The Earl St Aldwyn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 29 June 1895 – 11 August 1902 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | Sir William Harcourt |
| Succeeded by | Charles Ritchie |
| In office 24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | Hugh Childers |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Harcourt |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 21 February 1888 – 11 August 1892 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | The Lord Stanley of Preston |
| Succeeded by | A. J. Mundella |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1837-10-23)23 October 1837 London, England |
| Died | 30 April 1916(1916-04-30) (aged 78) Coln St Aldwyn,Gloucestershire, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingMichael |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn,PC, DL (23 October 1837 – 30 April 1916), known asSir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt, from 1854 to 1906 and subsequently asThe Viscount St Aldwyn to 1915, was a BritishConservative politician. Known as "Black Michael", he was notablyChancellor of the Exchequer from 1885 to 1886 and again from 1895 to 1902 and also led the Conservative Party in theHouse of Commons from 1885 to 1886. Due to the length of his service, he wasFather of the House from 1901 to 1906, when he took his peerage.
Born at Portugal Street in London, Hicks Beach was the son ofSir Michael Hicks Beach, 8th Baronet, ofBeverston, and his wife Harriett Vittoria, second daughter of John Stratton.[1] He was educated atEton College andChrist Church, Oxford,[2] where he graduated with a first class degree in the School of Law and Modern History in 1858. In 1854 he succeeded his father as ninth Baronet.[1]
In 1864 he was returned toParliament as aConservative forEast Gloucestershire.[3] During 1868 he acted both asParliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board and asUnder-Secretary of State for Home Affairs. In 1874 he was madeChief Secretary for Ireland, and was included in the Cabinet in 1877. From 1878 to 1880 he wasSecretary of State for the Colonies. In 1885 he was elected forBristol West,[4] and becameChancellor of the Exchequer andLeader of the House of Commons. AfterGladstone's brief Home Rule Ministry in 1886 Hicks Beach enteredLord Salisbury's next Cabinet again as Irish Secretary, making way forLord Randolph Churchill as Leader of the House; but troubles with his eyesight compelled him to resign in 1887.
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From 1888 to 1892 Hicks Beach returned to active work asPresident of the Board of Trade, and in 1895,Goschen being transferred to theAdmiralty, he again became Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1899 he lowered the fixed charge for the National Debt from twenty-five to twenty-three million, a reduction imperatively required, apart from other reasons, by the difficulties found in redeemingConsols at their then inflated price. When compelled to find means for financing the war in South Africa, he insisted on combining the raising of loans with the imposition of fresh taxation; and besides raising the income-tax each year, he introduced taxes on sugar and exported coal (1901), and in 1902 reimposed the registration duty on corn and flour which had been abolished in 1869 byLowe. The sale of hisNetheravon estates inWiltshire to theWar Office in 1898 occasioned some acrid criticism concerning the valuation, for which, however, Sir Michael himself was not responsible. On Lord Salisbury's retirement in August 1902 Hicks Beach also left the government.
Following his resignation, Sir Michael and Lady Lucy Hicks Beach, with their family, visited Egypt in late 1902.[5]
He accepted the chairmanship of the Royal Commission on Ritualistic Practices in the Church, and he did valuable work as an arbitrator; and though when the fiscal controversy arose he became the first president of theUnionist Free Food League, his parliamentary loyalty toBalfour did much to prevent the Unionist free-traders from precipitating a rupture. Hicks-Beach was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Gloucestershire in 1861.[6] In 1906 he was raised to the peerage asViscount St Aldwyn, ofColn St Aldwyn, in the County of Gloucester,[7] and in 1915 he was further honoured when he was madeViscount Quenington, ofQuenington, in the County of Gloucester, andEarl St Aldwyn, ofColn St Aldwyn, in the County of Gloucester.[8]
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Lord St Aldwyn married firstly (6.1.1864,South Molton, Devon), Caroline Susan Elwes (3 Prior Buildings, Cheltenham 4 April 1845 – 41 Portman Square, Marylebone 14 August 1865), daughter of John Henry Elwes by Mary Bromley, sister ofHenry John Elwes, and secondly Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue, daughter ofHugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue, in 1874. They had one son,Viscount Quenington, also a politician, and three daughters.
His second daughter,Susan Hicks Beach (1878-1965), was the sitter representing Britannia on the reverse of the Edward VII silver florins (two shilling pieces) issued from 1902 to 1910 and designed byGeorge William de Saulles. She resided with her mother for sundry years subsequent to World War II, cultivating and caring for the family land in theCotswolds.
Lord St Aldwyn died in April 1916, aged 78, only a week after his son was killed in action in theFirst World War, and was succeeded in his titles by his grandsonMichael, who also became a Conservative politician. Lucy, The Countess St Aldwyn had been involved withElizabeth Malleson in the creating of a Rural Nursing Association in the 1880s. This organisation was successful and incorporated in similar initiatives by Queen Victoria.[9] The countess died in March 1940. The coastal town ofBeachport in the Australian state of South Australia was named after Lord St Aldwyn in 1878.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGloucestershire East 1864–1885 With:Robert Stayner Holford 1864–1872 John Yorke 1872–1885 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forBristol West 1885–1906 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Father of the House of Commons 1901–1906 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board February–August 1868 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department August–December 1868 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary for Ireland 1874–1878 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Colonies 1878–1880 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1885–1886 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Commons 1885–1886 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary for Ireland 1886–1887 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by – | Minister without Portfolio 1887–1888 | Succeeded by – |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1888–1892 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1895–1902 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of theNational Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations (jointly withLord Randolph Churchill) 1884 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Conservative Leader of the Commons 1885–1886 | Succeeded by |
| Church of England titles | ||
| Preceded by | Third Church Estates Commissioner 1892–1895 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl St Aldwyn 1915–1916 | Succeeded by |
| Viscount St Aldwyn 1906–1916 | ||
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet (of Beverston) 1854–1916 | Succeeded by |
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