Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher

Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, 1905

Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, GCVO , KCB , PC , DL ( June 30, 1852 - January 22, 1930 ) was a historian and liberal politician in the United Kingdom .

Life

Brett was the son of William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher and Eugénie Mayer (1814-1904). Eugénie may have been the illegitimate daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and Fanny Meyer, although other sources suggest that her father was named Louis Mayer. Born in London, he attended Eton College and then studied at Trinity College , Cambridge . In Eton he became a student of William Johnson Cory , with whom he corresponded from the age of sixteen until his death.

Brett began his political career in 1880 as MP for Penryn and Falmouth, but was voted out of office five years later. After his defeat in the Plymouth MP election , Brett decided to transfer to civil service. In 1895 he was appointed to the state building administration ("Office of Works") as a permanent state secretary, where he remained until 1902.

His main focus was on the organization of the great state acts, which he has been responsible for since the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. He thus decisively shaped the course of the public state celebrations in the United Kingdom, which we still know today as traditional.

In particular , he knew how to stage the coronation celebrations of Edward VII and George V and how to develop and establish them as a magnificent state-supporting ceremony. His instructions - on behalf of and in connection with the actually responsible Duke of Norfolk in his capacity as Earl Marshal and the other Great Officers of State - have since been used as a template for all state acts, most recently for the laying out and burial of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother , in 2002.

After the death of his father on May 24, 1899, he inherited the title of Viscount Esher . In 1901 Brett became Deputy Governor (later Governor) of Windsor Castle and thus came into personal contact with the royal family until his death . During this time he supported the edition of Queen Victoria's personal papers and legacies. In 1907 he published "The Correspondence of Queen Victoria".

Before the First World War , he influenced many behind-the-scenes reforms implemented by the liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Herbert Henry Asquith . Brett was a proponent of Anglo-French reconciliation and thus of the Entente cordiale .

He was offered many public offices, including that of Viceroy of India and Minister of War , which Brett refused. He only accepted his appointment to the Privy Council in 1922.

As mentioned above, he was Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle from 1901 to 1928, and Constable and Governor from 1928 to his death in 1930.

Lord Esher was also well known as a historian, in addition to the works mentioned above, he published works on King Edward VII and Herbert Kitchener . Together with the liberal MP Lewis (Loulou) Harcourt, he founded the London Museum , which opened its doors on March 5, 1912.

Brett's eldest son, Oliver Sylvain Balliol Brett, became an architect and married Antoinette Heckscher, the daughter of the US multimillionaire August Heckscher (industrialist) . Brett's younger daughter, Sylvia, became the last Ranee of Sarawak after the proclamation of her husband Charles Vyner Brooke as Rahja on May 24, 1917 . His second son, Maurice Vyner Baliol Brett, married the famous musical actress Zena Dare . His third child was the painter Dorothy Brett .

Publications

• After the war . J. Murray, London 1918, OCLC 17989382 .

Web links

• The writings of Viscount Esher (Reginald Brett) at Churchill College (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hedley P. Willmott: The First World War. Hildesheim 2004, ISBN 3-8067-2549-7 .
2. ↑ David Cannadine: The Invention of the British Monarchy 1820-1994. Berlin 1994, p. 34.
3. ↑ Jordanna Bailkin: Radical conservations: The Problem with the London Museum. In: Radical History Review. 84, Fall 2002, pp. 43-47.

predecessor	Office	successor
William Brett	Viscount Esher 1899-1930	Oliver Brett