George Wyndham

For other people named George Wyndham, see George Wyndham (disambiguation).
The Right Honourable
George Wyndham
PC

George Wyndham in the early 1900s.
Under-Secretary of State for War
In office
10 October 1898 – 13 November 1900
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by Hon. St John Brodrick
Succeeded by The Lord Raglan
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office
9 November 1900 – 12 March 1905
Monarch Victoria
Edward VII
Prime Minister The Marquess of Salisbury
Arthur Balfour
Preceded by Gerald Balfour
Succeeded by Walter Long
Personal details
Born 29 August 1863 (1863-08-29)
Died 8 June 1913 (1913-06-09) (aged 49)
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Lady Sibell Lumley
(1855–1929)

George Wyndham PC (29 August 1863 – 8 June 1913) was a British Conservative politician, statesman, man of letters, and one of The Souls.

Background and education

Wyndham was the elder son of the Honourable Percy Wyndham,[1] third son of George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield, and he was a direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham. His mother was Madeleine, sixth daughter of Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet,[2] and Pamela, through whom he was the great-grandson of the Irish Republican leader, Lord Edward FitzGerald, whom Wyndham greatly resembled physically. Wyndham was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He joined the Coldstream Guards in March 1883, serving through the Suakin campaign of 1885.[3]

Political career

1887 Wyndham became private secretary to Arthur Balfour (afterwards the Earl of Balfour) In 1889, he was elected unopposed to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dover,[4] and held the seat until his death.[5]

Wyndham launched an Imperialist magazine called The Outlook in February 1898. This may have been supported financially by Cecil Rhodes, with whom he had a close relationship.[6][7] Joseph Conrad, who was a contributor, described the publication:

There is a new weekly coming. Its name The Outlook; its price three pence sterling, its attitude – literary; its policy – Imperialism, tempered by expediency; its mission – to make money for a Jew; its editor Percy Hurd (never heard of him) ...[6]

Also in 1898, Wyndham was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War under Lord Salisbury, which he remained until 1900. He was closely involved in Irish affairs at two points. Having been private secretary to Arthur Balfour during the years around 1890 when Balfour was Chief Secretary for Ireland, Wyndham was himself made Chief Secretary by Salisbury in 1900.

Wyndham furthered the 1902 Land Conference and also successfully saw the significant 1903 Irish Land Act into law.[4] This change in the law ushered in the most radical change in history in Ireland's land ownership. Before it, Ireland's land was largely owned by landlords; within years of the Acts, most of the land was owned by their former tenants, who had been supported in their purchases by government subsidies. This could without exaggeration be called the most radical change in Irish life in history.

He brought forward a devolution scheme to deal with the Home Rule question co-ordinated with the Irish Reform Association conceived by his permanent under-secretary Sir Antony MacDonnell (afterwards Baron) and with the approval of the Lord Lieutenant the Earl of Dudley.[4]

He resigned along with the rest of the Unionist government in May 1905.[4]

Wyndham was the leader of the "die-hard" opponents in the House of Commons of the Parliament Bill that became Parliament Act 1911.

Family

Wyndham married Sibell Mary in 1887,[4] Countess Grosvenor, daughter of Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough.[4] After the death of her first husband Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the 1st Duke of Westminster. She was Wyndham's senior by eight years. Towards the end of his life the couple settled at Clouds House in Wiltshire, designed for his father Percy Wyndham by the Arts and Crafts movement architect, Philip Webb (1886). In 1911 he succeeded his father and had the management of a small landed estate on his hands.

Wyndham died suddenly June 1913 in Paris, France, aged 49 of a blood clot. He was survived by his wife and one son.[4]

Lady Grosvenor died in February 1929, aged 73. There has been speculation over the years that Wyndham was the natural father of Anthony Eden, who was Prime Minister from 1955–7. Eden's mother, Sybil, Lady Eden, was evidently close to Wyndham, to whom Eden bore a striking resemblance.[8]

Works

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Biography 1912–1921, Oxford pages 598–599
  2. ↑ Dictionary of Biography 1912–1921; Oxford pages 598+599
  3. ↑ dictionary of National Biography 1912–1921, Oxford pages 598–599
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dictionary of National Biography 1912–1921, Oxford pages 598–599
  5. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
  6. 1 2 Cohen, Scott A. (Spring 2009). "Imperialism Tempered by Expediency: Conrad and The Outlook". Conradiana. 41 (1): 48–66. doi:10.1353/cnd.0.0030.
  7. ↑ "George Wyndham". Boston Evening Transcript. 11 April 1903. p. 32. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  8. ↑ D. R. Thorpe (2003) Eden

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Wyndham.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Alexander Dickson		 Member of Parliament for Dover
1889–1913 		Succeeded by
Viscount Duncannon
Political offices
Preceded by
St John Brodrick		 Under-Secretary of State for War
1898–1900 		Succeeded by
The Lord Raglan
Preceded by
Gerald Balfour		 Chief Secretary for Ireland
1900–1905 		Succeeded by
Walter Long
Academic offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Rosebery		 Rector of the University of Glasgow
1902–1905 		Succeeded by
H. H. Asquith
Preceded by
Richard Haldane		 Rector of the University of Edinburgh
1908–1911 		Succeeded by
The Earl of Minto
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