Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Francis "Frank" Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG , PC (born December 5, 1905 in London , † August 3, 2001 there ) was a British politician and social reformer .
Life
As the second son of Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford and his wife Lady Mary Julia Child-Villiers, he belonged to a British-Irish aristocratic family. He was educated at Eton College and graduated from Oxford New College . There he completed his studies in philosophy , political science and economics as a Master of Arts in 1934 . He was a lecturer at Christ Church College .
During World War II he rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant before retiring from the army in 1940 due to illness. From this time he was politically active in the Labor Party . Also in 1940 the former Unitarian converted to Catholicism . In 1945 the Labor government granted him the hereditary title of Baron Pakenham , of Cowley in the City of Oxford, which was associated with a seat in the House of Lords .
The eccentric nobleman made a name for himself politically as an opponent of prostitution and pornography . He was also an avowed opponent of the abolition of the criminal liability of homosexuality .
He made a political career; in succession he was Lord-in-Waiting, Whip in the House of Lords, later Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , 1947 Head of the Foreign Department in the British Foreign Office, Secretary of State for Transport and Minister of Civil Aviation, First Lord of the Admiralty , Keeper of the Lord Seal , Secretary of State for Colonies and from 1964 until 1968 Leader of the House of Lords in the government of Harold Wilson . He was also chairman of the Bank of England from 1955 to 1963 and chairman of the publishing house Sidgwick & Jackson from 1970 to 1980.
When his older brother Edward died in 1961, he inherited his title of Earl of Longford .
He has been described as a kind but eccentric man with the hairstyle of a mad scientist from a comic strip. He fought for reform of British prisons all his life. A notable project was his campaign for the pardon of serial killer Myra Hindley . These efforts were filmed in 2006 by Tom Hooper in the drama Longford . Jim Broadbent took on the title role .
In the 1980s he was one of the advocates of Clause 28 , which banned municipalities, schools and local authorities from "promoting homosexuality".
In 1971, Queen Elizabeth II accepted him into the Order of the Garter . With the introduction of the House of Lords Act 1999 , he lost his hereditary right to a seat in the House of Lords at the age of 93. But he was immediately raised as Baron Pakenham of Cowley , of Cowley in the County of Oxfordshire, to the Life Peer , with which he retained a seat in the House of Lords. He was after Francis Taylor, 1st Baron Maenan , the second oldest person ever to be awarded a peer title.
He died on August 3, 2001.
Marriage and offspring
On November 3, 1931, he married the historian, journalist and writer Elizabeth Pakenham (* 1906, † 2002) in St. Margaret Church in Westminster . The marriage had eight children:
- Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline (born August 27, 1932), author and Commander of the British Empire (CBE)
- ⚭ 1956–1977 Hon. Sir Hugh Charles Patrick Joseph Fraser
- ⚭ 1980 Harold Pinter
- Thomas Frank Dermot (born August 14, 1933), 8th Earl of Longford; Historian and author ⚭ 1964 Valerie Susan McNair Scott
- Hon. Patrick Maurice (born April 17, 1937) ⚭ 1968 Mary Elizabeth Plummer
- Lady Judith Elizabeth (born August 14, 1940), poet ⚭ 1963–1982 Alexander John Kazantis
- Lady Rachel Mary (born April 11, 1942), author and President of the British PEN ⚭ 1967 Kevin Billington
- Hon. Michael Aidan (born November 3, 1943) ⚭ 1980 Meta Landreth Doak
- Lady Catherine Rose (1946–1969 in a car accident), journalist
- Hon. Kevin John Toussaint (born November 1, 1947) ⚭ 1972 Ruth Lesley Jackson
bibliography
- Peace by Ordeal. 1935.
- Born to believe. 1953.
- The Idea of Punishment. 1961.
- Five lives. 1964.
- Humility. 1969.
- Abraham Lincoln. 1974.
- Jesus christ. 1974.
- The grain of wheat. 1974.
- Kennedy. 1976.
- St. Francis of Assisi. 1978.
- Nixon. 1980.
- Diary of a Year. 1982.
- Pope John Paul II 1982.
- One Man's Faith. 1984.
- Eleven at No. 10. A personal view of Prime Ministers. 1984.
- The Search for Peace. 1985.
- The Bishops. 1986.
- Saints. 1987.
- A History of the House of Lords. 1989.
- Suffering and Hope. 1990.
- Punishment and the Punished. 1991.
- Prisoner or patient . 1992.
- Young Offenders. 1993.
- Avowed Intent. 1994.
literature
- Peter Stanford: The Outcast's Outcast. A Biography of Lord Longford. Sutton Publishing, Stroud 2003, ISBN 0-7509-3248-1 .
- Charles Mosley: Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. 107th edition, Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, Wilmington 2003, Volume 2, p. 2395.
Web links
- Newspaper article about Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford in the press kit 20th Century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
- Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford on thepeerage.com , accessed August 20, 2015.
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/1472645.stm
Individual evidence
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Pakenham |
Earl of Longford 1961-2001 |
Thomas Pakenham |
| New title created |
Baron Pakenham 1945-2001 |
Thomas Pakenham |
| George Hall, 1st Viscount Hall |
First Lord of the Admiralty 1951 |
James Thomas, 1st Viscount Cilcennin |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pakenham, Frank, 7th Earl of Longford |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pakenham, Francis Aungier, 7th Earl of Longford; Pakenham, Frank, 1st Baron Pakenham |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British politician and social reformer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 5, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 3, 2001 |
| Place of death | London |