Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, KP, PC (16 January 1873 – 14 June 1939), known as Lord Ashby St Ledgers from 1910 to 1914 and as Lord Wimborne from 1914 to 1918, was a British politician and one of the last

Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingd ...

, serving in that position at the time of the Easter Rising.

Background and education

He was the eldest son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill, daughter of

John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough (2 June 18224 July 1883), styled Earl of Sunderland from 1822 to 1840 and Marquess of Blandford from 1840 to 1857, was a British Conservative cabinet minister, politician, peer, and noblem ...

. He was the elder brother of

Frederick Guest Frederick Edward "Freddie" Guest, (14 June 1875 – 28 April 1937) was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party, 1917–1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air be ...

Oscar Guest Oscar Montague Guest (24 August 1888 – 8 May 1958) was a politician in the United Kingdom, initially with the Liberal Party and later as a Conservative. He was twice elected as a Member of Parliament (MP). Family He was the youngest of ...

and

Henry Guest Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Henry Charles Guest (15 February 1874 – 9 October 1957), usually known as Henry Guest, was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom. Family He was the second son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne and his w ...

, and a first cousin 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 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He was commissioned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the Dorset Yeomanry on 9 May 1896. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

in late 1899, he volunteered for service and was appointed a lieutenant in the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

on 24 February 1900, leaving England for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

on the ''SS Manchester Merchant'' in early March. He was awarded the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with two clasps. After returning to the United Kingdom, he was promoted to captain on 18 January 1902.

Political career, 1900–1915

He was elected to Parliament for Plymouth in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in February 1900 (a seat he had unsuccessfully contested in 1898), as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, and retained his seat in the general election of 1900. In 1904, during the controversy within the Conservative Party over adopting

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulatio ...

, he and other members of his family followed Churchill into the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in support of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

. He sat as an MP until 1910, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashby St Ledgers, of

Ashby St Ledgers Ashby St Ledgers is a village in the West Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England.OS Explorer Map Map 223 - Northampton & Market Harborough (1:25 000) The post town is Rugby in Warwickshire. The population of the civil parish at ...

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 became

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posi ...

in the government of

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 ...

. He served as Paymaster General until 1912, and later served as a

Lord in Waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (withou ...

to King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. In 1914, he succeeded his father as Baron Wimborne. At the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was appointed to the staff of the newly formed

10th (Irish) Division The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions (formed from Kitchener's 'first hundred thousand' new volunteers), authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included ...

under Lieutenant-General Sir

Bryan Mahon Bryan Thomas Mahon, (2 April 1862 – 29 September 1930) was an Irish general of the British Army, a senator of the short-lived Senate of Southern Ireland, and a member for eight years of the Irish Free State Senate until his death. Biograph ...

at the

Curragh Camp The Curragh Camp ( ga, Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel. History Longstanding ...

.Townshend, Charles, ''Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion'', Penguin, 2006, , p. 147

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1915–1918

In February 1915, Wimborne was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in succession to

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...

. At this time, the Lord Lieutenant was largely a ceremonial position; real power was in the hands of the Chief Secretary and the Under-Secretary. Determined to be more involved in decision-making, he was appointed Director of Recruiting in October 1915, heading up the new Department of Recruiting for Ireland. He insisted on being kept up to date on the state of the country, and had the Under-Secretary, Sir

Matthew Nathan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Quee ...

, send him police reports, details of prosecutions and recruitment figures. On the weekend preceding the Easter Rising, following the capture of the German arms ship ''Aud'' and the arrest 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 ...

, Wimborne urged Nathan to order the arrest of a large number of rebel leaders. Nathan was unwilling to do so without the authorisation of the Chief Secretary,

Augustine Birrell Augustine Birrell KC (19 January 185020 November 1933) was a British Liberal Party politician, who was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916. In this post, he was praised for enabling tenant farmers to own their property, and for exte ...

, who was in London. Before the authorisation was received, the Rising began on 24 April 1916. Wimborne proclaimed

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in Dublin. Thereafter, the military took control. A new Commander-in Chief, General Sir John Maxwell, arrived in Ireland on 28 April and the rebels surrendered on 29 April. Wimborne initially refused to offer his resignation after the Rising. He resigned under pressure from the government but was re-appointed. In June 1916 he directed the establishment of the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee to assess the many insurance claims resulting from the Rising. The Royal Commission on the 1916 Rebellion (the Hardinge commission) exonerated Wimborne of any blame for the Rising, saying that his position as Lord Lieutenant was "anomalous in quiet times and almost unworkable in times of crisis". He continued as Lord Lieutenant for another two years. On his retirement in 1918, he was created Viscount Wimborne, of

Canford Magna Canford Magna is a village in Dorset, England. The village is situated just south of the River Stour and lies between the towns of Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South Wes ...

in the County of Dorset.

Marriage and issue

On 10 February 1902, he married at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square, London, the Honourable Alice Grosvenor (1880–1948), daughter of Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Ebury. They had one son,

Ivor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne Ivor Grosvenor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne, (21 February 1903 – 7 January 1967) was a British politician. Early life Ivor Grosvenor Wimborne was born on 21 February 1903 and was the son of Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne (1873–1939), a ...

, and two daughters, Rosemary and Cynthia. By the 1930s, they were living separate lives, though remaining on the friendliest terms. From 1934 until her death, Alice was linked with the composer

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

. Wimborne died in June 1939, aged 66, at Wimborne House in Arlington Street, London, the house in which he was born. He was succeeded by his only son, Ivor. Lady Wimborne died in April 1948, aged 67.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimborne, Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount 1873 births 1939 deaths Liberal Party (UK) Lords-in-Waiting Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Peers created by Edward VII Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Guest, Ivor Churchill Knights of St Patrick Guest, Ivor Churchill Guest, Ivor Churchill Guest, Ivor Churchill Guest, Ivor Churchill Guest, Ivor Churchill Guest, Ivor Churchill UK MPs who inherited peerages UK MPs who were granted peerages People of the Easter Rising Imperial Yeomanry officers English polo players Ivor Churchill Roehampton Trophy Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry officers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Eldest sons of British hereditary barons Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plymouth Viscounts created by George V People educated at Eton College