Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt
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Lewis Vernon Venables Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt PC (31 January 1863-24 February 1922) was a British politician who held the Cabinet office of Secretary of State for the Colonies during 1910-1915.
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[edit] Family
Lewis Harcourt was born in Nuneham Courtenay, Oxon, and was educated at Eton. He never knew his mother, Thérèse Lister, who died in 1863. He was her only child. His father Sir William Harcourt was Home Secretary 1880-5, at which time Lewis acted as his Private Secretary. Lewis's great-grandfather was Edward Harcourt, Archbishop of York.
He married on 1 July 1899 Mary Ethel Burns, daughter of Walter Hayes Burns, of New York and North Mymms Park, Hertfordshire. They had a son, William, in 1908. Harcourt was nicknamed 'Loulou'.
[edit] Career
He was Liberal MP for Rossendale, Lancashire, 1904-1916.
He was First Commissioner of Works in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's 1905 ministry (included in the cabinet in 1907) and in Asquith's cabinet 1908-10 and again 1915-16. In this role he authorised the placement in Kensington Gardens of the Peter Pan statue, sculpted by George Frampton, erected on May 1, 1912. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies 1910-15.
He acted as a trustee for the British Museum, Wallace Collection, the London Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery, which now contains his portrait. Harcourt received an honorary DCL degree from Oxford University, On 3 January 1917 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Nuneham, of Nuneham Courtenay in the County of Oxford, and Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford.
[edit] Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state in southern Nigeria, is named after him. When the port was established in 1912, there was much controversy about the name it should receive. In August 1913, the Governor–General of Nigeria, Sir Frederick Lugard wrote to Harcourt, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, "in the absence of any convenient local name, I would respectfully ask your permission to call this Port Harcourt." To this the Secretary of State replied, "It gives me pleasure to accede to your suggestion that my name should be associated with the new Port."
[edit] Queen Victoria
Harcourt's diaries contain a report that one of Queen Victoria's chaplains, Rev'd Norman Macleod, made a deathbed confession repenting of his action in presiding over Queen Victoria's marriage to her servant, John Brown. Little credence is given to this report, in view of the many years which would have passed from the time of the "marriage" until Harcourt recorded it. See John Brown (servant) for a fuller discussion.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir William Mather |
Member of Parliament for Rossendale 1904–1916 |
Succeeded by Sir John Henry Maden |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Windsor |
First Commissioner of Works 1905–1910 |
Succeeded by The Earl Beauchamp |
| Preceded by The Earl of Crewe |
Secretary of State for the Colonies 1910–1915 |
Succeeded by Andrew Bonar Law |
| Preceded by The Lord Emmott |
First Commissioner of Works 1915–1916 |
Succeeded by Sir Alfred Mond |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Viscount Harcourt 1917–1922 |
Succeeded by William Edward Harcourt |
[edit] References
- Dictionary of national biography 1971-1980, Oxford University Press, 1986
Categories: 1863 births | 1922 deaths | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | Politicians who committed suicide | Nobility who committed suicide | British Secretaries of State | Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom | UK Liberal Party politicians | Port Harcourt
