The Viscount Wimborne | |
|---|---|
 Guest in 1906 | |
| Lord Lieutenant of Ireland | |
| In office 17 February 1915 – 9 May 1918 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Aberdeen |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount French of Ypres |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ivor Churchill Guest (1873-01-16)16 January 1873 Wimborne House, Arlington Street, London |
| Died | 14 June 1939(1939-06-14) (aged 66) Wimborne House, Arlington Street, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne,KP,PC (16 January 1873 – 14 June 1939), known asLord Ashby St Ledgers from 1910 to 1914 and asLord Wimborne from 1914 to 1918, was a British politician and one of the lastLords Lieutenant of Ireland, serving in that position at the time of theEaster Rising.
He was the eldest son ofIvor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, andLady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill, daughter ofJohn Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. He was the elder brother ofFrederick Guest,Oscar Guest andHenry Guest, and a first cousin ofWinston Churchill. He was educated atEton andTrinity College, Cambridge.[1]
He was commissioned alieutenant in theDorset Yeomanry on 9 May 1896. Following the outbreak of theSecond Boer War in late 1899, he volunteered for service and was appointed a lieutenant in theImperial Yeomanry on 24 February 1900,[2][3] leaving England forSouth Africa on theSS Manchester Merchant in early March.[4] He was awarded theQueen's South Africa Medal with two clasps. After returning to the United Kingdom, he was promoted tocaptain on 18 January 1902.[5]
He was elected unopposed to Parliament forPlymouth in aby-election in February 1900[6] (a seat he had unsuccessfully contested in 1898),[7] as aConservative, and retained his seat in thegeneral election of 1900. In 1904, during the controversy within the Conservative Party over adoptingprotectionism, he and other members of his family followed Churchill into theLiberal Party in support offree trade.
He sat as an MP until 1910, when he was raised to thepeerage asBaron Ashby St Ledgers, ofAshby St Ledgers in theCounty of Northampton,[8] and becamePaymaster General in the government ofH. H. Asquith.[9] He served as Paymaster General until 1912, and later served as aLord in Waiting to KingGeorge V.
In 1914, he succeeded his father asBaron Wimborne. At the start ofWorld War I, he was appointed to the staff of the newly formed10th (Irish) Division under Lieutenant-General SirBryan Mahon at theCurragh Camp.[10][11]
In February 1915, Wimborne was appointedLord Lieutenant of Ireland in succession toLord Aberdeen. At this time, the Lord Lieutenant was largely a ceremonial position; real power was in the hands of theChief Secretary and theUnder-Secretary. Determined to be more involved in decision-making, he was appointed Director of Recruiting in October 1915, heading up the new Department of Recruiting for Ireland.[11] He insisted on being kept up to date on the state of the country, and had the Under-Secretary, SirMatthew Nathan, send him police reports, details of prosecutions and recruitment figures.[12]
On the weekend preceding theEaster Rising, following the capture of the German arms shipAud and the arrest of SirRoger Casement, Wimborne urged Nathan to order the arrest of a large number of rebel leaders. Nathan was unwilling to do so without the authorisation of the Chief Secretary,Augustine Birrell, who was in London.[13] Before the authorisation was received, the Rising began on 24 April 1916. Wimborne proclaimedmartial law in Dublin. Thereafter, the military took control. A new Commander-in Chief, General SirJohn Maxwell, arrived in Ireland on 28 April and the rebels surrendered on 29 April. Wimborne initially refused to offer his resignation after the Rising. He resigned under pressure from the government but was re-appointed.[14] In June 1916 he directed the establishment of theProperty Losses (Ireland) Committee to assess the many insurance claims resulting from the Rising.[15]
TheRoyal Commission on the 1916 Rebellion (theHardinge commission) exonerated Wimborne of any blame for the Rising, saying that his position as Lord Lieutenant was "anomalous in quiet times and almost unworkable in times of crisis".[16] He continued as Lord Lieutenant for another two years. On his retirement in 1918, he was createdViscount Wimborne, ofCanford Magna in the County of Dorset.[17]
On 10 February 1902, he married atSt Peter's Church, Eaton Square, London, the Honourable Alice Grosvenor (1880–1948), daughter ofRobert Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Ebury.[18] They had one son,Ivor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne, and two daughters, Rosemary and Cynthia.[citation needed]
By the 1930s, they were living separate lives, though remaining on the friendliest terms. From 1934 until her death Alice was linked with the composerWilliam Walton.[19] Wimborne died in June 1939, aged 66, atWimborne House in Arlington Street, London, the house in which he was born. He was succeeded by his only son, Ivor. Lady Wimborne died in April 1948, aged 67.[20]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPlymouth 1900–1906 With:Sigismund Mendl to Oct 1900 Henry Duke 1900–1906 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCardiff 1906–1910 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Paymaster General 1910–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord-in-waiting 1913–1915 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1915–1918 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Wimborne 1918–1939 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baron Wimborne 1914–1939 | |
| New creation | Baron Ashby St Ledgers 1910–1939 | |
