Robert Threshie Reid, 1st Earl Loreburn,GCMG,PC(3 April 1846 – 30 November 1923) was a British lawyer, judge andLiberalpolitician. He served asLord High Chancellor of Great Britainbetween 1905 and 1912.
The Earl Loreburn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain | |
| In office 10 December 1905 – 10 June 1912 | |
| Monarchs | Edward VII George V |
| Prime Minister | SirHenry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Halsbury |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Haldane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 April 1846 Corfu Town,Corfu,United States of the Ionian Islands |
| Died | 30 November 1923(aged 77) Walmer,Kent |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Emily Fleming (d. 1904) (2) Violet Hicks-Beach |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Background and education
editBorn inCorfu,the largest city onthe island of the same name,Loreburn was the son of Sir James John Reid,Chief Justice of the Ionian Islands,at the time a British proctectorate. His mother was Mary, daughter of Robert Threshie. Loreburn was educated atCheltenham CollegeandBalliol College, Oxford.While at Oxford, he represented theOxford University Cricket Clubin fifteenfirst-classmatches as awicket-keeper,spanning from 1865 to 1868.[1]He remained involved in cricket for many years after, with appearances for theMarylebone Cricket Club(MCC) andHerefordshireat lower levels of the sport, amongst other sides.[2]
Political career
editLoreburn's national political career began in 1880, when he was elected to theHouse of Commonsas Member of Parliament forHereford.He stayed there until 1885, when he ran unsuccessfully inDunbartonshire,but returned to the Commons in 1886 forDumfries Burghs.He remained in the House of Commons until 1905; during this time period, he was appointed to the offices ofSolicitor Generalandknighted(1894)[3]andAttorney General(1894–1895). He was appointed aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George(GCMG) in 1899 for services in connection with the Venezuela Boundary Arbitration Commission.[4]He left the House of Commons in 1905, though, and becameLord ChancellorunderSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.On his appointment he was raised to the peerage asBaron Loreburn,of Dumfries in the County of Dumfries.[5](The Loreburn was a stream which historically ran close to Dumfries, and which was the source of the town's motto and rallying cry, "A Lore Burne".) Alternative explanations include the name coming from Dumfries’ motto ‘A Lore burne’, based on the war-cry ‘To the Lower Burn’.[6]
During the 1900s and 1910s, many Liberal politicians took up the ideology ofLiberal Imperialism,led by theChancellor of the Exchequer(H. H. Asquith), theSecretary of State for War(Richard Haldane) and theSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs(Sir Edward Grey). This triumvirate of politicians was strongly in favour of anententewith France, along with the creation of aBritish Expeditionary Force,in the event of a war between France and Germany. These three politicians made their views known, and when Campbell-Bannerman appointed his cabinet, he appointed Loreburn Lord Chancellor as a counter to the Liberal Imperialists.Winston Churchillreferred to him as belonging to the "radical element" within the Liberal party.[7]
In 1908, Asquith became prime minister. Lord Loreburn's disagreements with Haldane, Grey, Asquith, and eventuallyDavid Lloyd Georgebecame more prominent. Asquith, Lloyd George, Grey, Churchill, and Haldane met secretly on 23 August 1911, and when certain Cabinet members found out, they were furious.Reginald McKennahad recently been deprived of his position asFirst Lord of the Admiraltyfor refusing to provide military aid to the French, and he led the majority (whose members included Loreburn, McKenna,Colonial SecretaryLewis Vernon Harcourt,andChancellor of the Duchy of LancasterJack Pease) in "a strong line about Cabinet supremacy over all other bodies in the matter of sea and land defence".Lord Esherwrote, "There has been a serious crisis. Fifteen members of the Cabinet against five. The Entente is decidedly imperilled."
He was createdEarl Loreburnon 4 July 1911.[8]Unfortunately, Lord Loreburn's health began declining, and in the summer of 1912, he resigned his Lord Chancellorship. In a parting, "valedictory" letter to Lord Haldane, he wrote:
My differences with you have always been this, you have been an Imperialist "au fond" and always in my opinion it is quite impossible to reconcile Imperialism with the Liberal creed which we professed, and on the force of which we received the support of the country. In this way we became hopelessly estranged on the greatest of all issues.
During theJuly CrisisLoreburn opposed British intervention in the impending continental war. On 31 July 1914 theManchester Guardian,to his delight, attacked the way in which Britain appeared to have been secretly committed to the side of France and Russia.[9]
In January 1918, theHouse of Lordscame to consider theBillwhich went on to become theRepresentation of the People Act 1918,for the first time introducing a limitedwomen's suffrage.Loreburn moved anamendmentto delete from the Bill the sections which would give the vote to women, but the Lords were not persuaded and on a division the amendment was lost by 134 votes against to 71 in favour.[10]
He continued to serve as aLaw Lordin theHouse of Lords.[11]
Personal life
editLord Loreburn married firstly Emily, daughter of A. C. Fleming, in 1871. After her death in August 1904 he married secondly Violet Elizabeth, daughter ofWilliam Frederick Hicks-Beach,in 1907. There were no children from either marriage. Lord Loreburn died on 30 November 1923, aged 77, at which his titles became extinct.
Arms
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References
edit- ^Robert Reid– CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ^Teams Robert Reid played for– CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ^"No. 26536".The London Gazette.27 July 1894. p. 4299.
- ^"No. 27141".The London Gazette.5 December 1899. p. 8181.
- ^"No. 27873".The London Gazette.9 January 1906. p. 187.
- ^"What's in a Name? How Peers Settled Their Titles in the Twentieth Century - the History of Parliament".
- ^Wilson, Keith M. (31 January 1985).The Policy of the Entente: Essays on the Determinants of British Foreign Policy, 1904–1914.Cambridge University Press.ISBN9780521301954.
- ^"No. 28514".The London Gazette.18 July 1911. p. 5349.
- ^Koss,p. 157.
- ^Fenwick, Mrs Bedford, ed. (19 January 1918)."Editorial: Woman Suffrage Assured"(PDF).The British Journal of Nursing.LX(1555). London: The Nursing Press: 35.Retrieved30 November2009.
- ^House of Lords,F. A. Tamplin Steamship Co. Ltd. and Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Products Co., Ltd. (Re: Arbitration) [1916] UKHL 433,delivered on 24 July 1916, accessed on 19 September 2024
- ^Burke's Peerage.1914.
- The Anglo-French Entente
- Leigh Rayment's Peerages[usurped]
- Koss, Stephen(1985).Asquith.London: Hamish Hamilton.ISBN978-0-231-06155-1.
External links
edit
- Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Robert Reid
- .Encyclopædia Britannica(12th ed.). 1922.