Sir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet

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The Right Honourable Sir
Charles Trevelyan
Bt
1922 Charles Trevelyan.jpg
President of the Board of Education
In office
7 June 1929 – 2 March 1931
Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by Lord Eustace Percy
Succeeded by Hastings Lees-Smith
In office
22 January 1924 – 3 November 1924
Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by Hon. E. F. L. Wood
Succeeded by Lord Eustace Percy
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
In office
19 October 1908 – 10 August 1914
Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
Preceded by Thomas McKinnon Wood
Succeeded by Christopher Addison
Member of Parliament
for Newcastle Central
In office
15 November 1922 – 27 October 1931
Preceded by George Renwick
Succeeded by Arthur Denville
Member of Parliament
for Elland
In office
8 March 1899 – 14 December 1918
Preceded by Thomas Wayman
Succeeded by George Taylor Ramsden
Personal details
Born 28 October 1870 (1870-10-28)
Died 24 January 1958 (1958-01-25) (aged 87)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal
Labour
Spouse(s) Mary Bell

Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet (28 October 1870 – 24 January 1958) was a British Liberal Party, and later Labour Party, politician and landowner. He served as President of the Board of Education in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations of Ramsay MacDonald.

Background

Born into a liberal aristocratic family (see Trevelyan baronets of Nettlecombe, 1662), Charles was the eldest son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Caroline, daughter of Robert Needham Philips MP.[1] He was the grandson of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, the elder brother of R. C. Trevelyan and G. M. Trevelyan and the great-nephew of Lord Macaulay. He was the great-great grandson of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (1735–1828). Family legend traced their ancestry to Sir Trevillian, one of King Arthur's knights, who swam ashore on horseback when Lyonesse sank. The family kept three houses year round: Wallington, which the family had owned since 1777, Welcombe House, and a town house in Westminster. The family estates comprised more than 11,000 acres.

After Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles Philips Trevelyan decided upon a political career. Beatrice Webb, his friend, described him as "a man who has every endowment - social position, wealth, intelligence, an independent outlook, good looks, good manners".[2]

Life and career

Trevelyan was first a Liberal and later a Labour MP. His eventual political achievements were uneven. As a member of the landed gentry serving in the Labour Party, he was considered by some to be a walking anachronism. Despite this, his own privileges and gentlemanly pursuits always remained intact.[2] Trevelyan was elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Elland, Yorkshire, in a by-election in 1899. He served under H. H. Asquith as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education between 1908 and 1914, when, as an opponent of British entry into the First World War, he resigned from the government. In 1914, also, he founded the Union of Democratic Control an all-party organisation rallying opposition to the war. In the 1918 general election he lost his Elland seat, running as an Independent Labour candidate.[3]

He won Newcastle Central for Labour in 1922 and held it until 1931.[4] He was a member of Ramsay MacDonald's Labour cabinets as President of the Board of Education between January and November 1924[5] and between 1929 and 1931,[6] resigning when his Education Bill was rejected by the Lords a few months before the Labour government collapsed.[7] In 1924 he was sworn of the Privy Council.[8]

File:Succession Charles and Mary Trevelyan.jpg
In 1928 he succeeded his father as third Baronet - Sir Charles and Lady Mary Trevelyan

In early 1939, following Stafford Cripps and with Aneurin Bevan among others, Trevelyan was briefly expelled from the Labour Party for persisting with support for a "popular front" (involving co-operation with the Liberal Party and Communist Party) against the National Government.[9]

Apart from his political career Trevelyan was also Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland between 1930 and 1949.

In 1942, although he had a son and heir, Trevelyan and his wife donated Wallington Hall, complete with its estate of farm land,[10] which he had inherited in 1928, to the National Trust, the first donation of this kind.[11]

He was the last surviving member of the first British Labour Cabinet.

Family

Trevelyan married Mary Katherine Bell, a younger half-sister of Gertrude Bell and the daughter of Sir Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet.[12] They had seven children including his eldest son, Sir George Trevelyan, whom he disinherited. He died in January 1958, aged 87.

References

  1. Trevelyan, Sir George Otto, Bart (Encyclopædia Britannica 1911, Volume 27, p. 255, at theodora.com, Retrieved 7 March 2021
  2. 2.0 2.1 A Very British Family: the Trevelyans and their world, Laura Trevelyan, London 2006, page 102
  3. F. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949
  4. leighrayment.com House of Commons: Na H-Eileanan An Iar to Newport
  5. The London Gazette: no. 32901. p. . 25 January 1924.
  6. The London Gazette: no. 33505. p. . 11 June 1929.
  7. AJP Taylor, English History 1914-1945, p 279-280
  8. The London Gazette: no. 32901. p. . 25 January 1924.
  9. David Rubinstein The Labour Party and British Society: 1880-2005, 2005, Sussex Academic Press, p74. The reference is online here [1].
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Further reading

  • Morris, A. J. A. (1977) C. P. Trevelyan, 1870-1958: Portrait of a Radical. Belfast: Blackstaff Press

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Elland
18991918
Succeeded by
George Taylor Ramsden
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newcastle Central
19221931
Succeeded by
Arthur Denville
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
1908–1914
Succeeded by
Christopher Addison
Preceded by President of the Board of Education
1924
Succeeded by
Lord Eustace Percy
Preceded by President of the Board of Education
1929–1931
Succeeded by
Hastings Lees-Smith
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
1930–1949
Succeeded by
The Viscount Allendale
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Wallington)
1928–1958
Succeeded by
George Lowthian Trevelyan