Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland

Lawrence Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay, in the regalia of a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (1923)

Lawrence John Lumley Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland KG GCSI GCIE PC KGStJ JP DL ( June 11, 1876 - February 6, 1961 ) was a British colonial administrator and politician of the Conservative Party , who spent nine years in the Hornsey constituency as a member of the House of Commons , was Governor of Bengal from 1916 to 1922 and Minister for India from 1935 to 1937 and then Minister for India and Burma between 1937 and 1940. In 1929 he inherited the title of 2nd Marquess of Zetland from his father  and was a member of the House of Lords until his death. He was also President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1922 to 1925 and Governor of the National Bank of Scotland from 1923 to 1935. He has also written several books dealing with India , Asia and political-historical topics and personalities.

Life

Origin and military service

Dundas was the son of Lawrence Dundas , who had represented the constituency of Richmond as a member of the House of Commons from 1872 to 1873 , became a member of the House of Lords as 3rd Earl of Zetland in 1873 and was later Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1889 and 1892 as well finally in 1892 1st Marquess of Zetland became. His mother was Lillian Selina Elizabeth Lumley, the third daughter of Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough . As his father's Heir Apparent , he held the courtesy title of Lord Dundas until 1892, and the courtesy title of Earl of Ronaldshay from 1892 to 1929 .

His paternal grandfather was Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland , who also represented the Richmond constituency and York constituency as a member of the House of Commons for several years and was Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire from 1838 to 1873 . His paternal great-grandfather, Lawrence Dundas, 1st Earl of Zetland , was a member of the House of Commons for the constituencies of Richmond and York and, between 1831 and 1839, Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland .

After attending the renowned Harrow School , he graduated from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge . After he joined the Royal Artillery and served as a captain in the 1st North Riding of Yorkshire Regiment this branch of service, and 1900 was for some time aide-de-camp of George Curzon, Baron Curzon of Kedleston , the then Viceroy of India .

Member of the House of Commons, Governor of Bengal and Freemason

Lord Ronalshay as Governor of Bengal (1917-22).

On June 5, 1907, Dundas was elected to the Conservative Party for the first time to a member of the House of Commons and represented the constituency of Hornsey until November 27, 1916 . During this time he also served as a member of the Royal Commission for Public Services of India from 1912 to 1914 .

After the outbreak of World War I , he resumed active military service and served as a major in the 4th  Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment until 1923 .

However, after he left the House of Commons in 1916, he succeeded Thomas Gibson-Carmichael as governor of Bengal and held this position for six years until he was replaced by Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton in 1922. For his there He was initially Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) in 1917 and, at the end of his tenure in 1922, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India  (GCSI). Furthermore, on April 21, 1922, he was appointed Privy Counselor  (PC).

After his return from India, Dundas succeeded Francis Younghusband as President of the Royal Geographical Society in 1922 and held this position until he was replaced by David George Hogarth in 1925. At the same time, he held the position of Governor of the National Bank of Scotland between 1923 and 1935 .

In addition, he was involved as a Freemason for decades and served from 1923 to 1956 as Provincial Grand Master of the Masonic lodges of the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire .

Member of the House of Lords and Minister for India and Burma

Coat of arms of the Marquess of Zetland

After the death of his father Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland, he inherited from this on March 11, 1929 the title of 2nd Marquess of Zetland and membership in the House of Lords, to which he belonged until his death. At the same time he inherited the subordinate titles of 4th Earl of Zetland , 2nd Earl of Ronaldshay, in the County of Orkney , 5th Baron Dundas of Aske, in the County of Orkney and 6th Baronet Dundas, of Kerse, in the County of Stirling . During this time he served temporarily as a magistrate (justice of the peace) as well as a Deputy Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1929 he was elected a member of the British Academy .

Between 1931 and 1935 he was chairman of the National Trust , a not-for-profit organization that oversees heritage and nature conservation properties in England , Wales and Northern Ireland .

On June 7, 1935, Dundas was appointed Minister for India (Secretary of State for India) by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in the National Government formed by this , a coalition government of conservative Tories and Labor Party . In the National Government formed by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on May 28, 1937, and in the Chamberlain War Government , he served as Minister for India and Burma until the end of Chamberlain's second term on May 10, 1940 after Burma was separated from British India ( Secretary of State for India and Burma) .

On May 12, 1937, the Marquess of Zetland attended the coronation of King George VI. part. He was one of the bearers of the bearers of the regalia of the United Kingdom and carried one of the swords of the state  ( Sword of State ). His own coronet was carried by his page, Bryan Rupert Beckett, son of 3rd Baron Grimthorpe.

For his many years of service in 1942. Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John (KGStJ).

Lord Lieutenant, family and descendants

After the end of the Second World War , he succeeded William Orde-Powlett, 5th Baron Bolton, who died on December 11, 1944, as Lord Lieuten called the North Riding iof Yorkshire and held this position until his replacement by William Worsley in 1951.

His marriage to Cicely Archdale on December 3, 1907 resulted in two sons and three daughters. After his death, his eldest son Lawrence Aldred Mervyn Dundas inherited the title of 3rd Marquess of Zetland, membership in the House of Lords and the subordinate hereditary titles of nobility.

Publications

• Sport and Politics Under an Eastern Sky , 1902
• On the Outskirts of Empire in Asia , 1904
• A Wandering Student in the Far East , 1908
• An Eastern Miscellany , 1911
• Lands of the Thunderbolt , 1923
• India: A bird's eye view , 1924
• The Heart of Aryâvarta , 1925
• The Life of Lord Curzon , 1928
• The Letters of Disraeli to Lady Bradford and Lady Chesterfield , 1929
• Lord Cromer , 1932
• Steps Towards Indian Home Rule , 1935

Web links

• Lawrence Dundas at Hansard (English)
• Entry in Cracroft's Peerage
• Entry in Leigh Rayment Peerage
• Lawrence John Lumley Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland on thepeerage.com , accessed August 20, 2015.
• Newspaper article about Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Deceased Fellows. British Academy, accessed August 26, 2020 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Lawrence Dundas	Marquess of Zetland 1929-1961	Lawrence Dundas