-05-18) (aged 82) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | 1 Lady Corisande Emma Bennet (d. 1876) (2) Susan Hamilton (d. 1935) |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury,GCB,PC (25 March 1807 – 17 May 1889), styledViscount FitzHarris from 1820 to 1841, was a British statesman of theVictorian era.
James Howard Harris was born on 25 March 1807 in London, the eldest son and heir ofJames Harris, 2nd Earl of Malmesbury, and his wife, Harriet Susan Dashwood, daughter of Francis Bateman Dashwood, of Well Vale, Lincolnshire, and his wife, Teresa March, daughter of John March, of Willeslet Park, Cambridgeshire.[1] Having been educated privately, he went toEton College, a Public school, andOriel College, Oxford, graduating from the latter in 1828 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[2][3] In the years that followed his graduation, he went travelling around Europe and making acquaintance with aristocratic circles, becoming familiar with Prince Louis Napoleon, who would later become Napoleon III of France.[2]
Harris married, firstly, on 13 May 1876, Lady Corisande Emma Bennet, daughter of Charles Augustus Bennet, 5th Earl of Tankerville, and his wife Corisanda, daughter ofAntoine, duc de Gramont and sister ofAgenor, duc de Gramont, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs for France in 1870.[4] She died in 1876.[1] After the death of his first wife, Malmesbury married a second time, on 1 November 1880, to Susan Hamilton, daughter of John Hamilton ofFyne Court, Somerset.[1]
In 1841 he had only just been elected to theHouse of Commons forWilton as aConservative, when his father died and he succeeded to the peerage. Malmesbury served asForeign Secretary under theEarl of Derby in 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859 and was alsoLord Privy Seal under Derby andBenjamin Disraeli between 1866 and 1868 and under Disraeli between 1874 and 1876.[5] In 1852 he was admitted to thePrivy Council.[citation needed] He was regarded as an influentialTory of the old school in theHouse of Lords at a time when Lord Derby and Disraeli were, in their different ways, moulding the Conservatism of the period.[5]
In his two brief terms as foreign secretary, Malmesbury pursued a cautious, Conservative policy. His friendship with the exiledLouis Napoleon helped lead to quick British acquiescence in the Prince-President's decision to restore the Empire in 1852, but did not prevent Malmesbury from pursuing a policy relatively sympathetic to Austria during the crisis leading up to theItalian War of 1859. Malmesbury was particularly horrified by the behaviour ofCavour, and at the fact that a small country like Piedmont was able so easily to threaten the European peace.
His long life, and the publication of hisMemoirs of an Ex-Minister in 1884, contributed to his reputation. TheMemoirs, charmingly written, full of anecdote, and containing much interesting material for the history of the time, remain his chief title to remembrance. Lord Malmesbury also edited his grandfather'sDiaries and Correspondence (1844), and in 1870 publishedThe First Lord Malmesbury and His Friends.[5]
He was appointedHonorary Colonel of theHampshire Militia Artillery on 22 June 1854, from which he resigned on 22 November 1884.[6]
Lord Malmesbury died childless in May 1889, aged 82, and was succeeded in the earldom by his nephew,Edward Harris.
Rex Factor Podcast. S1. Eps. 54-58 (56/57 specifically)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Malmesbury, James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 493.
Media related toJames Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury at Wikimedia Commons
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWilton 1841 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Foreign Secretary 1852 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Foreign Secretary 1858–1859 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Privy Seal 1866–1868 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Lords 1868 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Privy Seal 1874–1876 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords 1868–1869 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by | Earl of Malmesbury 1841–1889 | Succeeded by |
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