Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Baron QuickswoodPC (14 October 1869 – 10 December 1956), styled Lord Hugh Cecil until 1941, was a British Conservative Party politician.[1]
After his graduation as BA in 1891, Cecil went to work in parliament. From 1891 to 1892 he was Assistant Private Secretary to his father, who was Foreign Secretary.[3] Having paid his subscription he was elevated to MA in 1894, and entered the Commons as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Greenwich in 1895.[4][5] He took a keen interest in ecclesiastical questions and became an active member of the Church party, resisting attempts by nonconformists and secularists to take the discipline of the Church out of the hands of the archbishops and bishops, and to remove the bishops from their seats in the House of Lords. In a speech on the second reading of Balfour's Education Bill of 1902, he maintained that for the final settlement of the religious difficulty there must be cooperation between the Church of England and nonconformity, which was the Church's natural ally; and that the only possible basis of agreement was that every child should be brought up in the belief of its parents. The ideal to be aimed at in education was the improvement of the national character. In the later stages of the Bill's progress, he strongly resented an amendment approved by the House and taken over by the Government giving the school managers (governors, in modern parlance), instead of the local vicar, control of religious education in voluntary, i.e. church, schools.[a] This was not the only point on which he showed considerable independence of the government of which Balfour, his cousin, was the head.[6]
During the early 20th century, Cecil (known to his friends as "Linky") was the eponymous leader of the Hughligans, a group of privileged young Tory Members of Parliament critical of their own party's leadership. Modelled after Lord Randolph Churchill's Fourth Party, the Hughligans included Cecil, F. E. Smith, Arthur Stanley, Ian Malcolm and, until 1904, Winston Churchill. Cecil was the best man at Churchill's wedding in 1908 and the latter greatly admired his eloquence in the House of Commons. As Churchill declared to a contemporary, Llewellyn Atherley-Jones,"How I wish I had his powers; speech is a painful effort to me."[7] Cecil dissented from the beginning from Joseph Chamberlain's policy of tariff reform, pleading in Parliament against any devaluation of the idea of empire to a "gigantic profit-sharing business". He took a prominent position among the "Free Food Unionists"; consequently he was attacked by the tariff reformers, and lost his seat at Greenwich in 1906.[6]
In 1910 Cecil became an MP for Oxford University, which he represented for the next 27 years.[8] He immediately threw himself with passion into the struggle against the Ministerial Veto Resolutions, comparing the Asquith government to "thimble riggers". In the next year, he was active in the resistance to the Parliament Bill, treating Asquith as a "traitor" for his advice to the Crown to swamp the Conservative majority in the Lords by creating hundreds of Liberal peers, and taking a prominent part in the disturbance which prevented the Prime Minister from being heard on 24 July 1911. But he never quite regained the authority which he had possessed in the House in the early years of the century. He strongly opposed the Welsh Church Bill, and he denounced the 1914 Home Rule Bill as reducing Ireland from the status of a wife to that of a mistress — she was to be kept by John Bull, not united to him.[6] In 1916 Cecil was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry. He was sworn of the Privy Council on 16 January[9] 1918.[10]
Lord Hugh was a committed Anglican, and a member of House of Laity in the Church Assembly from 1919. He was awarded a Doctorate of Civil Law by Oxford University in 1924. He pleaded for lenient treatment of conscientious objectors, and endeavoured unsuccessfully to relieve them of disability.[6] He left the House of Commons in 1937 because the previous year he had been appointed Provost of Eton College, a post he retained until 1944.[3] On 25 January 1941 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Quickswood, of Clothall in the County of Hertford.[11] He was a Trustee of the London Library, and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law at Durham University. He was also honorary Doctor of Laws at the University of Edinburgh in 1910, and at Cambridge in 1933. From 1944 until his death he had an honorary association with New College, Oxford.[9]
Personal life
Lord Quickswood never married. He died on 10 December 1956, aged 87, at which time the barony became extinct.[3]
Arms
Coat of arms of Hugh Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood
Escutcheon
Quarterly: 1st & 4th barry of ten Argent and Azure over all six escutcheons three two and one Sable each charged with a lion rampant of the first (Cecil); 2nd & 3rd Argent on a pale Sable a conger’s head erased and erect Or charged with an ermine spot (Gascoyne); an annulet for difference.
^. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ abcdChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Cecil, Lord Hugh Richard Heathcote" . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
^L.A. Atherley-Jones, Looking Back: Reminiscences of a Political Career (London, 1925), p. 108
^. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Annan, Noel (1955). H. Plumb (ed.). "The Intellectual Aristocracy". Studies in Social History: A Tribute to G. M. Trevelyan. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
Gardiner, A. G. (1913). "Hugh Cecil". Pillars of Society. James Nisbet & Co., Limited.
Griffith-Boscawen, A. S. T. (1907). "Fourteen Years in Parliament". London: John Murray.
Lucy, Henry (1917). "Lord Hugh Cecil". The Nation. CIV (2705).
Quigley, Carroll (1981). "The Cecil Bloc: The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden" (PDF). New York: Books in Focus.
Rempel, Richard (May 1972). "Lord Hugh Cecil's Parliamentary Career Promise Unfulfilled". Journal of British Studies. XI.
Rose, Kenneth (1975). The Later Cecils. London: Macmillan.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hugh Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood.
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Quickswood
hugh, cecil, baron, quickswood, hugh, richard, heathcote, gascoyne, cecil, baron, quickswood, october, 1869, december, 1956, styled, lord, hugh, cecil, until, 1941, british, conservative, party, politician, right, honourablethe, lord, quickswoodpclord, hugh, c. Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne Cecil 1st Baron Quickswood PC 14 October 1869 10 December 1956 styled Lord Hugh Cecil until 1941 was a British Conservative Party politician 1 The Right HonourableThe Lord QuickswoodPCLord Hugh Cecil circa 1914Member of the House of LordsLord TemporalIn office 25 January 1941 10 December 1956Hereditary peeragePreceded byPeerage createdSucceeded byPeerage extinctMember of Parliamentfor Oxford UniversityIn office 15 January 1910 23 February 1937Preceded byJohn Gilbert TalbotSucceeded byArthur SalterMember of Parliamentfor GreenwichIn office 13 July 1895 8 February 1906Preceded byThomas BoordSucceeded byRichard JacksonPersonal detailsBornHugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne Cecil14 October 1869Hertfordshire EnglandDied10 December 1956 aged 87 Sussex EnglandPolitical partyConservativeRelationsRobert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury father Georgina Caroline Alderson mother Alma materUniversity College Oxford Contents 1 Background and education 2 Political career 3 Personal life 4 Arms 5 Publications 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 Sources 9 External linksBackground and education EditCecil was the eighth and youngest child of Robert Gascoyne Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Georgina Alderson daughter of Sir Edward Hall Alderson He was the brother of James Gascoyne Cecil 4th Marquess of Salisbury Lord William Cecil Lord Cecil of Chelwood and Lord Edward Cecil and a first cousin of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour He was educated at Eton and University College Oxford He graduated with first class honours in Modern History in 1891 2 and was a fellow of Hertford College Oxford from 1891 until 1936 when he considered that he could not be Provost of Eton College and simultaneously a Fellow of Hertford 3 Political career Edit Greenwich Cecil as caricatured by Spy Leslie Ward in Vanity Fair October 1900 After his graduation as BA in 1891 Cecil went to work in parliament From 1891 to 1892 he was Assistant Private Secretary to his father who was Foreign Secretary 3 Having paid his subscription he was elevated to MA in 1894 and entered the Commons as Conservative Member of Parliament MP for Greenwich in 1895 4 5 He took a keen interest in ecclesiastical questions and became an active member of the Church party resisting attempts by nonconformists and secularists to take the discipline of the Church out of the hands of the archbishops and bishops and to remove the bishops from their seats in the House of Lords In a speech on the second reading of Balfour s Education Bill of 1902 he maintained that for the final settlement of the religious difficulty there must be cooperation between the Church of England and nonconformity which was the Church s natural ally and that the only possible basis of agreement was that every child should be brought up in the belief of its parents The ideal to be aimed at in education was the improvement of the national character In the later stages of the Bill s progress he strongly resented an amendment approved by the House and taken over by the Government giving the school managers governors in modern parlance instead of the local vicar control of religious education in voluntary i e church schools a This was not the only point on which he showed considerable independence of the government of which Balfour his cousin was the head 6 During the early 20th century Cecil known to his friends as Linky was the eponymous leader of the Hughligans a group of privileged young Tory Members of Parliament critical of their own party s leadership Modelled after Lord Randolph Churchill s Fourth Party the Hughligans included Cecil F E Smith Arthur Stanley Ian Malcolm and until 1904 Winston Churchill Cecil was the best man at Churchill s wedding in 1908 and the latter greatly admired his eloquence in the House of Commons As Churchill declared to a contemporary Llewellyn Atherley Jones How I wish I had his powers speech is a painful effort to me 7 Cecil dissented from the beginning from Joseph Chamberlain s policy of tariff reform pleading in Parliament against any devaluation of the idea of empire to a gigantic profit sharing business He took a prominent position among the Free Food Unionists consequently he was attacked by the tariff reformers and lost his seat at Greenwich in 1906 6 In 1910 Cecil became an MP for Oxford University which he represented for the next 27 years 8 He immediately threw himself with passion into the struggle against the Ministerial Veto Resolutions comparing the Asquith government to thimble riggers In the next year he was active in the resistance to the Parliament Bill treating Asquith as a traitor for his advice to the Crown to swamp the Conservative majority in the Lords by creating hundreds of Liberal peers and taking a prominent part in the disturbance which prevented the Prime Minister from being heard on 24 July 1911 But he never quite regained the authority which he had possessed in the House in the early years of the century He strongly opposed the Welsh Church Bill and he denounced the 1914 Home Rule Bill as reducing Ireland from the status of a wife to that of a mistress she was to be kept by John Bull not united to him 6 In 1916 Cecil was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry He was sworn of the Privy Council on 16 January 9 1918 10 Apart from his political career Cecil served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War In that capacity in debate in 1918 he severely censured the treatment of General Trenchard by the government Lord Hugh was a committed Anglican and a member of House of Laity in the Church Assembly from 1919 He was awarded a Doctorate of Civil Law by Oxford University in 1924 He pleaded for lenient treatment of conscientious objectors and endeavoured unsuccessfully to relieve them of disability 6 He left the House of Commons in 1937 because the previous year he had been appointed Provost of Eton College a post he retained until 1944 3 On 25 January 1941 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Quickswood of Clothall in the County of Hertford 11 He was a Trustee of the London Library and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law at Durham University He was also honorary Doctor of Laws at the University of Edinburgh in 1910 and at Cambridge in 1933 From 1944 until his death he had an honorary association with New College Oxford 9 Personal life EditLord Quickswood never married He died on 10 December 1956 aged 87 at which time the barony became extinct 3 Arms EditCoat of arms of Hugh Cecil 1st Baron Quickswood Escutcheon Quarterly 1st amp 4th barry of ten Argent and Azure over all six escutcheons three two and one Sable each charged with a lion rampant of the first Cecil 2nd amp 3rd Argent on a pale Sable a conger s head erased and erect Or charged with an ermine spot Gascoyne an annulet for difference Motto Sero Sed Serio 12 Publications Edit Presidential Address In Political Socialism a Remonstrance edited by Mark H Judge London P S King 1908 Liberty and Authority London Edward Arnold 1910 Conservatism London Williams and Norgate 1912 Second Chambers in the British Dominions and in Foreign Countries In Rights of Citizenship Chap VII London Frederick Warne amp Co 1912 The Position of the Incumbent in the Parochial Church Council In Church and State Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 1916 The Irish Question Again The Living Age Vol XIV No 301 31 May 1919 Nationalism and Catholicism Macmillan amp Co Limited 1919 National Instinct the Basis of Social Institutions Burnett House Papers No 9 Oxford University Press 1926 The Communion Service As It Might Be together with an Introduction and Notes London Humphrey Milford 1935 digitized by Richard Mammana Footnotes Edit sometimes known at the time as non provided schools as they had not been set up by the state under the Forster Act of 1870References Edit Hansard person page online accessed May 2009 Oxford University Calendar 1895 p 271 a b c d thepeerage com Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne Cecil 1st and last Baron Quickswood No 26651 The London Gazette 9 August 1895 p 4481 leighrayment com House of Commons Gorbals to Guildford Archived from the original on 3 October 2018 Retrieved 14 August 2010 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b c d Chisholm Hugh ed 1922 Cecil Lord Hugh Richard Heathcote Encyclopaedia Britannica 12th ed London amp New York The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company L A Atherley Jones Looking Back Reminiscences of a Political Career London 1925 p 108 leighrayment com House of Commons Ochil to Oxford University Archived from the original on 16 August 2011 Retrieved 14 August 2010 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b Burke s Peerage amp Baronetage 106th ed Salisbury No 30484 The London Gazette 18 January 1918 p 983 No 35068 The London Gazette 7 February 1941 p 752 Burke s Peerage 1956 Sources EditAnnan Noel 1955 H Plumb ed The Intellectual Aristocracy Studies in Social History A Tribute to G M Trevelyan London Longmans Green amp Co Gardiner A G 1913 Hugh Cecil Pillars of Society James Nisbet amp Co Limited Griffith Boscawen A S T 1907 Fourteen Years in Parliament London John Murray Lucy Henry 1917 Lord Hugh Cecil The Nation CIV 2705 Quigley Carroll 1981 The Cecil Bloc The Anglo American Establishment From Rhodes to Cliveden PDF New York Books in Focus Rempel Richard May 1972 Lord Hugh Cecil s Parliamentary Career Promise Unfulfilled Journal of British Studies XI Rose Kenneth 1975 The Later Cecils London Macmillan External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hugh Cecil 1st Baron Quickswood Hansard 1803 2005 contributions in Parliament by Lord Quickswood Character Sketch Lord Hugh CecilParliament of the United KingdomPreceded bySir Thomas Boord Member of Parliament for Greenwich1895 1906 Succeeded byRichard JacksonPreceded bySir William Anson BtJohn Gilbert Talbot Member of Parliament for Oxford UniversityJan 1910 1937 With Sir William Anson Bt 1910 1914Rowland Prothero 1914 1919Sir Charles Oman 1919 1935Sir A P Herbert 1935 1937 Succeeded bySir A P HerbertSir Arthur SalterAcademic officesPreceded byM R James Provost of Eton1936 1944 Succeeded byHenry MartenPeerage of the United KingdomNew creation Baron Quickswood1941 1956 Extinct Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hugh Cecil 1st Baron Quickswood amp oldid 1125325512, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
