Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne, CH, PC (15 April 1887 – 3 September 1971), known as "Top Wolmer" and styled Viscount Wolmer from 1895 to 1941, was a British administrator, intelligence officer and

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.

Background and education

Born in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

, Wolmer was the eldest son of

William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

and his wife, the former Lady Maud Cecil, daughter of

Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and graduated from

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

in 1909. He was the cousin of

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, (27 August 1893 – 23 February 1972), known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947, was a British Conservative politician. Background Nicknamed "Bobbety", Salisbury was the eldes ...

Political career

A few months later, at the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts o ...

Lord Wolmer entered Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Newton division of Lancashire. He was

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...

to his uncle, the

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affai ...

, Lord Robert Cecil in 1916 and assistant director of the War Trade Department from 1916 to 1918. At the 1918 general election, he did not stand in Newton (which was won by the Labour Party politician, Robert Young), but was elected to the newly formed constituency of

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

that year. From 1922 to 1924, he was

Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in the United Kingdom was a member of Parliament assigned to assist the Board of Trade and its President with administration and liaison with Parliament. It replaced the Vice-President of the Board ...

and

Assistant Postmaster-General The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government. The title of Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established ...

from 1924 to 1929. In November 1940, Lord Wolmer resigned his seat in the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

, and was called up to the House of Lords in his father's barony of Selborne in January 1941. He was Director of Cement at the Ministry of Works from 1940 to 1942. In 1942, he inherited his father's earldom and his last political post was as

Minister of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

from 1942 to 1945. This put him in charge of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which ran undercover operations of sabotage in Occupied Europe. It was his policy to back the

Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royali ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

despite the numerous items of intelligence that suggested that they were in league with the Germans. He was responsible for a delay of 12 months in support being given to

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms *Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman *Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journal ...

's Partisans, and when Fitzroy MacLean was ordered to go to Cairo with a view to establishing contact with Tito, he did everything he could to frustrate the mission. He was made a member of the

Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

after the war and in 1948 was Master of the

Worshipful Company of Mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

, then chairman of the

National Provincial Bank National Provincial Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1833 until 1970 when it was merged into the National Westminster Bank. It continued to exist as a dormant non-trading company until 2016 when it was vo ...

from 1951 to 1953 and deputy chairman of Boots from 1951 to 1964.

Family

On 9 June 1910, he married the Honourable Grace Ridley, third daughter of Matthew White Ridley, 1st Viscount Ridley. They had six surviving children: * Lady Anne Beatrice Mary (1911–2002), married the Reverend John Brewis. * William Matthew Palmer, Viscount Wolmer (1912–1942), married Priscilla Egerton-Warburton. * Lady Laura Mary (1915–1999), married

Cyril Eastaugh Cyril Easthaugh (22 December 189716 December 1988) was a British Anglican bishop in the 20th Century. He was Bishop of Kensington from 1949 to 1961 and Bishop of Peterborough from 1961 to 1972. Early life and education Easthaugh was born on 22 ...

, Bishop of Peterborough. * Hon. Robert Jocelyn (1919–1991), married Anne Palmer, 11th Baroness Lucas. * Lady Mary Sophia (1920–2001), Hon. Anthony Strachey (son of

Maurice Towneley-O'Hagan, 3rd Baron O'Hagan Maurice Herbert Towneley Towneley-O'Hagan, 3rd Baron O'Hagan (20 February 1882 – 18 December 1961), was a British Liberal and later Conservative politician. O'Hagan was the second son of Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan, the Liberal Lord C ...

). * Hon. Edward Roundell (1926–1974), married Joanna Bacon (a daughter of Sir Edmund Bacon, Bt). Lord Selborne's wife died in 1959 and on 3 March 1966, he married Valerie Bevan ''née'' de Thomkahaza, a daughter of a Hungarian politician. His eldest son, Major William Wolmer, was killed on 2 October 1942. by a stray artillery shell during an army training exercise on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

. Upon Palmer's own death in 1971 in

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England, near the source of the River Wey. It had a population of 17,816 at the 2011 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

aged 84, he was succeeded in his titles by his grandson,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

References

External links

*
Burke's Peerage & Gentry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selborne, Roundell Palmer, 3rd Earl of 1887 births 1971 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Palmer, Roundell Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom English Anglicans Foreign Office personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Palmer, Roundell Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Ministry of Economic Warfare Palmer, Roundell People educated at Winchester College People from Alton, Hampshire People from Selborne People from Westminster Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Selborne, E3