Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe

Robert Crewe-Milnes; Painting before 1903

Coat of arms of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe

Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe KG , PC (born January 12, 1858 in London , † June 20, 1945 in Leatherhead , Surrey ) was a British statesman and writer.

family

He was the son of Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton and his wife Annabella Hungerford Crewe. He attended Harrow School in London. He graduated from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1885 as a Master of Arts (MA).

In 1880 he married Sibyl Marcia Graham († 1887). The marriage had three daughters: Annabel (1881–1948), Celia (* 1884) and Cynthia (1884–1968), one son Richard (1882–1890) died young. His grandchildren included Sir John Colville , the son of his eldest daughter, who would later rise to become British Cabinet Secretary, and Terence O'Neill , Cynthia's son, who served as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland between 1963 and 1969 .

In his second marriage from 1899 he was married to Margaret Rosebery, the daughter of Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery . The son of this marriage, born in 1911 and also named Richard, died in 1922. The daughter of this marriage, Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes (1915-2014), survived and later married the 9th Duke of Roxburghe .

When his father died on August 11, 1885, he inherited his title as 2nd Baron Houghton . When his maternal uncle Hungerford Crewe, 3rd Baron Crewe died childless on January 3, 1894 , he inherited his real estate, including the Crewe Hall estate , but not its title Baron Crewe , which became extinct. On June 8, 1894, he obtained permission from a royal license to add "Crewe" to his family name. On July 17, 1895 he was raised to Earl of Crewe . On June 22, 1911 he was awarded the title of Marquess of Crewe , along with the subordinate title of Earl of Madeley . Since he died without a male descendant, all these titles expired on his death in 1945.

Political activity

As a member of the Liberal Party , he initially served from 1883 to 1884 as the private secretary of the then Foreign Minister Lord Granville . In 1886 he was appointed chamberlain. In the Liberal government from 1892 to 1895, he seconded the Chief Secretary for Irish Affairs John Morley as Lord Lieutenant (highest official). From 1905 to 1908 he served in the Liberal government under Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Lord President of the Council . In 1908 he was accepted into the Order of the Garter as a Knight Companion and took over the post of Secretary of State for the Colonies and Liberal Leader in the House of Lords in the Asquith government . In connection with the latter role, he played a key role in enforcing the 1911 Parliamentary Act, which deprived the Lords of their veto power in the legislative process. 1910-1911 and from 1911 to 1915 he also took over the post of Secretary of State for India . 1915 to 1916 he also acted again as Lord President of the Council and in 1916 as Minister of Education (President of the Board of Education). In 1917 he became chairman of the City Council of the City of London and made his city villa available to the first Ministry of Information , which set up the Directorate for Propaganda in Enemy Countries ( Crewe House ).

From 1922 to 1928 he was the British Ambassador to France and in 1931 he was Secretary of State in the War Office. In his private life he was also involved in education, including as chairman of the advisory board of Imperial College London (1907 to 1922) and chancellor of Sheffield University .

Literary work

In the 1890s Crewe published various smaller literary works, including sayings and, above all, a biography of former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery published in 1931.

Works

• Lord Rosebery . 2 vol., London 1931.

literature

• James Pope Hennessy: Lord Crewe, 1858-1945. The likeness of a liberal . London 1955.

Web links

Commons : Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Sir Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st and last Marquess of Crewe on thepeerage.com
• Mr Robert Crewe-Milnes at Hansard (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Marquess of Crewe 1911-1945	Title expired
New title created	Earl of Crewe 1895-1945	Title expired
Richard Monckton Milnes	Baron Houghton 1885-1945	Title expired
Lawrence Dundas	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1892–1895	George Cadogan
Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart	Lord President of the Council 1905-1908	Edward Marjoribanks
George Robinson	Keeper of the Lord Seal 1908–1911	Robert Wynn-Carington
Robert Wynn-Carington	Keeper of the Lord Seal 1912–1915	George Curzon
William Lygon	Lord President of the Council 1915-1916	George Curzon