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Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, (12 July 1872 – 30 September 1930), known as F. E. Smith, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who attained high office in the early 20th century, in particular as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living and drinking. He is perhaps best remembered today as
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
's greatest personal and political friend until Birkenhead's death aged 58 from pneumonia caused by cirrhosis of the liver.


Early life and schooling

Smith was born at 38 Pilgrim Street, Birkenhead in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, the eldest son and second of five surviving children of Frederick Smith (1845–1888) and Elizabeth (1842–1928), daughter of Edwin Taylor a rate collector, of Birkenhead. His father had joined the family business as an estate agent, later becoming a barrister and local Tory politician. Frederick Smith senior died at the age of forty-three, only a month after being elected mayor of Birkenhead. Smith was educated first at a dame school in Birkenhead, then at Sandringham School in Southport (where he announced, at the age of ten, his ambition to become lord chancellor), and then, having failed the entrance exam for
Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...
, at Birkenhead School (1887–1889).


Oxford

Smith won a scholarship to
University College, Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
, where he spent four terms (a fact he subsequently suppressed). He won a scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford, in 1891. Smith made his name as an Oxford "swell", distinguishing himself by his dark good looks, his energy, his unashamed ambition and his scathing wit. He was the dominant figure of a group of Wadham contemporaries including the athlete
C. B. Fry Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could b ...
, the future Liberal politician John Simon, and the Liberal economist
Francis Hirst Francis Wrigley Hirst (10 June 1873 – 22 February 1953) was a British journalist, writer and editor of ''The Economist'' magazine. He was a Liberal in party terms and a classical liberal in ideology. Early life Hirst was born at Dalton Lodge ...
. Between them they dominated both the rugby field and the Oxford Union Society. Smith was already active in national politics as a Tory speaker in the July 1892 general election. Announced initially as his father's son, he spoke all over Lancashire, stirring up Orange opinion against the Liberal policy of
Irish home rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...
. He obtained a Second Class in
Classical Mods Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ' ...
before switching to Law. He often debated against Hilaire Belloc at the Oxford Union, where a bust of him now stands, and became President in Trinity term 1894. By massive last-minute cramming he graduated with a first class BA degree in law in 1895. To his disappointment, he only obtained a Second in his Bachelor of Civil Law degree. In 1896 he won the Vinerian law scholarship and was elected a fellow of
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
(1896–9), and also a lecturership at Oriel College. The F.E. Smith Memorial Mooting Prizes nowadays commemorate him at Merton. In later life his depth of legal learning often surprised critics. Smith added to his Oxford reputation in May 1897, when he went to see the Prince of Wales open the new Oxford Town Hall. A detachment of the Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch had been drafted in to reinforce the small Oxford City Police force against a large demonstration of university undergraduates. The Metropolitan police, who were unused to boisterous Oxford undergraduates, attacked them with batons, causing several serious injuries. The crowd unhorsed and trampled one policeman. Smith took no part in the disorder, but was arrested when he tried to rescue his college servant, who was being manhandled by the police. Smith became the first prisoner in the police station in the new Town Hall. Before being locked in, Smith raised his hands for silence and declared "I have great pleasure in declaring this cell open". He was tried for obstructing the police in the lawful execution of their duty, but was found not guilty after defending himself in court.


Career as a barrister

Having eaten his dinners at Gray's Inn and passed his bar finals with distinction in the summer of 1899, Smith was
called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
and finally left Oxford, and quickly built up a brilliant and lucrative practice on the Northern Circuit, initially basing himself in Liverpool.


Formidable style & high-profile court cases

Smith rapidly acquired a reputation as a formidable
advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
, first in Liverpool and then, after his election to Parliament in 1906, in London. He was junior counsel during the prosecution of John McKeever tried at Liverpool Assizes for the murder of the Protestant activist
John Kensit John Kensit (12 February 1853 – 8 October 1902) was an English religious leader and polemicist. He concentrated on a struggle against Anglo-Catholic tendencies in the Church of England. Life history Kensit, a bookseller from London, had in his ...
. Although McKeever was acquitted, Smith kept the weapon, a file or chisel and a photograph of where the incident took place in his chambers. In 1907 he was asked to give an opinion on a proposed
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
action by the Lever Brothers against newspapers owned by Lord Northcliffe concerning the latter's allegations of a conspiracy to raise the price of soap by means of a 'soap trust'. He checked into the
Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...
and, after working all night reading a pile of papers nearly four feet thick and consuming a bottle of champagne and two dozen oysters, Smith wrote a one-sentence opinion: "There is no answer to this action in libel, and the damages must be enormous". The newspapers subsequently paid Lever £50,000, more than four times the previous record for a defamation action or out-of-court published settlement in the country. In February 1908, Smith was made a
King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
by Lord Loreburn, on the same day as his friend and rival from Wadham College, future Home Secretary Sir John Simon. At the Bar, he became one of the best known and most highly paid barristers in the country, making over £10,000 per year before the First World War. His spending was commensurate with this income even after he took less well-paid government positions in later years, something of which he would bitterly complain. Part of his income funded the purchase of a country house,
The Cottage The Cottage may refer to: Structures * The Cottage (Upper Marlboro, Maryland), US, listed on the National Register of Historic Places * The Cottage, Charlton, Northamptonshire, England, an 18th-century house * The Cottage in Thorpe, Surrey, Englan ...
at
Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...
, Northamptonshire, in 1907. The house was greatly enlarged in 1911–1912. In one of the best-known cases in which Smith was involved he successfully defended
Ethel le Neve Ethel Clara Neave (22 January 1883 – 9 August 1967), known as Ethel Le Neve, was the mistress of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, a homeopath hanged for the murder and mutilation of his wife in 1910. She was born in Diss, Norfolk, the eldest child o ...
, mistress of Hawley Harvey Crippen ("Dr Crippen") against a charge of murder. Le Neve was accused of killing Crippen's wife. Crippen was tried separately and convicted.


Member of Parliament

Ambitious to enter Parliament, Smith cultivated the local Tory
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...
Archibald Salvidge Sir Archibald Tutton James Salvidge (5 August 1863 – 11 December 1928) was an English politician, most notable for securing the political dominance of the Conservative Party in Liverpool through the use of the Working Men's Conservative ...
. In 1903, Smith gave a dazzling speech in Liverpool in support of Joseph Chamberlain, who was campaigning for Tariff Reform. On the strength of this, he was selected three months later as candidate for the working-class constituency of Walton division. He campaigned as the champion of hard-drinking, patriotic working men (Liberals tended to favour temperance and more pacific foreign policy) and in the 1906 election he narrowly held the seat despite the national Liberal landslide. He held the seat until the redrawing of boundaries in 1918. He attracted attention by a brilliant maiden speech, " I Warn the Government..." After this speech, Tim Healy, the Irish Nationalist, a master of parliamentary invective, sent Smith a note, "I am old, and you are young, but you have beaten me at my own game." In his maiden speech he argued that advocating tariffs had not hurt the Tories at the recent election. Smith also opposed the Trade Disputes Act 1906 arguing that intimidatory picketing should not be allowed. The Conservative leadership, unwilling to antagonise organised labour, did not oppose the Act very hard. Smith did not support restriction on the powers of the House of Lords, fearing that tyranny could result from an unchecked unicameral parliament. He was soon a prominent leader of the Unionist wing of the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, especially in the planned Ulster resistance to
Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...
. He attended the
Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non- episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, on ...
rally on 27 July 1912, at which Bonar Law advocated forcible resistance. From the signing of the
Ulster Covenant Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant, commonly known as the Ulster Covenant, was signed by nearly 500,000 people on and before 28 September 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill introduced by the British Government in the same year. ...
in September 1912 onwards, he was often at Edward Carson's side on horseback, hence the derisive nickname "Galloper Smith". A vociferous opponent of the
Disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...
of the Welsh part of the Church of England, he called the Welsh Disestablishment Bill "a bill which has shocked the conscience of every Christian community in Europe". This prompted
G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...
to write a satirical poem, ''"Antichrist, Or the Reunion of Christendom: An Ode"'', which asked if
Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...
sailors, Russian peasants and Christians evicted by the Turks would know or care of what happened to the Anglican Church of Wales, and answered the question with the line "Chuck it, Smith". The bill was approved by Parliament under the provisions of the Parliament Act 1911, but was stalled by the outbreak of the First World War. When it was finally implemented in 1920, Smith was part of the
Lloyd George Coalition Liberal David Lloyd George formed a coalition government in the United Kingdom in December 1916, and was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King George V. It replaced the earlier wartime coalition under H. H. Asquith, which ...
that did so.


First World War

Smith had joined the Territorial Army by commission into the
Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH) was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army's auxiliary forces, formed in 1798. It saw service in the Second Boer War with 40 and 59 Companies of the Imperial Yeomanry and was the first Yeomanry ...
, in which Churchill was already an officer, in 1913, and was a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the regiment before the outbreak of the First World War. On its outbreak he was placed in charge of the Government's Press Bureau, with rank of full colonel and responsibility for newspaper censorship. He was not very successful in this role, and in 1914–1915 served in France as a staff officer with the Indian Corps with ultimate temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. He and his successor as 'recording officer' (a Colonel Merewether) later collaborated on an official history entitled ''The Indian Corps in France'' (published 1917). In May 1915, he was appointed Solicitor General by
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
and
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
. He soon after (in October 1915) succeeded his friend
Sir Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Unionism in Ireland, Irish u ...
as
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, with the right to attend Cabinet. Early in 1916 he was briefly placed under military arrest for arriving at
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
without a pass, and had to be 'appeased' by a meeting with General
Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until ...
. As
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, it was his responsibility to lead the prosecution for the Crown in major cases such as the trial in 1916 of the Irish nationalist
Sir Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...
for treason. Sir Roger had been captured after landing from a ''Kaiserliche Marine'' U-boat on
Banna Strand Banna Strand, (Gaeilge: Trá na Beannaí) also known as Banna Beach, is situated in Ballyheigue Bay. It is an Atlantic Ocean beach extending from Ballyheigue Beach at the Blackrock in the North to Barrow Beach at its southern edge, located in ...
in Tralee Bay in north
County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
, south-west Ireland, just a few days before the
Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
in late April 1916. His prosecution of Casement (and Wheeldon in 1917) contributed to Smith's reputation as a spectacular advocate at the time. Smith was made a baronet in 1918. Following abolition of the Walton seat in constituency boundary changes, Smith was returned at the December 1918 general election for neighbouring West Derby Division, only to be elevated to the House of Lords two months later.


Postwar Coalition: Lord Chancellor

In 1919, he was created Baron Birkenhead, of Birkenhead in the County of Chester following his appointment as Lord Chancellor by
Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
. At the age of 47, he was the youngest Lord Chancellor since
Lord Cowper William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, ( ; 10 October 1723) was an English politician who became the first Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Cowper was the son of Sir William Cowper, 2nd Baronet, of Ratling Court, Kent, a Whig member of parlia ...
in 1707 and possibly since Judge Jeffreys (John Simon would have been younger had he accepted the post in 1915). The '' Morning Post'' commented that his appointment as Attorney-General had been amusing but that his further promotion was "carrying a joke beyond the limits of pleasantry", while the King urged Lloyd George to reconsider. Birkenhead proved an excellent Lord Chancellor, but tales of his drunkenness begin from this time, very likely as he grew bored with the job and as it dawned on him that he had probably ruled himself out from the premiership by accepting a peerage. That year, in the House of Lords debate on the Amritsar Massacre, he courageously denounced Tories who declared General Dyer (the responsible officer) a hero. He played a key role in the passage of several key legal reforms, including the Law of Property Act 1922, which began the reform of English land law which was to come to fruition in the mid-1920s. He also unsuccessfully championed a reform of the divorce laws, which he judged caused great misery and which favoured the wealthy. Despite his Unionist background, Smith played an important role in the negotiations that led to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, which led to the formation of the Irish Free State the following year. Much of the treaty was drafted by Smith. His support for this, and his warm relations with the Irish nationalist leaders Arthur Griffith and
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
, angered some of his former Unionist associates, notably Sir Edward Carson. Upon signing the Treaty he remarked to Collins, "I may have just signed my political death warrant", to which Collins dryly and with prescient accuracy replied, "I have just signed my actual death warrant". Collins was killed by opponents of the treaty eight months after the signing, during the
Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...
. Also in 1921, he was responsible for the House of Lords rejecting a proposal, put forward by Frederick Alexander Macquisten, MP for
Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
, to criminalise lesbianism. During the debate, Birkenhead argued that 999 women out of a thousand had "never even heard a whisper of these practices". Smith was created Viscount Birkenhead, of Birkenhead in the County of Chester, in the
1921 Birthday Honours The 1921 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the King, and were ...
, then Viscount Furneaux, of
Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...
in the
County of Northampton Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is k ...
, and Earl of Birkenhead in 1922. By 1922 Birkenhead and Churchill had become the leading figures of the
Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
Coalition. The Anglo-Irish Treaty, the attempt to go to war with Turkey over Chanak (which was later vetoed by the governments of the Dominions) and a general whiff of moral and financial corruption which had come to surround the Coalition were all hallmarks of his tenure in office. A scandal erupted in 1922 when it became known that Lloyd George, through the agency of Maundy Gregory, had awarded honours and titles such as a baronetcy to rich businessmen in return for cash in the range of £10,000 and more. At an earlier meeting before Parliament broke up for the summer, and more famously at the
Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History The ...
meeting in October 1922, Birkenhead's hectoring of the junior ministers and backbenchers was one of the factors leading to the withdrawal of support from the Coalition.


Out of office: 1922–24

Like many of the senior members of the Coalition, Birkenhead did not hold office in the
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a ...
and Baldwin governments of 1922–24. Unlike the others Birkenhead was rude and open in his contempt for the new governments. He bore no grudge against Bonar Law but criticised Leslie Wilson and Lord Curzon. He sneered that Wilson and Sir
George Younger George Kenneth Hotson Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Baron Younger of Prestwick, (22 September 1931 – 26 January 2003), was a British Conservative Party politician and banker. Early life and career Younger's forebear, George Younger ...
were "the cabin boys" who had taken over the ship, he referred to Lords Salisbury and
Selborne Selborne is a village in Hampshire, England, south of Alton, Hampshire, Alton, and just within the northern boundary of the South Downs National Park. The village receives visitors because of its links with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White, a ...
as "the Dolly Sisters" after two starlets of the era and remarked that the new Cabinet was one of "second-class brains", to which came the reply from
Lord Robert Cecil Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, (14 September 1864 – 24 November 1958), known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923,As the younger son of a Marquess, Cecil held the courtesy title of "Lord". However, he ...
that this was better than "second-class characters". He remarked that he had lost the Woolsack but was still "captain of isown soul" to which a wag retorted that this was "a small command of which no-one will want to deprive him". In the House of Lords, on 7 December 1922, he read out a letter dated 15 February 1922 in which the Greek leader Dimitrios Gounaris had begged the Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon (who had deserted the Coalition in its final hours and thus retained his office under
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a ...
) for British help in her war against Turkey. Since then, Gounaris had been executed as a scapegoat for the catastrophic Greek defeat. Birkenhead claimed that he had no knowledge of this letter, a claim which was soon echoed by Lloyd George and other leading coalitionists Austen Chamberlain, Robert Horne and Worthington-Evans. The accusations, if true, might have forced Curzon's resignation and jeopardised the ongoing negotiation of the
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
. Cabinet Secretary Maurice Hankey located the letter, and the reply urging Gounaris to "hold on", which Curzon had circulated to the Cabinet, and which Birkenhead had initialled as read. On 11 December Birkenhead was forced to apologise ("frigidly received" by the Lords, according to "The Times") and Lady Curzon retaliated by cutting him at a ball, but as she remarked to her husband in a letter, he was "too drunk to notice" the snub. In May 1923,
Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
succeeded Bonar Law as Prime Minister. He remarked to his new Cabinet, referring to Birkenhead's exclusion, that they were "a Cabinet of faithful husbands" – this referred to Birkenhead's general character rather than simply his marital infidelities. Even a famous speech, the Rectorial Address to the University of Glasgow on 7 November 1923, in which Birkenhead told undergraduates that the world still offered "glittering prizes" to those with "stout hearts and sharp swords", now seemed out of kilter with the less aggressive and more self-consciously moral style of politics advocated by the new generation of Conservative politicians such as Stanley Baldwin and Edward Wood, the future Lord Halifax. Birkenhead regarded the League of Nations as idealistic nonsense, and thought that international relations should be guided by "self-interest", lest Britain decline like
Imperial Spain The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
.Charmley 1993, pp203-4 Rather, he believed that the power of nations would still be determined by their military strength. By this time Birkenhead was regarded with distaste by much of the grassroots Conservative Party.
J. C. C. Davidson John Colin Campbell Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson, (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1970), known before his elevation to the peerage as J. C. C. Davidson, was a British civil servant and Conservative Party politician, best known for his clo ...
reported back to Central Office (18 November 1923) on his recent re-adoption as candidate for Hemel Hempstead that many members were unwilling to support him without an assurance that he would not support Birkenhead's return to the Cabinet, lest this cost local votes at the upcoming election. He commented that this was proof that Puritanism was deep in the English blood, and not just in that of Nonconformist chapel-goers.
Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
recorded in his diary (18 November 1923) that Birkenhead had "so often and so deeply shocked the moral sense of the country by his drunkenness and loose living character that our Govt which rests largely on public confidence in our character would be seriously tarnished by association with such a man". After the December 1923 General Election, at which Baldwin lost his majority and a hung Parliament was returned, Birkenhead briefly intrigued for another Lloyd George coalition government. In order to discourage them from associating with Lloyd George, Baldwin quickly invited former coalitionists Austen Chamberlain, Birkenhead and Balfour to join the Shadow Cabinet. Birkenhead persuaded his friend Churchill to stand (unsuccessfully, as an independent "Constitutionalist") in the March
1924 Westminster Abbey by-election The 1924 Westminster Abbey by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 March 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. It was notable for the challenge of Winston Churchill to the party system. ...
. This was part of Churchill's move back towards rejoining the Conservative Party. A 1924 entry in Evelyn Waugh's diary states that an English High Court judge, presiding in a sodomy case, sought advice on sentencing from Lord Birkenhead. "Could you tell me," he asked, "what do you think one ought to give a man who allows himself to be buggered?" Birkenhead replied without hesitation, "Oh, thirty shillings or two pounds; whatever you happen to have on you."


Personal life and affair

Smith married Margaret Eleanor Furneaux, daughter of classical scholar Henry Furneaux, in April 1901 and they had three children,
Eleanor Smith Eleanor Smith may refer to: * Eleanor Smith (politician) (born 1957), British Labour Party MP *Lady Eleanor Smith (1902–1945), English writer *Eleanor Smith (activist) (1822–1896), Irish educational activist *Eleanor Smith (suffragist) (1828– ...
, Frederick and Pamela Smith. In around 1919, Birkenhead began an affair with Mona Dunn, the then seventeen year old daughter of the Canadian financier James Hamet Dunn, a friend of Lord Beaverbrook's (it is unclear how much her father knew of the affair). Beaverbrook, in so far as can be discerned from the limited surviving evidence in letters, appears to have provided a cover for sexual liaisons between the two of them, and for womanising by others of their social circle. She appears to have been genuinely in love with Birkenhead, whereas he was mildly fond of her but regarded her as no more than a mistress. The affair attracted the fury of Birkenhead’s daughter, a friend of Mona's, a state of affairs likened by Campbell to the relations between Lloyd George, his mistress Frances Stevenson, and his daughter
Megan Megan is a Welsh feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of Margaret. Margaret is from the Greek μαργαρίτης (''margarítēs''), Latin ''margarīta'', "pearl". Megan is one of the most popular Welsh-language names for women in ...
. In 1926 Arnold Bennett published a novel, ''Lord Raingo'', about a self-made millionaire who becomes a peer and a Cabinet Minister (under a Prime Minister clearly based on Lloyd George), and who keeps a young mistress. The character was actually largely based on
Lord Rhondda David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (26 March 1856 – 3 July 1918), was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. He was UK Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil (UK ...
and Beaverbrook himself. Birkenhead gave an angry interview to the ''Daily Mail'' in which he criticised both the novel and the recent practice of Colonel Repington, Colonel House and
Margot Asquith Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite, author. She was married to H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1894 ...
in publishing political secrets so close in time to the events. Bennett replied that the character was not based on any single person and anyway that it was not for Birkenhead, who had recently published a potboiler called “Famous Trials”, to criticise others for writing books to make money. The two men, who were both members of The Other Club, remained on friendly terms. Mona Dunn had married "Bunny" Tattersall in February 1925. She had a daughter, then died in Paris aged 26 on 19 December 1928, officially of peritonitis. John Campbell's original (1983) text states that there is no evidence for the tales that she died of a failed abortion. However, later editions contain a footnote adding that it had since come to the author's attention that her husband had been paid off by Birkenhead to enter into a marriage of convenience with her as a cover for their continued affair, and that, the affair now over, she then fled to Paris with a third man, where she died of "appendicitis and drink" (inverted commas in the original). Birkenhead wrote a poem in her memory, which Beaverbrook declined to publish in the ''Daily Express'' at the time, but eventually published three decades later in his life of Sir James Dunn.


Secretary of State for India: 1924–28

Despite winning a large majority at the 1924 election, Baldwin formed a broad new (second) government by appointing former coalitionists such as Birkenhead, Austen Chamberlain and former Liberal Winston Churchill to senior Cabinet posts; this was to discourage them from associating with Lloyd George to revive the 1916-22 Coalition. Birkenhead and Chamberlain lobbied Baldwin to reappoint another former coalitionist, Robert Horne, to the Exchequer, but Baldwin refused and appointed Churchill instead. From 1924 to 1928 Birkenhead served as Secretary of State for India. His views on pre-partition India's independence movement were gloomy. He thought India's Hindu–Muslim religious divide insurmountable and sought to block advances in native participation in provincial governments that had been granted by the 1919 Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. His parliamentary private secretary recalled much time ostensibly on India Office business seemed to be spent playing golf. It was in his government role that in October 1927 he unveiled the
Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial The Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located on the outskirts of the commune of Neuve-Chapelle, in the département of Pas-de-Calais. The memorial commemorates some 4,742 Indian soldiers with no known grave, ...
to Indian Army soldiers of no known grave killed on the Western Front in the 1914–18 War. Birkenhead endorsed his old political opponent
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
, rather than his Cabinet colleague Lord Cave, in the
1925 University of Oxford Chancellor election The 1925 University of Oxford election for the position of Chancellor was called upon the death of the incumbent Chancellor, George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston on 20 March 1925. Electorate The electorate consisted of all members of ...
. He wrote to '' The Times'' on 19 May, describing Asquith as the "greatest living Oxonian", but his support may have done more harm than good, because of his association with the discredited Lloyd George Coalition, and because of his open scepticism both of religion and of the League of Nations. It was quipped that Asquith was "a warming-pan” for Birkenhead's views (a learned Oxford joke, referring to the legend that the
Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...
had been an impostor baby rather than a rightful heir to the throne). Lord Cave was elected. He was engaged outside the office in negotiating for the government with the Trades Union Congress to try to avert the
1926 General Strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...
and he strongly supported the 1927 Trades Disputes Act which required union members to contract into the political levies. Baldwin remained suspicious of the activities of Birkenhead and the former coalitionists.
Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...
recorded (diary 14 March 1928) him remarking "the future Coalition" when he saw Churchill, Lloyd George and Birkenhead chatting at the end of a state dinner. Lord Cave resigned as Lord Chancellor early in 1928. Birkenhead apparently did not want to return to his old job, but neither did Baldwin offer it to him. According to Neville Chamberlain's diary (28 March 1928), this was because "he might be seen drunk in the street" ( Lord Hailsham was appointed instead). Birkenhead retired from the Cabinet in October 1928 to make money in business. In 1928 he was appointed Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India.


Later life and assessments

Birkenhead's increasingly pompous oratory caused David Low to caricature him in the 1920s as "Lord Burstinghead". After retiring from politics, he became Rector of the University of Aberdeen, a director of Tate & Lyle, a director of
Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...
, and High Steward of the University of Oxford. In a 1983 biography review, William Camp – who had written a 1960 biography of the man – opined that "F.E. was the quintessential male chauvinist who, almost with his dying breath, dragged himself to the Lords in July 1930 to attack the right of peeresses to take their seats." Birkenhead wrote a series of articles (later republished in ''Last Essays'': 1930) about "The peril to India", in which he criticised the Indian Nationalist leaders as "a collection ... of very inferior Kerenskis" and asserted that it was widely accepted that without British rule India would collapse into anarchy. He attacked the Irwin Declaration as "so ambiguous that it is impossible to select from it any clear and unambiguous proposal". In the opinion of
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, who was a friend: "He had all the canine virtues in a remarkable degree – courage, fidelity, vigilance, love of chase." As for
Margot Asquith Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite, author. She was married to H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1894 ...
, who was not a friend, she thought: "F. E. Smith is very clever, but sometimes his brains go to his head." Of Birkenhead's loyalty, Churchill added: "If he was with you on Monday, he would be the same on Tuesday. And on Thursday, when things looked blue, he would still be marching forward with strong reinforcements."
Gilbert Frankau Gilbert Frankau (21 April 1884 – 4 November 1952) was a popular British novelist. He was known also for verse (he was a war poet of World War I), including a number of verse novels, and short stories. He was born in London into a Jewish fami ...
recalled in his own autobiography ''Self Portrait'', that in 1928 Sir Thomas Horder confided: "Birkenhead's pure eighteenth-century. He belongs to the days of
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
and
Pitt Pitt most commonly refers to: *The University of Pittsburgh, commonly known as Pitt, a university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States **Pitt Panthers, the athletic teams of the University of Pittsburgh * Pitt (surname), a surname o ...
. Physically, he has all the strength of our best yeoman stock. Mentally, he's a colossus. But he'll tear himself to pieces by the time he's sixty." In 1930 he published his utopian ''The World in 2030 A.D.'' with airbrush illustrations by
E. McKnight Kauffer Edward McKnight Kauffer (14 December 1890 – 22 October 1954) was an American artist and graphic designer who lived for much of his life in the United Kingdom. He worked mainly in poster art, but was also active as a painter, book illustrator a ...
. The book was the subject of considerable controversy as several passages were alleged to have been copied from earlier works by
J. B. S. Haldane John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (; 5 November 18921 December 1964), nicknamed "Jack" or "JBS", was a British-Indian scientist who worked in physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and mathematics. With innovative use of statistics in biolog ...
. Birkenhead died in London in 1930, aged 58, from pneumonia caused by cirrhosis of the liver. After cremation at Golders Green Crematorium, his ashes were buried in the parish churchyard at
Charlton, Northamptonshire Charlton is a village in the parish of Newbottle, Northamptonshire, England in between Brackley and Kings Sutton, lying close to a small tributary of the River Cherwell. At the 2011 census the population was included in the civil parish of Newb ...
.


Screen portrayals

As "Lord Birkenhead", he is dramatised in the film '' Chariots of Fire'', as an official of the
British Olympic Committee The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both t ...
. He is played by actor Nigel Davenport.


Works

* ''International Law in the Far East'', 2nd ed. 1908. * ''The Licensing Bill'', 1908. * ''International Law'', 4th ed. 1911. * ''Poems by Samuel Johnson, LLD''. * ''Toryism until 1832''. * ''Speeches, 1906–1909'' (2nd ed.). * ''The Destruction of Merchant Ships'', 1917. * ''My American Visit'', 1918 (2nd edition). * ''The Indian Corps in France'' (2nd edition). * ''The Story of Newfoundland'', 1920. * ''Points of View'', 1922. * ''Contemporary Personalities'', 1924. * ''America Revisited'', 1924. * ''Fourteen English Judges'', 1926. * ''Famous Trials of History'', 1926. * ''Law, Life and Letters'', 1927. * ''More Famous Trials'', 1928. * ''The Speeches of Lord Birkenhead'', 1929. * ''The World in 2030 AD'', 1930. * ''Turning Points in History'', 1930. * ''Last Essays'', 1930. * (Editor) ''The Five Hundred Best English Letters'', 1931. * ''Fifty Famous Fights in Fact and Fiction'', 1932.


Cases


As counsel

* ''R v Casement''
917 __NOTOC__ Year 917 ( CMXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary fo ...
1 KB 98, prosecution of
Sir Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...
for high treason


As judge

* '' Viscountess Rhondda's Claim''
922 __NOTOC__ Year 922 ( CMXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Battle of Constantinople: Emperor Romanos I sends Byza ...
2 AC 339, right of peeresses to sit in the House of Lords * R ''v Secretary of State for Home Affairs, ex p O'Brien''
923 __NOTOC__ Year 923 ( CMXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * June 15 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I is killed; the Frankish a ...
AC 691, legality of British policy of internment in Ireland


Arms


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * – heavily revised edition of the above, with added material on Smith's political career, and much material relating to his legal career excised. *


External links

* * * * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Smith, F. E. Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Oxford Union People educated at Birkenhead School Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I English barristers Members of Gray's Inn Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Smith, F. E. Smith, F. E. 20th-century King's Counsel Smith, F. E. Smith, F. E. Smith, F. E. Smith, F. E. UK MPs who were granted peerages People of the Victorian era Smith, F. E. Deputy Lieutenants of Oxfordshire Legal scholars of the University of Oxford Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars officers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Peers created by George V Viscounts created by George V