John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham

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The Right Honourable
The Viscount Blakenham
OBE PC DL
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
20 October 1963 – 28 July 1965
Leader Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by Iain Macleod
Succeeded by Edward du Cann
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
20 October 1963 – 18 October 1964
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by Iain Macleod
Succeeded by Douglas Houghton
Minister of Labour
In office
27 July 1960 – 20 October 1963
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Edward Heath
Succeeded by Joseph Godber
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office
6 January 1958 – 27 July 1960
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Derick Heathcoat-Amory
Succeeded by Christopher Soames
Secretary of State for War
In office
18 October 1956 – 6 January 1958
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Anthony Head
Succeeded by Christopher Soames
Member of Parliament
for Sudbury and Woodbridge (1950-1963)
Woodbridge (1945-1950)
In office
5 July 1945 – 5 December 1963
Preceded by Walter Ross-Taylor
Succeeded by Keith Stainton
Personal details
Born 22 January 1911 (1911-01-22)
Died 7 March 1982 (1982-03-08) (aged 71)
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Hon. Nancy Pearson
(1908–1994)

John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham, OBE, PC, DL (22 January 1911 – 7 March 1982), was a British Conservative politician.

Background and education

Blakenham was the third son of The Rt. Hon. Richard Hare, 4th Earl of Listowel, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, and The Hon. Freda Vanden-Bampde-Johnstone. His elder brother, The 5th Earl of Listowel, was a prominent Labour politician. He was educated at Eton.

Political career

Blakenham was an Alderman of London County Council between 1937 and 1952 and fought in the Second World War with the Suffolk Yeomanry in Italy and was awarded the Legion of Honour and appointed an OBE. He sat as Member of Parliament for Woodbridge between 1945 and 1950 and for Sudbury and Woodbridge between 1950 and 1963 and was vice-chairman of the Conservative Party between 1952 and 1955. He served under Sir Anthony Eden as Minister of State for the Colonies between 1955 and 1956 and under Eden and his successor, Harold Macmillan, as Secretary of State for War from 1956 to 1958.

He later held office under Macmillan as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1958 to 1960 and Minister of Labour between 1960 and 1963. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1955 and in 1963 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Blakenham, of Little Blakenham in the County of Suffolk. Blakenham then served under Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 1963 to 1964 and was chairman of the Conservative Party between 1963 and 1965.[1]

Family

Lord Blakenham married the Hon. Nancy Pearson, daughter of Weetman Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, on 31 January 1934. They had three children:

In 1967, Joanna married American attorney and Harvard Law School professor Stephen Breyer; Breyer would be appointed a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1980 and a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1994.

Lord Blakenham died in March 1982, aged 71, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his only son, Michael. Lady Blakenham died in November 1994, aged 86.

Horticultural Interests

In 1951 he purchased a wood close to his home. Over the following years he created glades and paths through the bluebells and planted many rare plants, and became known as the Blakenham Woodland Garden.

Hare received the Victoria Medal of Honour from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1974.[1] In 1982 he became treasurer of the Society.

The Blakenham Woodland Garden was inherited by his son and is open to the public.[2] On his death the wood was made into a charitable trust. His son, Michael Blakenham, a lifelong environmentalist has increased the stock of unusual specimens and has bought many rare including unnamed trees and shrubs from auctions at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[3]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003) "John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham" Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage 107th edition, 3 volumes, Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A., volume 1, page 391.
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References

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External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Woodbridge
19451950
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Sudbury and Woodbridge
19501963
Succeeded by
Keith Stainton
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State for War
1956–1958
Succeeded by
Christopher Soames
Preceded by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
1958–1960
Succeeded by
Christopher Soames
Preceded by Minister of Labour
1960–1963
Succeeded by
Joseph Godber
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1963–1964
Succeeded by
Douglas Houghton
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Conservative Party
1963–1965
Succeeded by
Edward du Cann
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Blakenham
1963–1982
Succeeded by
Michael Hare