The Viscount Davidson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| In office 25 May 1923 – 22 January 1924 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Succeeded by | Josiah Wedgwood |
| In office 10 November 1931 – 28 May 1937 | |
| Monarchs | George V Edward VIII George VI |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | The Marquess of Lothian |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Winterton |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
Lord Temporal | |
| In office 21 June 1937 – 11 December 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Peerage created |
| Succeeded by | The 2nd Viscount Davidson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Colin Campbell Davidson 23 February 1889 |
| Died | 11 December 1970(1970-12-11) (aged 81) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Hon. Frances Dickinson (1894–1985) |
| Children | 4, includingAndrew |
| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
John Colin Campbell Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1970[1]), known before his elevation to the peerage asJ. C. C. Davidson, was a British civil servant andConservative Party politician, best known for his close alliance withStanley Baldwin. Initially a civil servant, Davidson was private secretary toBonar Law between 1915 and 1920. After entering parliament in 1920, he served under Baldwin asChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1923 and 1924 and asParliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty between 1924 and 1926. From 1926 to 1930 he was Chairman of the Conservative Party. He was once again Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1931 and 1937, firstly underRamsay MacDonald and from 1935 onwards under Baldwin. On Baldwin's retirement in 1937, Davidson left theHouse of Commons and was ennobled asViscount Davidson. Despite being only 48, he never took any further active part in politics. His wifeFrances, Viscountess Davidson, succeeded him as MP forHemel Hempstead. Lord Davidson died in London in 1970.
Davidson was born atAberdeen, the younger child and only son of Sir James Mackenzie Davidson, a physician and pioneer of X-rays, by Georgina Barbara Watt Henderson, daughter of William Henderson, of Aberdeen. His grandfather John Davidson had accumulated a large fortune inArgentina, of which Davidson inherited a half. He was educated at Fretherne House preparatory school,Westminster andPembroke College, Cambridge, and wascalled to the Bar,Middle Temple, in 1913.[2]
After leaving Cambridge in 1910, Davidson joined the Colonial Office, where he became unpaid private secretary toLord Crewe, theSecretary of State for the Colonies. He continued in this post whenLewis Harcourt succeeded Crewe as Colonial secretary at the end of 1910. Davidson was anxious to serve in theFirst World War, but Harcourt considered him so valuable that he managed to convince him to stay at the Colonial Office. In 1915Bonar Law replaced Harcourt as head of the Colonial Office, and was urged to retain Davidson as private secretary. They became close friends and Law came to rely as heavily on Davidson as Harcourt had done.[2]
In December 1916 Bonar Law was appointedChancellor of the Exchequer andLeader of the House of Commons and insisted on taking Davidson with him as private secretary. Davidson managed to persuade Bonar Law to employStanley Baldwin as hisParliamentary Private Secretary, a move that would have far-reaching consequences for Davidson himself and for the nation's history. Baldwin had up until then been an obscure back-bench MP, but his appointment as PPS to Bonar Law was his first move on the ladder of promotion. Davidson and Baldwin developed a close friendship which lasted until Baldwin's death in 1947. In 1918 he was responsible for the final draft of the "coupon" endorsing parliamentary candidates in thegeneral election as representatives of the coalition government. In 1919 he was appointed a Companion of theOrder of the Bath (CB).[2]
Davidson entered parliament unopposed forHemel Hempstead in a 1920 by-election[2][3] and becameParliamentary Private Secretary to Bonar Law, then Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. The latter resigned on the grounds of ill health in May 1921, when Davidson became PPS to Stanley Baldwin, who by then had becomePresident of the Board of Trade.[2] The following year he urged Bonar Law to return and accept the leadership of the Conservative Party if the party voted against continuing thecoalition government headed byDavid Lloyd George. Despite the wishes of the party leadership, a majority of MP's voted against continuing the coalition at theCarlton Club meeting in October 1922.Austen Chamberlain resigned as party leader and was succeeded byBonar Law. Shortly afterwards Bonar Law was asked to form a government and once again appointed Davidson as his Parliamentary Private Secretary and unofficial unpaid private secretary.[2]
Bonar Law resigned in May 1923 after his health collapsed. Davidson was appointed aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the shortresignation honours list which was issued that same month.[4] Stanley Baldwin was chosen to succeed Bonar Law as Prime Minister over the claims ofLord Curzon. In his biography of Davidson in theDictionary of National Biography,Robert Blake writes that Davidson's role in the appointment of Baldwin remains a puzzle.Lord Stamfordham,George V's private secretary, sounded out Davidson on Bonar Law's wishes for his successor. Bonar Law, now gravely ill, asked not to be involved, but it was apparent that he favoured Baldwin although he could not overlook the claims of party grandee, Curzon. In 1954, a memorandum was found in theRoyal Archives that had obviously been dictated by Davidson and clearly argued for the claims of Baldwin over Curzon. The note had been handed over to Stamfordham bySir Ronald Waterhouse, another of Bonar Law's secretaries, at the same time as his official resignation as Prime Minister. Stamfordham had noted on the memorandum that it "practically expressed the views of Mr. Bonar Law". According to Blake, there was nothing in the memorandum to substantiate that claim. Davidson subsequently said that he had dictated the note after being asked by Stamfordham about the opinion of back-bench MP's. However, Blake argued, "In any case, the result [Baldwin as Bonar Law's successor] was affected only marginally. The King's decision was firmly based on his own good sense and the powerful arguments ofBalfour against the choice of apeer as prime minister".[2]
Following the appointment of Baldwin as prime minister, Davidson entered the government asChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,[2][5] and effectively continued as the prime minister's private secretary. However, he lost his seat in parliament at thegeneral election of December 1923, but regained it already in thegeneral election in October the following year. Baldwin once again formed an administration after the brief first-ever1924 Labour government, and made DavidsonParliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty. In this post he was forced to deal with cuts in naval expenditure proposed by theChancellor of the Exchequer,Winston Churchill, especially regarding the construction of new cruisers. He served as deputy chief civil commissioner during thegeneral strike of 1926, with responsibility for publicity. He also managed the short-livedBritish Gazette during the strike and arranged for the broadcasting of official bulletins.[2]
In 1926 Davidson left the government to take up the post ofChairman of the Conservative Party, which he remained until 1930. He was primarily charged with raising cash for the party and cleaning up the honours system, which had fallen into disrepute following informal cash-for-honours system instigated by Lloyd George in 1918. He was also the driving force behind the establishment ofAshridge in memory of Bonar Law.[2] In 1928 he was sworn of thePrivy Council.[2][6] According to Blake, Davidson "left a lasting imprint on the organization of the party, including the creation of the Research Department, and many of the changes attributed to his successor,Neville Chamberlain, were in fact his". However, Davidson came under criticism after the defeat at the1929 general election and resigned in 1930.[2]
In November 1931 Davidson was once again appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the National Government headed byRamsay MacDonald.[2][7] He was chairman of the Indian States inquiry committee and travelled toIndia in 1932 and was made a member of the joint select committee whose proposals resulted in theGovernment of India Act 1935. He declined thegovernorship of Bombay. He invited Joachim von Ribbentrop to meet with Stanley Baldwin for the first time in Westminster to discuss Hitler's ideas about equality in armaments.[8] He remained Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Baldwin became Prime Minister for the third time in 1935, although he was never a member of the cabinet.[2] The latter year he was also made a Knight Grand Cross of theRoyal Victorian Order (GCVO). He stepped down from the government and theHouse of Commons afterNeville Chamberlain became Prime Minister in May 1937.[2] The following June he was elevated to the peerage asViscount Davidson, of Little Gaddesden in the County of Hertford.[9] He was succeeded as MP by his wife,Frances, Viscountess Davidson (see below).[2]
Despite being only 48 at the time of his elevation to the peerage, Davidson took no further active part in political life. He remained involved with Ashridge and his business affairs. During theSecond World War he was with theMinistry of Information between 1940 and 1941 and made an official tour of South America in 1942. This was followed in 1943 with his foundation of Canning House, an important centre for Latin American culture and education. Blake writes of Davidson: "A man of much charm and geniality, bespectacled and ruddy complexioned, Davidson could be very tough. He was essentially one who operated behind the scenes rather than on the front of the stage. A streak of Scottish puritanism put him emphatically on the side of the 'respectable'. He had no sympathy with the buccaneers –Lloyd George,Churchill,Birkenhead,Beaverbrook. He was deeply devoted to Baldwin who owed a great debt to his advice, companionship, and support."[2]
Davidson marriedFrances Joan "Mimi" Dickinson, daughter ofSir Willoughby Dickinson, later Lord Dickinson of Painswick, in 1919. They had two sons and two daughters:[10]
Lady Davidson remained MP for Hemel Hempstead until 1959, and was created alife peer as Baroness Northchurch in 1963. Lord and Lady Davidson thereby became one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right.[2]
Lord Davidson died in London in December 1970, at the age of 81. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest sonAndrew, who also became a Conservative government minister. Andrew died in 2012 and the title passed to his brother Malcolm who became the 3rd Viscount.
Viscountess Davidson died in November 1985, aged 91.
Davidson was featured prominently inJack Thorne's 2023 playWhen Winston Went to War with the Wireless, played by Ravin J Ganatra.[11]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHemel Hempstead 1920–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHemel Hempstead 1924–1937 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1923–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty 1924–1926 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1931–1937 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Conservative Party 1926–1930 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Davidson 1937–1970 Member of theHouse of Lords (1937–1970) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
