Joseph Pease, 1st Baron Gainford
Encyclopedia
Joseph Albert "Jack" Pease, 1st Baron Gainford PC, DL
, JP
(17 January 1860 – 15 February 1943), known as Jack Pease before 1917, was a British businessman and Liberal
politician. He was a member of H. H. Asquith
's Liberal cabinet between 1910 and 1916 and also served as Chairman of the BBC
between 1922 and 1926.
, County Durham
(a member of the Darlington Peases
), the second and youngest son of Sir Joseph Pease, 1st Baronet, of Hutton Hall, Guisborough
, and Mary, daughter of Alfred Fox. He was the younger brother of Sir Alfred Pease, 2nd Baronet, the nephew of Arthur Pease and the first cousin of Sir Arthur Pease, 1st Baronet, and Herbert Pease, 1st Baron Daryngton. He was educated at Grove House, Tottenham
, a Quaker school, and at Trinity College, Cambridge
.
of Darlington from 1889 to 1890. He was elected Member of Parliament
for Tyneside
in 1892, a seat he held until 1900, and then represented Saffron Walden
between 1901 and 1910 and Rotherham
between 1910 and 1916. He was private secretary (unpaid) to John Morley
, the Chief Secretary for Ireland
, between 1893 and 1895 and a junior opposition whip
between 1897 and 1905.
When the Liberals came to power in 1905 under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
, Pease was appointed a Junior Lord of the Treasury
(government whip). After H. H. Asquith
became Prime Minister in 1908 he was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
(Chief Whip) and sworn of the Privy Council. In 1910 he entered Asquith's cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
, a post he held until 1911, and then served under Asquith as President of the Board of Education
between 1911 and 1915 and as Postmaster-General
in 1916. In 1917 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Gainford, of Headlam in the County of Durham.
He served on the Claims Commission in France
in 1915 and between 1917 and 1920 and in Italy between 1918 and 1919 and was also a Deputy Lieutenant
of County Durham
and a Justice of the Peace
for County Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire
.
.
In 1922 he was appointed Chairman of the British Broadcasting Company Ltd
, a post he held until 1926, and was then its Vice-Chairman until 1932. From 1927 to 1928 he was President of Federation of British Industry
.
and consist of diaries, scrap books, press cuttings, correspondence, domestic papers, political papers, official papers, claims commission papers and BBC papers. The main part of the Pease diaries cover the years 1908-1915 and a volume dealing with the years 1908-1910 have been published by Cameron Hazlehurst and Christine Woodland as A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J A Pease, 1908-1910; The Historians Press, London, 1994.
, and two daughters, Miriam and Faith (who married Michael Wentworth Beaumont and was the mother of Lord Beaumont of Whitley
). Lady Gainford died in October 1941. Lord Gainford survived her by two years and died in February 1943, aged 83. He was succeeded in the barony by his son, Joseph. The family seat was Headlam Hall
, Co Durham.
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, JP
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(17 January 1860 – 15 February 1943), known as Jack Pease before 1917, was a British businessman and Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician. He was a member of H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
's Liberal cabinet between 1910 and 1916 and also served as Chairman of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
between 1922 and 1926.
Background and education
Pease was born in DarlingtonDarlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
(a member of the Darlington Peases
Pease family (Darlington)
The Pease family was a prominent English and mostly Quaker family associated with Darlington and County Durham and descended from Joseph Pease of Darlington, son of Edward Pease . They were 'one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the nineteenth century, who played a leading role in...
), the second and youngest son of Sir Joseph Pease, 1st Baronet, of Hutton Hall, Guisborough
Guisborough
Guisborough is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England....
, and Mary, daughter of Alfred Fox. He was the younger brother of Sir Alfred Pease, 2nd Baronet, the nephew of Arthur Pease and the first cousin of Sir Arthur Pease, 1st Baronet, and Herbert Pease, 1st Baron Daryngton. He was educated at Grove House, Tottenham
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
, a Quaker school, and at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
.
Political career
Pease served as MayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Darlington from 1889 to 1890. He was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Tyneside
Tyneside (UK Parliament constituency)
Tyneside was a parliamentary constituency in the Tyneside area of north-east England, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
in 1892, a seat he held until 1900, and then represented Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)
Saffron Walden is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
between 1901 and 1910 and Rotherham
Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency)
Rotherham is a borough constituency covering the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
between 1910 and 1916. He was private secretary (unpaid) to John Morley
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn OM, PC was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially a journalist, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1883...
, the Chief Secretary for Ireland
Chief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually...
, between 1893 and 1895 and a junior opposition whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
between 1897 and 1905.
When the Liberals came to power in 1905 under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery...
, Pease was appointed a Junior Lord of the Treasury
Lord of the Treasury
In the United Kingdom, there are at least six Lords of the Treasury who serve concurrently. Traditionally, this board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the Treasury, and four or more junior lords .Strictly they are commissioners for exercising the office of Lord...
(government whip). After H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
became Prime Minister in 1908 he was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial position in the British Government. The holder is usually the Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons. However, the office is no longer attached to the Treasury...
(Chief Whip) and sworn of the Privy Council. In 1910 he entered Asquith's cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
, a post he held until 1911, and then served under Asquith as President of the Board of Education
Secretary of State for Education and Skills
The Secretary of State for Education is the chief minister of the Department for Education in the United Kingdom government. The position was re-established on 12 May 2010, held by Michael Gove....
between 1911 and 1915 and as Postmaster-General
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs...
in 1916. In 1917 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Gainford, of Headlam in the County of Durham.
He served on the Claims Commission in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1915 and between 1917 and 1920 and in Italy between 1918 and 1919 and was also a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
and a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for County Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...
.
Business career
Apart from his political career Pease was Deputy Chairman of the Durham Coal Owners Association and Vice-Chairman of the Durham District Board (under the Coal Mines Act 1930), a director of Pease and Partners Ltd and other colliery companies, Chairman of Durham Coke Owners, director of the County of London Electric Supply Company Ltd, Chairman of South London Electric Supply Company, of the Tees Fishery Board, and of the Trustees of the Bowes MuseumBowes Museum
The Bowes Museum has a nationally renowned art collection and is situated in the town of Barnard Castle, Teesdale, County Durham, England.The museum contains an El Greco, paintings by Francisco Goya, Canaletto, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher and a sizable collection of decorative art,...
.
In 1922 he was appointed Chairman of the British Broadcasting Company Ltd
Board of Governors of the BBC
The Board of Governors of the BBC was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It consisted of twelve people who together regulated the BBC and represented the interests of the public. It existed from 1927 until it was replaced by the BBC Trust on 1 January 2007.The governors...
, a post he held until 1926, and was then its Vice-Chairman until 1932. From 1927 to 1928 he was President of Federation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
.
Papers
Lord Gainsford's papers are deposited in Nuffield College, OxfordNuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college and primarily a research establishment, specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. It is a research centre in the social sciences...
and consist of diaries, scrap books, press cuttings, correspondence, domestic papers, political papers, official papers, claims commission papers and BBC papers. The main part of the Pease diaries cover the years 1908-1915 and a volume dealing with the years 1908-1910 have been published by Cameron Hazlehurst and Christine Woodland as A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J A Pease, 1908-1910; The Historians Press, London, 1994.
Family
Lord Gainford married Ethel, daughter of Sir Henry Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet, in 1886. They had one son, JosephJoseph Pease, 2nd Baron Gainford
Joseph Pease, 2nd Baron Gainford was the second Baron Gainford.He was the only son of the Liberal peer Joseph Albert Pease, 1st Baron Gainford and his wife Ethel Havelock-Allan, a daughter of Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan, Bt.. He married 1921, Veronica Margaret Noble, daughter of Sir George...
, and two daughters, Miriam and Faith (who married Michael Wentworth Beaumont and was the mother of Lord Beaumont of Whitley
Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley
Timothy Wentworth Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley was a United Kingdom politician and an Anglican clergyman. He was politically active, successively, in the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party...
). Lady Gainford died in October 1941. Lord Gainford survived her by two years and died in February 1943, aged 83. He was succeeded in the barony by his son, Joseph. The family seat was Headlam Hall
Headlam Hall
Headlam Hall is a 17th century country house at The Green, Headlam, near Gainford, County Durham. It is a Grade II* listed building now in use as an hotel and country club....
, Co Durham.