Marcus Richard Kimball, Baron Kimball (18 October 1928 – 26 March 2014) was a British

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 ...

politician.

Early life

The son of Major Lawrence Kimball, he was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London, and educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

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 became a farmer and a

Lloyd's Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

underwriter. He was a councillor on

Rutland County Council Rutland County Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The current council was created in April 1997. The population of the council's area at the 2011 census was 37,369. As a unitar ...

and commanded a squadron of the

Leicestershire Yeomanry The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two fie ...

Political career

Kimball contested

Derby South Derby South () is a constituency formed of part of the city of Derby represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by veteran MP Margaret Beckett of the Labour Party. She has served under the Labour governments of Haro ...

in 1955. He was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

from a 1956 by-election until

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. While representing this constituency, he wrote to Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, after Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands, that he felt the British government should "let the Argentinians have the Falklands with as little fuss as possible". This letter, apparently written without the knowledge of his constituency party, remained secret until revealed by the release of part of the Thatcher archive in 2013. According to his obituary he treated his constituents in much the same way as he treated the tenants of his

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

and

Altnaharra Altnaharra ( gd, Allt na h-Eirbhe) is a small hamlet in Sutherland in the Highland region of northern Scotland. The hamlet is on the A836 road, close to its junction with the B873. The nearest villages are Lairg and Tongue. Lochs in the area ...

estates advising potential MPs not to promise to hold surgeries and not to live in the constituency unless sure there was a good local hunt. Kimball opposed separate taxation for women in 1978, saying women just gave the bill to their husbands. Knighted in 1981, Kimball was subsequently given a life peerage as Baron Kimball, of Easton in the County of Leicestershire on 9 May 1985.

Hunting interests

A keen huntsman, Kimball was joint master of the Fitzwilliam Hunt 1952 and 1953, and the

Cottesmore Hunt The Cottesmore Hunt, which hunts mostly in Rutland, is one of the oldest foxhound packs in Britain. Its name comes from the village of Cottesmore where the hounds were kennelled. History The Cottesmore Hunt's origins may be traced back to 16 ...

1953–58. He was chairman of the British Field Sports Society 1966–82, and its President 1996–98. He was vice-president of its successor organisation, the

Countryside Alliance The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice". History The Countryside Alliance ...

from 1998. He indirectly gave money to an anti-field sports organisation after an

Industrial Tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

ruled that he sacked his housekeeper unfairly and she donated part of her compensation.

Other interests

In March 1993, he was appointed Chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Trust, a position he held until 1996. He also held senior positions in show jumping, light horse breeding organisations and in the

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the ...

. He died at the age of 85 on 26 March 2014.

Arms

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966 & 1979 * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Marcus 1928 births 2014 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Kimball, Marcus Kimball, Baron Knights Bachelor People educated at Eton College Councillors in Rutland British hunters Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Marylebone Leicestershire Yeomanry officers Masters of foxhounds in England Politicians awarded knighthoods People from Great Easton, Leicestershire People in greyhound racing UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983