St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton: Difference between revisions

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1942|2|13|1856|12|14|df=y}}<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}}

| spouse = (1) [[Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss|Lady Hilda Charteris]] <br /> (died 1901) <br /> (2) Madeleine Stanley<br/>(1876–1966)

| children = 21 sons<refson, name4 daughters{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}}

In 1796 the title of Baron Brodrick in the [[Peerage of Great Britain]] was created. The English family seat at [[Peper Harow]], near [[Godalming]], Surrey, was designed by [[William Chambers (architect)|Sir William Chambers]]. His father [[William Brodrick, 8th Viscount Midleton|The 8th Viscount Midleton]] was a [[conservatism|conservative]] in politics, holding seats West Surrey and Guildford in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] (November 1885{{snd}}January 1906), and who was responsible in the [[House of Lords]] for carrying the [[Infant Life Protection Act, 1872]], which helped regulate the practisepractice of [[baby farming]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} William was educated at [[Windlesham House School|Windlesham]], [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Balliol College, Oxford]],<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} where he served as president of the [[Oxford Union]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Muster Roll. Windlesham House, Brighton. A.D. 1837 to 1902|last=Malden|first=Henry C.|publisher=H. & C. Treacher|year=1902|edition=2nd|location=Brighton}}</ref> He was awarded a Doctorate of Laws (LLD) by Trinity College, Dublin.<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} He owned, in submissions from his landowning heyday, about {{convert|5000|acre|km2}}.<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}}

He maintained three homes: Peper Harow (House); 34 Portland Place, London (telephone number on the Langham exchange); Midleton (House), Ireland.<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} His family-settled land was probated before his widow's death in 1943 at {{GBP|68290|1943|round=-4|about=yes}} and £55,624 in other assets in 1942.<ref>https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk Calendar of Probates and Administrations, 1942 and 1943</ref>

In 1883 he was appointed to a [[Royal Commission]] examining the condition of Irish prisons.<ref>{{cite web|pages=29–30|url=http://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25184/page/29|title=House of Lords news summaries|work=The London Gazette|date=2 January 1883|access-date=11 January 2008|issue=25184|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111213110/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25184/page/29/data.pdf|archive-date=11 November 2016}}</ref> He was [[Financial Secretary to the War Office]] 1886–92;<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} [[Under-Secretary of State for War]], 1895–1898;<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]], 1898–1900;<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} [[Secretary of State for War]], 1900–1903;<ref name=who/><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27246|page=6923|date=13 November 1900}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27272 |supp=y|page=552|date=24 January 1901 |nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27273|page=558|date=25 January 1901 |nolink=y}}</ref> and [[Secretary of State for India]], 1903–05.<ref name=who/>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He was Secretary of State for War during most of the [[Second Boer War]] (1899–1902). He thus had the responsibility of defending the British use of [[British concentration camps#Public opinion and political opposition|concentration camps]] in parliament. The conflict itself showed that the British army was not prepared for the guerrilla war of the Boers. He therefore initiated (though successors played a bigger part) a period of reform of the British army, which was focused on lessening the emphasis placed on mounted units in combat. In September 1902, Brodrick and [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]], the Commander-in-Chief of the army, visited Germany as guests to attend the German army maneuvers.<ref>{{Citecite newspaper The Times |title=The German maneuvers|date=5 September 1902 |page=6 |issue=36865}}</ref> In January 1903 he visited [[Malta]] and inspected the garrison there.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=19 January 1903 |page=9 |issue=36981}}</ref>

In 1904, during a crisis in British relations with Russia, he became the first member of a Cabinet since 1714 to attend a meeting of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] without being summoned to it by the monarch.<ref>Sir Almeric Fitzroy, ''Memoirs'' (London & New York, 1925), vol. I, p. 222.</ref> At the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|general election of January 1906]], the outcome of which was a Liberal win (the biggest landside except for that of the 1931 National Government's Conservatives), he lost his Parliamentary seat, at [[Guildford (UK Parliament constituency)|Guildford]], which he had held since 1885.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25609|page=3495|date=20 July 1886 |nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26311|page=4311|date=29 July 1892 |nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26651|page=4485|date=9 August 1895 |nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27244|page=6774|date=6 November 1900 |nolink=y}}</ref> From March 1907 to 1913 he was an [[alderman]] of [[London County Council]].<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}}

In 1918, during the second, final year of his service on the [[Irish Convention]],<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} he tried to reach a compromise with Redmond which would allow Home Rule without partition subject to certain financial restrictions. This was rejected both by Redmond's followers (who saw it as too restrictive) and the hardline IUA rank-and-file, who deposed Midleton. He and his followers then formed the [[Unionist Anti-Partition League]], an elite body mainly concerned with lobbying. It had some influence on the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920|1920 Government of Ireland Act]], but none of the safeguards for Southern Unionist interests which it sought were included in the 1921 [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]]. Successful lobbying by Midleton and associated Southern Unionists was instrumental in ensuring their representation in the [[Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)|Seanad]] of the Irish Free State.<ref>''Letters to Lord Midleton 1917–1922'' (Provost of Trinity College to Midleton) PRO 30/67 (Midleton Papers), National Archives. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13987842</ref>

His speeches and/or questions in Parliament were in each year from 1880 to 1941, except 1906, when he held no seat, and 1940. They numbered 7,584, the last of which was a tribute to the passing of [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Lord Baden Powell]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-william-brodrick/index.html|title = Mr William Brodrick (Hansard)}}</ref>

Midleton was sworn into the [[Privy CounselCouncil (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] as of 1897.<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}} During his 1902 visit to Germany, he received the Grand Cross of the Prussian [[Order of the Red Eagle]].<ref>{{Citecite newspaper The Times |title=Latest Intelligence - The German Army Maneuvres |date=16 October 1902 |page=4 |issue=36900}}</ref>

He received the Honorary Freedom and was appointed a Liveryman of the [[Worshipful Company of Broderers]] in 1902, his family having been associated with the company since the early 17th century.<ref>{{Citecite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=2 April 1902|page=7|issue=36731<!--|access-date=18 April 2016-->}}</ref>

He was appointed a [[Knight of the [[Order of St Patrick]] (KP) on 18 April 1916.

In the [[1920 New Year Honours]] he was elevated in the British peerage system to '''Earl of Midleton''',<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31712 |supp=y|page=1|date=30 December 1919 |nolink=y}}</ref> which became extinct with the death of his son in 1979. From 1930 he was High Steward of the Borough of [[Kingston upon Thames]].<ref>Midleton name=whowas included in W. T. Pike's [http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie/genealogy/CPPgenealogy21oct2013/pike_biographies_complete.pdf ''Contemporary Biographies''] published in [[Cork (city)|Cork]] (1911).</ref>

HeBrodrick married, first, in 1880, Lady Hilda Charteris (died 1901), daughter of [[Francis Richard Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss|Thethe 10th Earl of Wemyss]], by whom he had five children; and secondly in 1903, Madeleine Stanley, daughter of [[Francis Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier:{{CN|Thedate=May Baroness St Helier]] by her first husband. His children by the first wife were:2024}}

His sister, {{abbreviation|Hon.|The Honorable}} Marian Cecilia married Sir James Whitehead, son of the inventor [[Robert Whitehead]]. Sir James Whitehead was to become the British Ambassador to Austria, and his niece Agathe was the first wife of [[Georg von Trapp]]; the story of their children and his second wife, [[Maria von Trapp]], was the basis of the musical ''[[The Sound of Music]]''.{{CN|date=May 2024}}

Another, {{abbreviation|Hon.|The Honorable}} Albinia, became an early supporter of [[Sinn Féin]] and became well known in Ireland under the name [[Gobnait Ní Bhruadair]].{{CN|date=May 2024}}

Another, {{abbreviation|Hon.|The Honorable}} [[Edith Mary Gell|Edith later Mrs. Lyttleton Gell]] was a published author of at least 24 works, such as ''The Cloud of Witness: A daily sequence of great thoughts from many minds'' and an autobiography, ''Under Three Reigns: 1860–1944''.{{CN|date=May 2024}}

*''Ireland, Dupe or Heroine'', 1932<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}}

*''Records and Reactions, 1856–1939'', 1939<ref name{{CN|date=who/>May 2024}}

[[Category:British Secretaries of State for War (UK)]]

[[Category:Deputy Lieutenantslieutenants of Surrey]]