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Howard Vincent

October 19, 2023

For the American scholar of American literature, see Howard P. Vincent.

Colonel Sir Charles Edward Howard Vincent KCMG CB DL (31 May 1849 – 7 April 1908), known as Howard Vincent or C. E. Howard Vincent, was a British soldier, barrister, police official and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1908.

Sir C. E. Howard Vincent, c. 1906

Early life and education Edit

Vincent was born in Slinfold, near Horsham in Sussex, the second son of Sir Frederick Vincent, 11th Baronet, the village's rector. His brothers included Sir William Vincent, 12th Baronet, Claude Vincent, who became an administrator in India, and the financier and diplomat Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon.

He was educated at Westminster School and in November 1866 entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1]

Lawyer, soldier and policeman Edit

 
Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1883.

Passing out in 1868, he purchased a commission in the 23rd Foot (later the Royal Welch Fusiliers).[2] He was promoted lieutenant in 1871.[3][4] In 1871, he served as a correspondent with the Daily Telegraph in Berlin and then went on to Russia to learn the language and study the country's military organisation. In 1872 he began to write articles and lecture at the Royal United Services Institution. After his regiment was posted to Ireland later that year, he began to address political meetings on the Irish question, expressing generally Liberal views.

On 3 May 1873, Vincent enrolled as a pupil barrister at the Inner Temple. In that and the following year he travelled to Turkey and again to Russia, learning Turkish (to add to Russian, French, German and Italian, which he already knew). He also became an expert on the politics of the Near East. In 1874, he was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Militia as a captain.[5] He resigned his commission in November 1875,[6] but a month later was appointed lieutenant-colonel commanding the 40th (Central London Rifle Rangers) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps,[7] again resigning his commission in 1878.[8] He continued to write on political and military matters.

He was called to the bar on 20 January 1876[1] and joined the South-Eastern Circuit in the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, although he never really devoted himself to the law. On the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, the Daily Telegraph sent him to report on the Russian Army, but he was refused permission to accompany the army into the field, as the Russians were suspicious that he spoke Russian and suspected him of being a Turkish sympathiser.

In 1877 he enrolled as a student at the faculté de droit of the University of Paris and investigated the Parisian police. When, later that year, the Metropolitan Police Detective Branch was hit by a scandal in which several senior officers were dismissed, Vincent was asked to report on the Paris detective system. This so impressed R. A. Cross, the Home Secretary, that in 1878 he was appointed to the new post of Director of Criminal Investigation to head the new Criminal Investigation Department.[1] Although without the official status of Assistant Commissioner, this post was equivalent to the two Assistant Commissioners in almost every way. Vincent answered directly to the Home Secretary and not to the Commissioner, which put him in a rather strange position, as his deputy, Adolphus Williamson, and his men did answer to the Commissioner (luckily Vincent and Commissioner Sir Edmund Henderson had a good relationship). Vincent completely reorganised the department. From 1883 he also edited the Police Gazette.

In 1884, however, realising that his police post offered little chance of further advancement, he resigned to enter politics. That year he was also appointed lieutenant-colonel commanding the Queen's Westminster Volunteers,[9] holding the post for twenty years until 1904. He was rewarded for his police service by being appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1885.

 
Colonel of Queen's Westminsters 1896

Vincent was knighted in 1896[10] and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1898 for his service as British delegate to a conference on anarchists in Rome.[11]

He was selected to command the infantry of the City Imperial Volunteers in the Second Boer War, but was eventually refused permission to go due to a heart problem. He went in a private capacity anyway, however, and arrived in Cape Town in January 1900, at the height of the war.[12] He was awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration,[13] and appointed aide-de-camp to the King, and colonel in the Volunteer Force in 1901.[14] He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of London in 1889[15] and was granted the honorary rank of colonel in 1894.[16]

He resigned his commission for the final time in 1904, retaining his rank.[17]

Politician Edit

Vincent went on a world tour, in which he was so impressed with the effects of imperialism that he decided to stand for the Conservative Party (although he had previously tended towards Liberalism). At the general election in November 1885 he defeated Samuel Plimsoll to win the constituency of Sheffield Central.[18] He remained in Parliament until his death, being returned unopposed in 1895 and 1900, although he had to win the elections of 1886, 1892 and 1906.[19] As an MP Vincent became the first politician to rally the public in support of opposition to immigration and make it a campaign issue. He was assisted in this endeavour by William Evans-Gordon who soon took over from Vincent as the focus of "anti-alien" campaigning.[20] He also served on London County Council from 1889 to 1906. He was chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from 1895, chairman of the Conservative Party Publication Committee from 1896, and vice-chairman of the Primrose League from 1901. He founded the United Empire Trade League in 1891 and served as its honorary secretary until his death. In 1898 he was appointed to the Royal Commission organising the United Kingdom's participation in the Paris Exhibition of 1900.[21] In 1901 he chaired an inquiry into the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police. In September 1902 he attended the Congress of the International Union of Penal Jurisprudence at St. Petersburg.[22]

He retained his Parliamentary seat, and his characteristic interjection of a sarcastic 'Yah, yah!' into the opposition speeches continued until his death aged 59 on 7 April 1908.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Footnotes Edit

  1. ^ a b c Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  2. ^ "No. 23402". The London Gazette. 21 July 1868. p. 4063.
  3. ^ "No. 23812". The London Gazette. 29 December 1871. pp. 5868–5870.
  4. ^ "No. 23876". The London Gazette. 16 July 1872. pp. 3197–3199.
  5. ^ "No. 24033". The London Gazette. 11 November 1873. p. 4906.
  6. ^ "No. 24264". The London Gazette. 9 November 1875. p. 5306.
  7. ^ "No. 24274". The London Gazette. 10 December 1875. p. 6355.
  8. ^ "No. 24581". The London Gazette. 14 May 1878. p. 3048.
  9. ^ "No. 25322". The London Gazette. 26 February 1884. p. 970.
  10. ^ "No. 26706". The London Gazette. 4 February 1896. p. 645.
  11. ^ "No. 27091". The London Gazette. 20 June 1899. p. 3865.
  12. ^ "The War". The Times. No. 36069. London. 19 February 1900. p. 13.
  13. ^ "No. 27378". The London Gazette. 19 November 1901. p. 7471.
  14. ^ "No. 27324". The London Gazette. 18 June 1901. pp. 4099–4100.
  15. ^ "No. 25928". The London Gazette. 26 April 1889. p. 2339.
  16. ^ "No. 26563". The London Gazette. 23 October 1894. p. 5933.
  17. ^ "No. 27663". The London Gazette. 1 April 1904. p. 2117.
  18. ^ "No. 25541". The London Gazette. 18 December 1885. p. 6137.
  19. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 185. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  20. ^ Paul Foot, Immigration and Race in British Politics, Penguin Books, 1965, pp. 87–89
  21. ^ "No. 26936". The London Gazette. 8 February 1898. pp. 762–765.
  22. ^ "Court News". The Times. No. 36866. London. 6 September 1902. p. 7.
  23. ^ "No. 25609". The London Gazette. 20 July 1886. p. 3501.
  24. ^ "No. 26311". The London Gazette. 29 July 1892. p. 4310.
  25. ^ "No. 26651". The London Gazette. 9 August 1895. p. 4484.
  26. ^ "No. 27244". The London Gazette. 6 November 1900. p. 6773.
  27. ^ p"No. 27885". The London Gazette. 13 February 1906. p. 1045.
  28. ^ "No. 28131". The London Gazette. 24 April 1908. p. 3078.
  29. ^ "No. 28144". The London Gazette. 9 June 1908. p. 4276.

References Edit

External links Edit

  •   Media related to Howard Vincent at Wikimedia Commons
  • Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Howard Vincent
  • The Police Code and General Manual of the Criminal Law Vincent's handbook for the police.
  • Portraits of Vincent in the National Portrait Gallery
Police appointments
Preceded by
First incumbent
 Director of Criminal Investigation, Metropolitan Police
1878–1884 		Succeeded by
James Monro
Assistant Commissioner (Crime)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central
1885–1908 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations
1895 		Succeeded by

October 19, 2023
howard, vincent, american, scholar, american, literature, howard, vincent, colonel, charles, edward, kcmg, 1849, april, 1908, known, british, soldier, barrister, police, official, conservative, party, politician, house, commons, from, 1885, 1908, 1906, content. For the American scholar of American literature see Howard P Vincent Colonel Sir Charles Edward Howard Vincent KCMG CB DL 31 May 1849 7 April 1908 known as Howard Vincent or C E Howard Vincent was a British soldier barrister police official and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1908 Sir C E Howard Vincent c 1906 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Lawyer soldier and policeman 3 Politician 4 Footnotes 5 References 6 External linksEarly life and education EditVincent was born in Slinfold near Horsham in Sussex the second son of Sir Frederick Vincent 11th Baronet the village s rector His brothers included Sir William Vincent 12th Baronet Claude Vincent who became an administrator in India and the financier and diplomat Edgar Vincent 1st Viscount D Abernon He was educated at Westminster School and in November 1866 entered the Royal Military College Sandhurst 1 Lawyer soldier and policeman Edit nbsp Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1883 Passing out in 1868 he purchased a commission in the 23rd Foot later the Royal Welch Fusiliers 2 He was promoted lieutenant in 1871 3 4 In 1871 he served as a correspondent with the Daily Telegraph in Berlin and then went on to Russia to learn the language and study the country s military organisation In 1872 he began to write articles and lecture at the Royal United Services Institution After his regiment was posted to Ireland later that year he began to address political meetings on the Irish question expressing generally Liberal views On 3 May 1873 Vincent enrolled as a pupil barrister at the Inner Temple In that and the following year he travelled to Turkey and again to Russia learning Turkish to add to Russian French German and Italian which he already knew He also became an expert on the politics of the Near East In 1874 he was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Militia as a captain 5 He resigned his commission in November 1875 6 but a month later was appointed lieutenant colonel commanding the 40th Central London Rifle Rangers Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps 7 again resigning his commission in 1878 8 He continued to write on political and military matters He was called to the bar on 20 January 1876 1 and joined the South Eastern Circuit in the Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division although he never really devoted himself to the law On the outbreak of the Russo Turkish War in 1877 the Daily Telegraph sent him to report on the Russian Army but he was refused permission to accompany the army into the field as the Russians were suspicious that he spoke Russian and suspected him of being a Turkish sympathiser In 1877 he enrolled as a student at the faculte de droit of the University of Paris and investigated the Parisian police When later that year the Metropolitan Police Detective Branch was hit by a scandal in which several senior officers were dismissed Vincent was asked to report on the Paris detective system This so impressed R A Cross the Home Secretary that in 1878 he was appointed to the new post of Director of Criminal Investigation to head the new Criminal Investigation Department 1 Although without the official status of Assistant Commissioner this post was equivalent to the two Assistant Commissioners in almost every way Vincent answered directly to the Home Secretary and not to the Commissioner which put him in a rather strange position as his deputy Adolphus Williamson and his men did answer to the Commissioner luckily Vincent and Commissioner Sir Edmund Henderson had a good relationship Vincent completely reorganised the department From 1883 he also edited the Police Gazette In 1884 however realising that his police post offered little chance of further advancement he resigned to enter politics That year he was also appointed lieutenant colonel commanding the Queen s Westminster Volunteers 9 holding the post for twenty years until 1904 He was rewarded for his police service by being appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath CB in 1885 nbsp Colonel of Queen s Westminsters 1896Vincent was knighted in 1896 10 and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George KCMG in 1898 for his service as British delegate to a conference on anarchists in Rome 11 He was selected to command the infantry of the City Imperial Volunteers in the Second Boer War but was eventually refused permission to go due to a heart problem He went in a private capacity anyway however and arrived in Cape Town in January 1900 at the height of the war 12 He was awarded the Volunteer Officers Decoration 13 and appointed aide de camp to the King and colonel in the Volunteer Force in 1901 14 He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of London in 1889 15 and was granted the honorary rank of colonel in 1894 16 He resigned his commission for the final time in 1904 retaining his rank 17 Politician EditVincent went on a world tour in which he was so impressed with the effects of imperialism that he decided to stand for the Conservative Party although he had previously tended towards Liberalism At the general election in November 1885 he defeated Samuel Plimsoll to win the constituency of Sheffield Central 18 He remained in Parliament until his death being returned unopposed in 1895 and 1900 although he had to win the elections of 1886 1892 and 1906 19 As an MP Vincent became the first politician to rally the public in support of opposition to immigration and make it a campaign issue He was assisted in this endeavour by William Evans Gordon who soon took over from Vincent as the focus of anti alien campaigning 20 He also served on London County Council from 1889 to 1906 He was chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from 1895 chairman of the Conservative Party Publication Committee from 1896 and vice chairman of the Primrose League from 1901 He founded the United Empire Trade League in 1891 and served as its honorary secretary until his death In 1898 he was appointed to the Royal Commission organising the United Kingdom s participation in the Paris Exhibition of 1900 21 In 1901 he chaired an inquiry into the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police In September 1902 he attended the Congress of the International Union of Penal Jurisprudence at St Petersburg 22 He retained his Parliamentary seat and his characteristic interjection of a sarcastic Yah yah into the opposition speeches continued until his death aged 59 on 7 April 1908 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Footnotes Edit a b c Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886 No 23402 The London Gazette 21 July 1868 p 4063 No 23812 The London Gazette 29 December 1871 pp 5868 5870 No 23876 The London Gazette 16 July 1872 pp 3197 3199 No 24033 The London Gazette 11 November 1873 p 4906 No 24264 The London Gazette 9 November 1875 p 5306 No 24274 The London Gazette 10 December 1875 p 6355 No 24581 The London Gazette 14 May 1878 p 3048 No 25322 The London Gazette 26 February 1884 p 970 No 26706 The London Gazette 4 February 1896 p 645 No 27091 The London Gazette 20 June 1899 p 3865 The War The Times No 36069 London 19 February 1900 p 13 No 27378 The London Gazette 19 November 1901 p 7471 No 27324 The London Gazette 18 June 1901 pp 4099 4100 No 25928 The London Gazette 26 April 1889 p 2339 No 26563 The London Gazette 23 October 1894 p 5933 No 27663 The London Gazette 1 April 1904 p 2117 No 25541 The London Gazette 18 December 1885 p 6137 Craig F W S 1989 1974 British parliamentary election results 1885 1918 2nd ed Chichester Parliamentary Research Services p 185 ISBN 0 900178 27 2 Paul Foot Immigration and Race in British Politics Penguin Books 1965 pp 87 89 No 26936 The London Gazette 8 February 1898 pp 762 765 Court News The Times No 36866 London 6 September 1902 p 7 No 25609 The London Gazette 20 July 1886 p 3501 No 26311 The London Gazette 29 July 1892 p 4310 No 26651 The London Gazette 9 August 1895 p 4484 No 27244 The London Gazette 6 November 1900 p 6773 p No 27885 The London Gazette 13 February 1906 p 1045 No 28131 The London Gazette 24 April 1908 p 3078 No 28144 The London Gazette 9 June 1908 p 4276 References EditBiography Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The Storm of PoliticsExternal links Edit nbsp Media related to Howard Vincent at Wikimedia Commons Hansard 1803 2005 contributions in Parliament by Howard Vincent The Police Code and General Manual of the Criminal Law Vincent s handbook for the police Portraits of Vincent in the National Portrait GalleryPolice appointmentsPreceded byFirst incumbent Director of Criminal Investigation Metropolitan Police1878 1884 Succeeded byJames MonroAssistant Commissioner Crime Parliament of the United KingdomNew constituency Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central1885 1908 Succeeded byJames HopeParty political officesPreceded byJames Rankin Chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations1895 Succeeded byMarquess of Granby Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Howard Vincent amp oldid 1176160905, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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