Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton

Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton

Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (born June 19, 1809 in the London borough of Mayfair , † August 11, 1885 in Vichy ) was a British man of letters, patron, politician and collector of erotic literature .

Live and act

Richard Monckton Milnes was the son of Robert Pemberton Milnes (1784-1858), who after a initially brilliant career in the House of Commons soon sank into insignificance and in 1818 withdrew from politics. His mother was Henrietta Maria Monckton († 1847).

Being a sensitive child, his lessons took place at home at Hundhill Hall, near Doncaster . In 1827 he enrolled at Trinity College in Cambridge , which his father had also attended. Here he became a member of the Cambridge Apostles , which in his time also included the later poets Tennyson and Hallam . During this time he was particularly interested in Shelley and John Keats , whose literary estate he published in 1848.

He then enrolled at the newly founded University of London , in order afterwards to a study at the University in Bonn to go. During this period, the early 1830s, Milnes traveled extensively. His stations also included Italy, Greece and the Ottoman Empire . These stays inspired him to write poems and reflections, which he published during these years.

In 1837 he was elected to the House of Commons to represent the city of Pontefract , an office he held until his appointment as a peer in 1863. At the beginning he supported Sir Robert Peel's conservative policies (for example, with the abolition of the tariff on grain in 1846), he later turned away from his positions and turned to the Liberal Party under its leader Lord John Russell . Milne's political interests lay in the area of ​​social policy, for example he campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty or the withdrawal of the law passed in 1864 to curb sexually transmitted diseases . He also participated in the copyright reform of 1842. His initiative resulted in a bill that led to the establishment of reformatory institutions for juveniles who had committed offenses in 1846; Milnes himself became chairman of such an institution in Redhill . His rhetorical qualities, however, were limited: “Milnes's parliamentary speeches were a signal for emtyfing the House ', Emerson noted in 1848.' He makes bad speeches of exquisite infelicity, & joins in the laugh against himself '(Journals, 10.530-31)” (Eng: "Milne's parliamentary speeches were 'a signal for the house to be emptied', Emerson wrote in 1848. 'He makes bad speeches with exquisite misfortunes and joins the laughter against him' (Diaries)" )

After traveling in the years 1842-43 again to Greece and the Ottoman Empire, was his collection of poems "Palm Leaves" (dt .: "palm leaves" ), which was little well received: "His ambitious attempt to write poetry in on oriental tone idealizing 'Muhammadanism' was not acclaimed. (...) Overall, Milnes's poetry was thoughful, cultivated, but uninspired; his minor poems and lyrics are usually more sucessfull. His few late verses, such as the elegy on David Livingstone (1873), are poor. " (Eng .: “His ambitious attempt to write poetry in the oriental tone, which idealized 'Mohammademism', met with little approval. (...) Overall, his poetry is thoughtful, cultivated and unimaginative; his smaller poems and song texts are ordinary His few late verses, such as the Lamentation for David Livingstone (1873), are meager. " )

However, he made a name for himself as a host: his breakfasts were famous because the gifted, rich and famous, including writers and artists, politicians, travelers and adventurers and other personalities of the time, met there. He was also a constant supporter of young literary talents, whom he tried to help with contacts, orders, positions or funds. For Tennyson he got a pension, David Gray made it possible for him to stay in a sanatorium, and he got the author Coventry Patmore a job in the British Museum .

After falling in love with George Sand (born 1804) in 1848 and unsuccessfully wooing Florence Nightingale , who was eleven years his junior in the following year , he married Annabella Hungeerford Crewe (1814–1874) in 1851, with whom he had four children, the eldest son dead was born, had.

Milnes was awarded the title of Baron Houghton on August 20, 1863 . Therefore, from that point on he was a member of the House of Lords and held a number of social positions in the years that followed. From 1878 until his death he worked as secretary for foreign correspondence of the Royal Academy of Arts , was a trustee of both the British Museum and the Royal Geographical Society and succeeded Thomas Carlyle as head of the London Library in 1881 .

In 1885 he died of angina pectoris in a hotel in Vichy, France, and was buried ten days later in England. He put on a not inconsiderable collection of erotic literature, including a complete edition of de Sade's works and extensive literature on the subject of flagellation , which can now be found in the holdings of the British Library .

His title was inherited by the surviving son Robert , who was an important liberal politician of his time.

Works (selection)

• Memorials of a Tour in some Parts of Greece, Chiefly Poetica (1834)
• Memorials of a Residence on the Contoinent, and Historical Poems (1838)
• Memorials of many Scenes (1840)
• Palm Leaves (1844)
• One Tract more (1841)
• Life, Letters and Literary Remains of John Keats (2 volumes, 1848)

literature

• Richard Davenport-Hines: Milnes, Richard Monkton, first Baron Houghton (1809-1885). In: HCG Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X (online edition, accessed August 14, 2009).
• James Pope-Hennessy: Mockton Milnes . 2 volumes, Constable, London 1949–1951.
• T. Wemyss Reid: The Life, Letters, And Friendships Of Richard Monckton Milnes, First Lord Houghton. Cassell & Company, London, Paris & Melbourne 1891 (archive.org, Volume 1 , Volume 2 ).
• Milnes, Richard Monckton . In: Encyclopedia Britannica . 2009. (online edition, accessed August 14, 2009).

Web links

• Mr Richard Milnes at Hansard (English)
• Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton on thepeerage.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Richard Davenport-Hines (2004)

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Houghton 1863-1885	Robert Crewe-Milnes