The Earl of Glasgow | |
|---|---|
| Member of theHouse of Lords [a] | |
Lord Temporal | |
| In office 13 December 1915 – 14 December 1963 | |
| Preceded by | The 7th Earl of Glasgow |
| Succeeded by | The 9th Earl of Glasgow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick James Boyle (1874-06-18)18 June 1874 |
| Died | 14 December 1963(1963-12-14) (aged 89) |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5, includingDavid |
| Parent(s) | David Boyle, 7th Earl of Glasgow Dorothea Elizabeth Thomasina Hunter-Blair |
Patrick James Boyle, 8th Earl of Glasgow (18 June 1874 – 14 December 1963), was aScottish nobleman and afar right political activist, involved with fascist parties and groups.
Boyle was trained for a naval career at the cadet shipHMSBritannia and graduated as aRoyal Navy Lieutenant on 22 June 1897.[1][2] He wasFlag Lieutenant to Rear AdmiralEdmund Jeffreys, Senior Naval Officer,Coast of Ireland Station, serving on his flagshipHMS Howe which was port guard ship atQueenstown. They transferred toHMS Empress of India in October 1901, when that vessel relieved theHowe.[3] He was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1908,[4] and eventually obtained the rank of Captain before retiring in 1919. He saw action during theFirst World War, commandingHMS Pyramus, and was awarded theDistinguished Service Order in 1915.[citation needed] Following his retirement from active duty he was admitted to the ceremonial role of Lieutenant of theRoyal Company of Archers.[citation needed]
Boyle was noted for his extremist views and took an active role in a number of rightist groups in the inter-war period. Ananti-communist by inclination, his views were informed by a landing he made as a Naval Commander inVladivostok in 1917 where he claimed to witness examples ofBolshevik terror that helped to solidify his rightist opinions.[5] He was one of a number of large landowners who joined theBritish Fascists in the early 1920s,[6] largely inspired by slump in agriculture and the simultaneous rise in taxation that they blamed ondemocracy and the rise of the left.[7] Boyle served as leader of the British Fascists units in Scotland.[8] Close to BrigadierR. B. D. Blakeney, Boyle joined Blakeney's splinter group the Loyalists in 1926 in order to support the work of theOrganisation for the Maintenance of Supplies. This group had agreed to disavowfascism in order to co-operate with the government.[9] Boyle disappeared from the political scene soon afterwards when, virtually bankrupted by the burden of his large estates, he emigrated toFrance, remaining there until 1930.[10]
Following his return to the United Kingdom, Boyle once again became involved in rightist politics and was a regular invitee to theJanuary Club, a high society discussion club organised by theBritish Union of Fascists.[11] According to contemporaryLabour Party documents Boyle subsequently provided funding toOswald Mosley's party, which was one of the intentions of the January Club.[12] Boyle also joined theAnglo-German Fellowship.[13]
Boyle succeeded to the title of 8thEarl of Glasgow on 13 December 1915, also succeeding to the subsidiary titles of 8th Viscount Kelburn, 2nd Baron Fairlie of Fairlie, Ayrshire, and 8th Lord Boyle, of Kelburn, Stewartoun, Finnick, Largs and Dalry.[citation needed] He also served as Vice-Lord-Lieutenant of Ayrshire from 1942 to 1963.[citation needed]
WriterEvelyn Waugh recounts that in May 1942, ColonelJohn Durnford-Slater ofNo. 3 Commando was keen to get on good terms with Boyle, and offered to help him by blowing up a tree stump on his estate. The charge was miscalculated by a factor of ten, and the resulting explosion not only removed the stump but also flattened a nearby plantation of young trees and broke every window in his castle. Boyle retreated to the lavatory to regain his composure; but when he pulled the chain. the ceiling, weakened by the explosion, fell on his head.[14]
Boyle married Hyacynthe Mary Bell, daughter of Dr William Abraham Bell ofPendell Court, Bletchingley,Surrey, on 29 May 1906 and had five children:
Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, was his brother-in-law, being married to Boyle's sister.[16]
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Earl of Glasgow 1915–1963 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Fairlie 1915–1963 Member of theHouse of Lords (1915–1963) | Succeeded by |