The Earl Loreburn | |
|---|---|
 Loreburn in 1908 | |
| Lord Chancellor | |
| In office 10 December 1905 – 10 June 1912 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Halsbury |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Haldane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1846-04-03)3 April 1846 |
| Died | 30 November 1923(1923-11-30) (aged 77) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Emily Fleming (d. 1904) (2) Violet Hicks-Beach |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Robert Threshie Reid, 1st Earl Loreburn,GCMG, PC (3 April 1846 – 30 November 1923) was a British lawyer, judge andLiberal politician. He served asLord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 1905 and 1912.
Born inCorfu, the largest city onthe island of the same name, Loreburn was the son of Sir James John Reid,Chief Justice of the Ionian Islands, at the time a British protectorate. His mother was Mary, daughter of Robert Threshie, formerly married to William Denholm Dalzell. Loreburn was educated atCheltenham College andBalliol College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he represented theOxford University Cricket Club in fifteenfirst-class matches as awicket-keeper, spanning from 1865 to 1868.[1] He remained involved in cricket for many years after, with appearances for theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) andHerefordshire at lower levels of the sport, amongst other sides.[2]
Loreburn's national political career began in 1880, when he was elected to theHouse of Commons as Member of Parliament forHereford. He stayed there until 1885, when he ran unsuccessfully inDunbartonshire, but returned to the Commons in 1886 forDumfries Burghs. He remained in the House of Commons until 1905; during this time period, he was appointed to the offices ofSolicitor General andknighted (1894)[3] andAttorney General (1894–1895). He was appointed aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1899 for services in connection with the Venezuela Boundary Arbitration Commission.[4] He left the House of Commons in 1905, though, and becameLord Chancellor underSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. On his appointment he was raised to the peerage asBaron Loreburn, of Dumfries in the County of Dumfries.[5] (The Loreburn was a stream which historically ran close to Dumfries, and which was the source of the town's motto and rallying cry, "A Lore Burne".) Alternative explanations include the name coming from Dumfries’ motto ‘A Lore burne’, based on the war-cry ‘To the Lower Burn’.[6]
During the 1900s and 1910s, many Liberal politicians took up the ideology ofLiberal Imperialism, led by theChancellor of the Exchequer (H. H. Asquith), theSecretary of State for War (Richard Haldane) and theSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey). This triumvirate of politicians was strongly in favour of anentente with France, along with the creation of aBritish Expeditionary Force, in the event of a war between France and Germany. These three politicians made their views known, and when Campbell-Bannerman appointed his cabinet, he appointed Loreburn Lord Chancellor as a counter to the Liberal Imperialists.Winston Churchill referred to him as belonging to the "radical element" within the Liberal party.[7]
In 1908, Asquith became prime minister. Lord Loreburn's disagreements with Haldane, Grey, Asquith, and eventuallyDavid Lloyd George became more prominent. Asquith, Lloyd George, Grey, Churchill, and Haldane met secretly on 23 August 1911, and when certain Cabinet members found out, they were furious.Reginald McKenna had recently been deprived of his position asFirst Lord of the Admiralty for refusing to provide military aid to the French, and he led the majority (whose members included Loreburn, McKenna,Colonial SecretaryLewis Vernon Harcourt, andChancellor of the Duchy of LancasterJack Pease) in "a strong line about Cabinet supremacy over all other bodies in the matter of sea and land defence".Lord Esher wrote, "There has been a serious crisis. Fifteen members of the Cabinet against five. The Entente is decidedly imperilled."
He was createdEarl Loreburn on 4 July 1911.[8] Unfortunately, Lord Loreburn's health began declining, and in the summer of 1912, he resigned his Lord Chancellorship. In a parting, "valedictory" letter to Lord Haldane, he wrote:
My differences with you have always been this, you have been an Imperialist "au fond" and always in my opinion it is quite impossible to reconcile Imperialism with the Liberal creed which we professed, and on the force of which we received the support of the country. In this way we became hopelessly estranged on the greatest of all issues.
During theJuly Crisis Loreburn opposed British intervention in the impending continental war. On 31 July 1914 theManchester Guardian, to his delight, attacked the way in which Britain appeared to have been secretly committed to the side of France and Russia.[9]
In January 1918, theHouse of Lords came to consider theBill which went on to become theRepresentation of the People Act 1918, for the first time introducing a limitedwomen's suffrage. Loreburn moved anamendment to delete from the Bill the sections which would give the vote to women, but the Lords were not persuaded and on a division the amendment was lost by 134 votes against to 71 in favour.[10]
He continued to serve as aLaw Lord in theHouse of Lords.[11]
Lord Loreburn married firstly Emily, daughter of A. C. Fleming, in 1871. After her death in August 1904 he married secondly Violet Elizabeth, daughter ofWilliam Frederick Hicks-Beach, in 1907. There were no children from either marriage. Lord Loreburn died on 30 November 1923, aged 77, at which his titles became extinct.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHereford 2-seat constituency until 1885 1880–1885 With:Joseph Pulley | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDumfries Burghs 1886–1905 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Solicitor General 1894 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney General 1894–1895 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1905–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl Loreburn 1911–1923 | Extinct |
| Baron Loreburn 1906–1923 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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