Sir Maurice Bonham-Carter (11 October 1880 – 7 June 1960) was an English Liberal politician. He was

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

's Principal Private Secretary during Asquith's time as

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

from 1910 to 1916 and later served in other government posts. He played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, had held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). Follo ...

in the early 20th century. The actress

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...

is his granddaughter.

Early life

Bonham-Carter, who was widely known by the nickname "Bongie", was born in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London, on 11 October 1880. He was the eleventh child born to Sibella Charlotte (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Norman) and Henry Bonham-Carter. His brothers included General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter, Governor of the Crown Colony of Malta from 1936 to 1940 and the lawyer Sir Edgar Bonham-Carter. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

.Bonham-Carter, Sir Maurice
Obituaries in 1960. ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1961. Retrieved 2017-04-03. He was a right-handed batsman and

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

for

, playing thirteen times for the side in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

matches between 1901 and 1902.Maurice Bonham-Carter

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 2017-04-04. He was awarded his cricket Blue in 1902. His highest score in first-class cricket was 86 for Oxford versus H.D.G. Leveson Gower's XI at the Parks in 1902. Bonham-Carter also played one first-class match for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

in 1902.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 80–81.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)

Career

He was called to the Bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1909.Maurice Bonham-Carter
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-04-03. Between 1910 and 1916, Bonham-Carter served as the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister

during Asquith's tenure as

. He travelled around the country with Asquith at the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and accompanied the Prime Minister when he visited the frontline at

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

in 1915.Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country'', p.96. Brighton: Reveille Press. He also visited Italy and, following the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), 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 aim of establishing an ind ...

, Ireland with Asquith in 1916. When Asquith was replaced as prime minister by

David 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. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

in 1916, Bonham-Carter moved to become Assistant Secretary of the

Ministry of Reconstruction The Ministry of Reconstruction was a department of the United Kingdom government which existed after both World War I and World War II in order to provide for the needs of the population in the post war years. World War I The Ministry of Recons ...

and then, in 1918, joined the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

and Road Transport Board. He became a leading figure in the British Liberal Party and was a "keen supporter of new ideas and imaginative personalities." He was a partner in a firm of

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

s. He also held a number of business directorships with companies including: Aero Engine Ltd, Alpha Cement Ltd, Earls Court Ltd, Blackburn and General Aircraft, Hanworth Securities Ltd, Scophony Ltd, Power Jets Ltd and was a partner with merchant bankers O.T. Falk and Partners, and stockbrokers Buckmaster & Moore.

Honours

Bonham-Carter was made

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB) in 1916 in Asquith's resignation honours and in the 1917 Birthday Honours was made a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO).

Personal life

On 30 November 1915, he was married to Violet Asquith, daughter of then-British prime minister

. As she was later made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

ess, he and his wife were one of the few couples both of whom held titles in their own right. Together, they had four children: *

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

(Helen Laura) Cressida Bonham-Carter (1917–1998), who married Jasper Ridley. * The Honourable Laura Miranda Bonham Carter (1918–1994), who married Jo Grimond. * Mark Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham Carter of Yarnbury (1922–1994) * The Honourable Raymond Henry Bonham-Carter (1929–2004) He died in 1960 aged 79 and is buried in the churchyard at St Andrew's Church, Mells in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter Cressida, he was a grandfather to Sir Adam Ridley. Through his eldest son Mark, he was a grandfather of three girls, including: Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham Carter of Yarnbury, the domestic partner of Tim Razzall, Baron Razzall. Through his youngest son Raymond, he was a grandfather to three including:

and Edward Bonham Carter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonham Carter, Maurice 1880 births 1960 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English barristers Maurice Liberal Party (UK) politicians English cricketers Kent cricketers Oxford University cricketers Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Winchester College People from Kensington Politicians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Principal private secretaries to the prime minister Spouses of life peers 20th-century English businesspeople British sportsperson-politicians Cricket people awarded knighthoods