Robert Venables Vernon Harcourt (7 May 1878 – 8 September 1962) was a British diplomat, playwright, farmer and

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. For example, while the political systems ...

politician.

Family and education

Harcourt was the son of a Liberal statesman,

Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He was Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby, then West Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constitue ...

, who was briefly leader of the Liberal Party from 1896 to 1898 and his second wife Elizabeth Cabot Motley who was the daughter of

John Lothrop Motley John Lothrop Motley (April 15, 1814 – May 29, 1877) was an American author and diplomat. As a popular historian, he is best known for his works on the Netherlands, the three volume work ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' and four volume ''His ...

sometime Minister of the United States in London and author of a number of works of history. His brother, Lewis Vernon Harcourt, was also a Liberal MP and government minister. Harcourt was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

, where he took honours in the History

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

. At Cambridge, he was a committee member of

Cambridge University Liberal Club Cambridge University Liberal Association (CULA) is the student branch of the Liberal Democrats for students at the University of Cambridge. It is the successor to the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, which in turn was formed from the merge ...

from 1899 to 1900. He was engaged to be married to Margery (or Marjorie) Cunard, the granddaughter and heiress of the founder of the famous Cunard shipping concern, but the engagement was twice broken off. However, Miss Cunard was eventually persuaded to relent, and she married Harcourt in 1911. They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth.

Career

Harcourt went into the

Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

, serving as a Clerk on the diplomatic establishment of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

from 1900 to 1906. He was then briefly engaged in journalism, being parliamentary correspondent of the magazine Tribune until he was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at a by-election in 1908. After leaving the Commons, Harcourt went into farming at his country home near Lyndhurst in Hampshire where he eventually built up a pedigree

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

herd of about 50 head of cattle.

War Service

During the First World War, Harcourt served as a lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

from 1914 to 1918. He later served as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

from February 1939 until August that year, after which he was promoted to flight lieutenant.

Politics

Harcourt followed the Liberal family tradition. He stood unsuccessfully for the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

seat of

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

in 1907, as a Progressive. The

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 194 ...

swept that election however and Harcourt turned his sights towards Parliament. He first stood for Parliament without success at the Hastings by-election of 1908. However another chance soon arrived with the elevation to the peerage of

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923), was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

. Morley had been

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

since 1905 but he was given a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

to ease the burden of performing this office, so creating a vacancy in his

Montrose Burghs Montrose Burghs was a district of burghs constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until 1950. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (U ...

constituency. The by-election was held on 12 May 1908. In a three-cornered contest, Harcourt held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 1,146 over Labour, with the Unionists in third place. Harcourt held his seat at Montrose at the general elections of

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...

and December 1910. He did not contest the seat at the 1918 general election and the seat was taken for the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

Liberals by John Leng Sturrock in a straight fight against Labour. Harcourt was sometime Chairman of the Reform Union.

Dramatist

Harcourt was also a playwright. He published two three-act comedies; ''An Angel Unawares'', which was produced by Miss Fanny Brough at Terry's Theatre in 1906, and ''A Question of Age'', produced by

Harley Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directing a ...

which played at the Court Theatre in 1907. In addition while an MP he successfully agitated for the appointment of a Parliamentary inquiry into the Censorship of Plays and was a member of the Joint Committee set up to examine the issue.

Death

Harcourt died at the age of 84 years on 8 September 1962. He is buried at All Saints,

Minstead Minstead is a small village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, about north of Lyndhurst. There is a shop and a pub, the ''Trusty Servant''. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's grave is under a large tree at the back of the 13th-century A ...

near, Lyndhurst.The Times, 14 September 1962 p12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt, Robert Venables Vernon 1878 births 1962 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Members of HM Diplomatic Service Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 British dramatists and playwrights Progressive Party (London) politicians British male dramatists and playwrights Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Air Force officers 20th-century British diplomats