Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
Encyclopedia
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt
, PC
, (May 25, 1879 – June 9, 1964) was a Canadian
-British
business
tycoon, politician
, and writer
.
Aitken was born in Maple, Ontario
, Canada
, (near Keele Street
and Major Mackenzie Drive) in 1879, the son of a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister. The following year, his family moved to Newcastle
, New Brunswick
, Canada, which he considered to be his home town. It was here, at the age of 13, that he published his first newspaper
.
Although Aitken wrote the entrance examinations for Dalhousie University
and registered at the King's College Law School
, he did not attend either institution. His only formal higher education came when he briefly attended the University of New Brunswick
. Aitken worked for a short time as an office boy in the law office of Richard Bedford Bennett, in the town of Chatham, New Brunswick
. Bennett later became Prime Minister of Canada
and a business associate.
As a young man, Aitken made his way to Halifax
, Nova Scotia
where John F Stairs, part of the city's dominant business family, gave him employment, training him in the business of finance. In 1904, when Stairs opened his newly formed Royal Securities Corporation
, Aitken became a minority shareholder and the firm's general manager. Under the tutelage of Stairs, who would be his mentor
and friend, Aitken engineered a number of successful business deals and was planning to do a series of bank mergers; however, Stairs' unexpected early death in late September 1904 led to Aitken acquiring control of the company. Stairs had given the untested and untrained Aitken an opportunity in business, just as Aitken would later do when he hired AJ Nesbitt
, a young dry goods
salesman from Saint John, New Brunswick
. Because Montreal, Quebec was, at that time, the financial centre of Canada, Aitken would send Nesbitt to open the Montreal branch of Royal Securities.
and Mary Louise Drury (née Henderson). They had three children before her death in 1927:
In 1910 Aitken acquired many of the small regional cement plants in Eastern Canada and amalgamated them into Canada Cement. Canada was booming economically at the time and he had the monopoly
on the material. There were irregularities in the stock transfer resulting from the conglomeration of the cement plants. Aitken sold his shares, making a large amount of money. Aitken then left for England. Some say had he stayed in Canada, he would have been charged with securities fraud
.
In 1912, A. J. Nesbitt left Aitken's employ to form the Nesbitt, Thomson and Co.
stock broker
age. Aitken appointed employee Izaak Walton Killam
as the new President of Royal Securities and sold the Canadian securities company to Killam in 1919.
The year Aitken moved to England, he became Liberal Unionist
Member of Parliament
for Ashton-under-Lyne
. After the death of Charles Rolls
in 1910, Aitken bought his shares in Rolls-Royce
, and over the next two years gradually increased his holding in the company. However, Claude Johnson, Rolls-Royce's Commercial Managing Director, resisted Aitken's attempt to gain control of the company, and in October 1913 he sold his holding to J. B. Duke
, of American Tobacco Company
.
Aitken began to build a London newspaper empire. He often worked closely with Andrew Bonar Law, another native of New Brunswick, who became the only Canadian to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
. In 1911, Aitken was knighted by King George V
.
During the First World War
, the Canadian government put Aitken in charge of creating the Canadian War Records Office in London, and he made certain that news of Canada's contribution to the War was printed in Canadian and British newspapers. Aitken also established the Canadian War Memorials Fund that evolved into a collection of war art by the premier artists and sculptors in Britain and Canada. His visits to the Western Front
in the First World War, during which he held the honorary rank of Colonel
in the Canadian Army, resulted in his 1916 book Canada in Flanders, a three-volume collection that chronicled the achievements of Canadian soldiers on the battlefields. After the War, Aitken wrote several books including Politicians and the Press in 1925 and Politicians and the War in 1928.
Adding to his chain of newspapers, which included the London Evening Standard
, Aitken bought a controlling interest in the failing Daily Express
from Lawson Johnson on 14 November 1916 for £17,500; he had been lending money to the paper and its proprietors since January 1911. He always obscured this transaction because it was at the same time as the Parliamentary crisis which replaced Asquith
with Lloyd George
, in which Aitken's ally and protégé Bonar Law played a great part. Aitken's friend and biographer, A.J.P. Taylor, states that this was a mere coincidence, brought on by Johnson's eagerness to be quit of the paper.
Aitken was granted a peerage
in 1917 as the 1st Baron Beaverbrook, the name "Beaverbrook"
being adopted from a small community near his boyhood home. He had initially considered, but on the advice of Louise Manny
, rejected "Lord Miramichi" as too difficult to pronounce. The name "Beaverbrook" also had the advantage of conveying a distinctive Canadian ring to the title.
In 1918, Beaverbrook became the first Minister of Information, responsible for Allied propaganda in Allied and neutral countries. Lord Northcliffe became a Director of Propaganda and control propaganda in enemy countries. During his time in office Beaverbrook had a number of clashes with Foreign Secretary Balfour over the use of intelligence material. He felt that intelligence should become part of his department, but Balfour disagreed. Eventually the intelligence committee was assigned to Beaverbrook but they then resigned en masse to be re-employed by the Foreign office. He also came under attack from MPs who distrusted a press baron being employed by the state. Beaverbrook survived but became increasingly frustrated with his limited role and influence, and in September 1918, he resigned claiming ill health.
, the Daily Express became the largest selling newspaper in the world by far, with a circulation of 3,706,000. He would become known by some historians as the first baron of "Fleet Street
" and as one of the most powerful men in Britain whose newspapers could make or break almost anyone. In the 1930s, while personally attempting to dissuade King Edward VIII
from continuing his potentially ruinous affair with American
divorcee, Wallis Simpson, Lord Beaverbrook's newspapers published every titbit of the affair, especially allegations about pro-Nazi sympathies.
, the British Prime Minister
, appointed Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production
and later Minister of Supply
. Under Beaverbrook, fighter and bomber production increased so much so that Churchill declared: "His personal force and genius made this Aitken's finest hour". Beaverbrook's impact on war time production has been much debated but his innovative style certainly energised production at a time when it was desperately needed. However it has often been argued that aircraft production was already rising when Beaverbrook took charge and that he was fortunate to inherit a system which was just beginning to bear fruit. Still, a Time Magazine
cover story wrote, "Even if Britain goes down this fall [1940], it will not be Lord Beaverbrook's fault. If she holds out, it will be his triumph. This war is a war of machines. It will be won on the assembly line."
In addition to his ministerial role, Beaverbrook also accompanied Churchill to several wartime meetings with President Roosevelt. He was able to relate to Roosevelt in a different way to Churchill and became close to Roosevelt during these visits. This friendship sometimes irritated Churchill who felt that Beaverbrook was distracting Roosevelt from concentrating on the war effort. For his part Roosevelt seems to have enjoyed the distraction.
Later in 1941, Beaverbrook headed the British delegation to Moscow with American counterpart Averell Harriman
. This made Beaverbrook the first senior British politician to meet Soviet leader Joseph Stalin since Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. Much impressed by Stalin and the sacrifice of the Soviet people, he returned to London determined to persuade Churchill to launch a second front in Europe to help draw German resources away from the Eastern front to aid the Soviets. Churchill was not to be persuaded and this led Beaverbrook to resign as Minister of War Production in 1942. During the remainder of the war (1943–1945), he occupied the role of Lord Privy Seal
.[]
Despite this, throughout the war, Beaverbrook remained a close confidante of Churchill, and could regularly be found with Churchill until the early hours of the morning. Clement Attlee
commented that "Churchill often listened to Beaverbrook's advice but was too sensible to take it."
Beaverbrook gave his son Max
The Daily Express and The Sunday Express as a birthday present in 1931. Max Aitken Jr. became a fighter pilot with 601 Squadron, rising to Wing Commander with 16 victories.
and the Province as a whole. He would provide additions to the University, scholarship funds, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
, the Beaverbrook Skating Rink, the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel (profits donated to charity), The Playhouse
, Louise Manny
's early folklore work, and numerous other projects.
In 1957, a bronze statue of Lord Beaverbrook was erected at the centre of Officers' Square in Fredericton, New Brunswick, paid for by money raised by children throughout the province. A bust of him by Oscar Nemon
stands in the park in the town square of Newcastle, New Brunswick not far from where he sold newspapers as a young boy. His ashes are in the plinth of the bust.
Beaverbrook was both admired and despised in England, sometimes at the same time: in his 1956 autobiography, David Low quotes H.G. Wells as saying of Beaverbrook: "If ever Max ever gets to Heaven, he won't last long. He will be chucked out for trying to pull off a merger between Heaven and Hell after having secured a controlling interest in key subsidiary companies in both places, of course."
In England, Beaverbrook lived at Cherkley Court
, near Leatherhead
, Surrey
. Beaverbrook remained a widower for many years until 1963 when he married Marcia Anastasia Christoforides
(1910–1994), the widow of his friend Sir James Dunn
. Lord Beaverbrook died in Surrey in 1964, aged 85. He had recently attended a birthday banquet organised by fellow Canadian press baron Lord Thomson of Fleet, where he was determined to be seen on his usual good form, despite being riddled with painful cancer. The Beaverbrook Foundation continues his philanthropic interests.
in London and abroad. Waugh later lampoon
ed his employer by portraying him as Lord Copper in Scoop
and as Lord Monomark in both Put Out More Flags
and Vile Bodies
.
The Kinks
recorded "Mr. Churchill Says" for their 1969 album Arthur
, which contains the lines: "Mr. Beaverbrook says: 'We've gotta save our tin/And all the garden gates and empty cans are gonna make us win...'."
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
, (May 25, 1879 – June 9, 1964) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
tycoon, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Early career in Canada
Maple, Ontario
Maple is a high-growth suburban community northwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Vaughan in York Region.-Geography:The west branch of the Don River rises to the northwest and flows 1 km west of Maple. Several creeks are to the east and the Black Creek begins slightly west...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, (near Keele Street
Keele Street
Keele Street is a north-south road in Toronto and York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches 47km, running from Bloor Street in Toronto to the Holland Marsh. South of Bloor Street, the roadway is today known as Parkside Drive, but was originally part of Keele Street...
and Major Mackenzie Drive) in 1879, the son of a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister. The following year, his family moved to Newcastle
Miramichi, New Brunswick
Miramichi is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Canada, which he considered to be his home town. It was here, at the age of 13, that he published his first newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
.
Although Aitken wrote the entrance examinations for Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
and registered at the King's College Law School
University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law
The University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law is a Canadian law school which offers a bachelor of laws degree . It is located in New Brunswick's capital city, Fredericton, and is one of two law schools located in the province . The current Dean of the Faculty is Ian Peach...
, he did not attend either institution. His only formal higher education came when he briefly attended the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
. Aitken worked for a short time as an office boy in the law office of Richard Bedford Bennett, in the town of Chatham, New Brunswick
Chatham, New Brunswick
Chatham is a Canadian urban neighbourhood in the city of Miramichi, New Brunswick.Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, Chatham was an incorporated town in Northumberland County along the south bank of the Miramichi River opposite Douglastown...
. Bennett later became Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
and a business associate.
As a young man, Aitken made his way to Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
where John F Stairs, part of the city's dominant business family, gave him employment, training him in the business of finance. In 1904, when Stairs opened his newly formed Royal Securities Corporation
Royal Securities Corporation
Royal Securities Corporation Limited was a Canadian stock brokerage firm founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in early 1903 by John F. Stairs, its first president. The company was the first brokerage firm to be opened east of Montreal, Quebec, the then financial center of Canada.A prominent and...
, Aitken became a minority shareholder and the firm's general manager. Under the tutelage of Stairs, who would be his mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
and friend, Aitken engineered a number of successful business deals and was planning to do a series of bank mergers; however, Stairs' unexpected early death in late September 1904 led to Aitken acquiring control of the company. Stairs had given the untested and untrained Aitken an opportunity in business, just as Aitken would later do when he hired AJ Nesbitt
Arthur James Nesbitt
Arthur James Nesbitt was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a cofounder of Nesbitt, Thomson and Company stockbrokerage and the Power Corporation of Canada....
, a young dry goods
Good (economics and accounting)
In economics, a good is something that is intended to satisfy some wants or needs of a consumer and thus has economic utility. It is normally used in the plural form—goods—to denote tangible commodities such as products and materials....
salesman from Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
. Because Montreal, Quebec was, at that time, the financial centre of Canada, Aitken would send Nesbitt to open the Montreal branch of Royal Securities.
Family
On January 29, 1906, in Halifax, Aitken married Gladys Henderson Drury, daughter of Major-General Charles William Drury CBECBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
and Mary Louise Drury (née Henderson). They had three children before her death in 1927:
| Issue | Marriage | Issue (Grandchildren) | Issue (Great-grandchildren) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janet Gladys Aitken (1908–1988) |
Sir Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th and 4th Duke of Argyll was a Scottish Peer. He was the 11th Duke of Argyll, but is chiefly remembered for his unhappy marriage to and scandalous 1963 divorce from Margaret Whigham.-Early life:... Hon. William Montagu Major Thomas Kidd |
Lady Jeanne Campbell Jeanne Campbell Lady Jeanne Louise Campbell was a British socialite and foreign correspondent who wrote for the Evening Standard in the 1950s and 1960s.-Background:... (1928) William Montagu (1936) Jane Kidd (1943) John Kidd (1944) |
Kate Mailer Kate Mailer Kate Mailer is an American stage and film actress who is the daughter of American author-playwright Norman Mailer and third wife journalist, Lady Jeanne Campbell, eldest daughter of the 11th Duke of Argyll... (1962) Cusi Cram (1967) Jack Kidd (1973) Jemma Kidd Jemma Wellesley, Countess of Mornington Jemma Madeleine Kidd, Countess of Mornington , is an English countess, a make up artist, Cult Beauty Expert, and a fashion model.... (1974) Jodie Kidd Jodie Kidd Jodie Kidd is an English television personality and fashion model.-Early life:Jodie was a showjumper as a child and attended St Michael's School, Petworth.-Family:Jodie is the granddaughter from Hon... (1978) |
| Sir John William Maxwell Aitken Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baronet Sir John William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 2nd Baronet, DSO, DFC , formerly 2nd Baron Beaverbrook, was a British Conservative politician and press baron, the son of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook.... (1910–1985) |
Ursula Kenyon-Slaney Violet de Trafford |
Hon. Kirsty Aitken (1947) Hon. Lynda Aitken (1948) Maxwell Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook Maxwell Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook Maxwell William Humphrey Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook, is a British peer, baronet and politician.Aitken is the grandson of the 1st Baron Beaverbrook and the only son of Sir Max Aitken, by his third marriage to Violet de Trafford.... (1951) Hon. Laura Aitken (1953) |
Dominic Morley (1967) Major Sebastian Morley (1969) Eleanor Smallwood (1982) Joshua Dickson (1977) Leo Maréchal (1981) Hon. Maxwell Aitken (1977) Hon. Alexander Aitken (1978) Hon. Charlotte Aitken (1982) Hon. Sophia Aitken (1985) Sonny Mallett (1984) Lucci Levi (1993) Louis Levi (1994) |
| Peter Rudyard Aitken (1912–1947) |
Janet Macneil (md. 1934, div. 1939) Marie Patricia McGuire (md. 1942) |
Caroline Aitken (1935) Timothy Aitken (1944) Peter Aitken (1946) |
William Baker (1958) Philip Baker (1960) Jonathan Baker (1967) Theodore Aitken (1976) Charles Aitken (1979) James Aitken Jason Aitken |
Canada Cement Scandal
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on the material. There were irregularities in the stock transfer resulting from the conglomeration of the cement plants. Aitken sold his shares, making a large amount of money. Aitken then left for England. Some say had he stayed in Canada, he would have been charged with securities fraud
Securities fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws....
.
In 1912, A. J. Nesbitt left Aitken's employ to form the Nesbitt, Thomson and Co.
Nesbitt, Thomson and Company
Nesbitt Thomson and Company is a former Canadian stock brokerage firm founded in 1912 by Arthur J. Nesbitt and Peter A. T. Thomson. The company was headquartered on St. James Street in Montreal, Quebec and its success helped make the area the financial centre of Canada.In 1987, Nesbitt Thomson was...
stock broker
Stock broker
A stock broker or stockbroker is a regulated professional broker who buys and sells shares and other securities through market makers or Agency Only Firms on behalf of investors...
age. Aitken appointed employee Izaak Walton Killam
Izaak Walton Killam
Izaak Walton Killam was one of Canada's most eminent financiers.-Early life:Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Killam rose from paper boy in Yarmouth to become one of Canada's wealthiest individuals.-Business ventures:...
as the new President of Royal Securities and sold the Canadian securities company to Killam in 1919.
To England
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
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 Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashton-under-Lyne is a constituency centred on the town of Ashton-under-Lyne that is 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...
. After the death of Charles Rolls
Charles Rolls
Charles Stewart Rolls was a motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with Frederick Henry Royce he co-founded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident, when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display near Bournemouth,...
in 1910, Aitken bought his shares in Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
, and over the next two years gradually increased his holding in the company. However, Claude Johnson, Rolls-Royce's Commercial Managing Director, resisted Aitken's attempt to gain control of the company, and in October 1913 he sold his holding to J. B. Duke
James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...
, of American Tobacco Company
American Tobacco Company
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...
.
Aitken began to build a London newspaper empire. He often worked closely with Andrew Bonar Law, another native of New Brunswick, who became the only Canadian to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
. In 1911, Aitken was knighted by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
.
During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Canadian government put Aitken in charge of creating the Canadian War Records Office in London, and he made certain that news of Canada's contribution to the War was printed in Canadian and British newspapers. Aitken also established the Canadian War Memorials Fund that evolved into a collection of war art by the premier artists and sculptors in Britain and Canada. His visits to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in the First World War, during which he held the honorary rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Canadian Army, resulted in his 1916 book Canada in Flanders, a three-volume collection that chronicled the achievements of Canadian soldiers on the battlefields. After the War, Aitken wrote several books including Politicians and the Press in 1925 and Politicians and the War in 1928.
Adding to his chain of newspapers, which included the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, Aitken bought a controlling interest in the failing Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
from Lawson Johnson on 14 November 1916 for £17,500; he had been lending money to the paper and its proprietors since January 1911. He always obscured this transaction because it was at the same time as the Parliamentary crisis which replaced 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...
with Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
, in which Aitken's ally and protégé Bonar Law played a great part. Aitken's friend and biographer, A.J.P. Taylor, states that this was a mere coincidence, brought on by Johnson's eagerness to be quit of the paper.
Aitken was granted a peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
in 1917 as the 1st Baron Beaverbrook, the name "Beaverbrook"
Beaverbrook, New Brunswick
Beaver Brook Station is a Canadian rural community in Northumberland County, New Brunswick.Beaver Brook Station was created when the Intercolonial Railway was constructed through the area north of Newcastle in 1875....
being adopted from a small community near his boyhood home. He had initially considered, but on the advice of Louise Manny
Louise Manny
Louise Elizabeth Manny was a New Brunswick folklorist and historian. She was born in Gilead, Maine but her family moved to New Brunswick when she was three...
, rejected "Lord Miramichi" as too difficult to pronounce. The name "Beaverbrook" also had the advantage of conveying a distinctive Canadian ring to the title.
In 1918, Beaverbrook became the first Minister of Information, responsible for Allied propaganda in Allied and neutral countries. Lord Northcliffe became a Director of Propaganda and control propaganda in enemy countries. During his time in office Beaverbrook had a number of clashes with Foreign Secretary Balfour over the use of intelligence material. He felt that intelligence should become part of his department, but Balfour disagreed. Eventually the intelligence committee was assigned to Beaverbrook but they then resigned en masse to be re-employed by the Foreign office. He also came under attack from MPs who distrusted a press baron being employed by the state. Beaverbrook survived but became increasingly frustrated with his limited role and influence, and in September 1918, he resigned claiming ill health.
First Baron of Fleet Street
Over time, Beaverbrook turned the dull newspaper into a glittering and witty journal, filled with an array of dramatic photo layouts and in 1918, he founded the Sunday Express. By 1934, daily circulation reached 1,708,000, generating huge profits for Beaverbrook whose wealth was already such that he never took a salary. Following the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Daily Express became the largest selling newspaper in the world by far, with a circulation of 3,706,000. He would become known by some historians as the first baron of "Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
" and as one of the most powerful men in Britain whose newspapers could make or break almost anyone. In the 1930s, while personally attempting to dissuade King Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
from continuing his potentially ruinous affair with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
divorcee, Wallis Simpson, Lord Beaverbrook's newspapers published every titbit of the affair, especially allegations about pro-Nazi sympathies.
The Second World War
During the Second World War, his friend Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, the British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, appointed Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production
Minister of Aircraft Production
The Minister of Aircraft Production was the British government position in charge of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II...
and later Minister of Supply
Minister of Supply
The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the Ministry of Supply, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces...
. Under Beaverbrook, fighter and bomber production increased so much so that Churchill declared: "His personal force and genius made this Aitken's finest hour". Beaverbrook's impact on war time production has been much debated but his innovative style certainly energised production at a time when it was desperately needed. However it has often been argued that aircraft production was already rising when Beaverbrook took charge and that he was fortunate to inherit a system which was just beginning to bear fruit. Still, a Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
cover story wrote, "Even if Britain goes down this fall [1940], it will not be Lord Beaverbrook's fault. If she holds out, it will be his triumph. This war is a war of machines. It will be won on the assembly line."
In addition to his ministerial role, Beaverbrook also accompanied Churchill to several wartime meetings with President Roosevelt. He was able to relate to Roosevelt in a different way to Churchill and became close to Roosevelt during these visits. This friendship sometimes irritated Churchill who felt that Beaverbrook was distracting Roosevelt from concentrating on the war effort. For his part Roosevelt seems to have enjoyed the distraction.
Later in 1941, Beaverbrook headed the British delegation to Moscow with American counterpart Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
. This made Beaverbrook the first senior British politician to meet Soviet leader Joseph Stalin since Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. Much impressed by Stalin and the sacrifice of the Soviet people, he returned to London determined to persuade Churchill to launch a second front in Europe to help draw German resources away from the Eastern front to aid the Soviets. Churchill was not to be persuaded and this led Beaverbrook to resign as Minister of War Production in 1942. During the remainder of the war (1943–1945), he occupied the role of Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
.[]
Despite this, throughout the war, Beaverbrook remained a close confidante of Churchill, and could regularly be found with Churchill until the early hours of the morning. Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
commented that "Churchill often listened to Beaverbrook's advice but was too sensible to take it."
Beaverbrook gave his son Max
Sir Max Aitken, 2nd Baronet
Sir John William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 2nd Baronet, DSO, DFC , formerly 2nd Baron Beaverbrook, was a British Conservative politician and press baron, the son of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook....
The Daily Express and The Sunday Express as a birthday present in 1931. Max Aitken Jr. became a fighter pilot with 601 Squadron, rising to Wing Commander with 16 victories.
The benefactor
After the war, Beaverbrook served as Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick and became the university's greatest benefactor, fulfilling the same role for the city of FrederictonFredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
and the Province as a whole. He would provide additions to the University, scholarship funds, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is a small art gallery on the southwest bank of the Saint John River at the edge of the central business district of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada...
, the Beaverbrook Skating Rink, the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel (profits donated to charity), The Playhouse
The Playhouse (Fredericton)
The Fredericton Playhouse is a non-profit organization venue for hosting local talent acts and touring performers. It was originally constructed in 1964 at the behest of Lady and Lord Beaverbrook, and between the years of 1969 and 2003, the venue was home to Theatre New Brunswick...
, Louise Manny
Louise Manny
Louise Elizabeth Manny was a New Brunswick folklorist and historian. She was born in Gilead, Maine but her family moved to New Brunswick when she was three...
's early folklore work, and numerous other projects.
Oscar Nemon
Oscar Nemon was a Croatian sculptor who was born in Osijek, Croatia, but eventually settled in England. He is best known for his series of more than a dozen public statues of Sir Winston Churchill.-Biography:...
stands in the park in the town square of Newcastle, New Brunswick not far from where he sold newspapers as a young boy. His ashes are in the plinth of the bust.
Beaverbrook was both admired and despised in England, sometimes at the same time: in his 1956 autobiography, David Low quotes H.G. Wells as saying of Beaverbrook: "If ever Max ever gets to Heaven, he won't last long. He will be chucked out for trying to pull off a merger between Heaven and Hell after having secured a controlling interest in key subsidiary companies in both places, of course."
In England, Beaverbrook lived at Cherkley Court
Cherkley Court
Cherkley Court, near Leatherhead, Surrey, in England, is a late Victorian mansion and estate of 370 acres, once the home of Lord Beaverbrook.-History:...
, near Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Beaverbrook remained a widower for many years until 1963 when he married Marcia Anastasia Christoforides
Marcia Anastasia Christoforides
Marcia Anastasia Christoforides, Lady Beaverbrook was a philanthropist, an art collector, and racehorse owner.-Married to two millionaires:...
(1910–1994), the widow of his friend Sir James Dunn
James Hamet Dunn
Sir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet was a major Canadian financier and industrialist during the first half of the 20th century.-Early life:...
. Lord Beaverbrook died in Surrey in 1964, aged 85. He had recently attended a birthday banquet organised by fellow Canadian press baron Lord Thomson of Fleet, where he was determined to be seen on his usual good form, despite being riddled with painful cancer. The Beaverbrook Foundation continues his philanthropic interests.
Legacy
Beaverbrook and his wife Lady Beaverbrook have left a considerable legacy to his adopted province of New Brunswick and the United Kingdom, among others. His legacy includes the following buildings:- University of New BrunswickUniversity of New BrunswickThe University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
- Aitken House
- Aitken University Centre
- Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium
- Lady Beaverbrook Residence
- Beaverbrook House (UNBSJ E-Commerce Centre)
- City of Fredericton, New BrunswickFredericton, New BrunswickFredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
- Lady Beaverbrook Arena (formerly operated by the University of New Brunswick)
- The Beaverbrook Art GalleryBeaverbrook Art GalleryThe Beaverbrook Art Gallery is a small art gallery on the southwest bank of the Saint John River at the edge of the central business district of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada...
, including world-renowned art collection (New Brunswick's provincial gallery) - The Fredericton PlayhouseThe Playhouse (Fredericton)The Fredericton Playhouse is a non-profit organization venue for hosting local talent acts and touring performers. It was originally constructed in 1964 at the behest of Lady and Lord Beaverbrook, and between the years of 1969 and 2003, the venue was home to Theatre New Brunswick...
- Lord Beaverbrook Hotel
- Lord Beaverbrook statue in Officer's Square
- City of Miramichi, New BrunswickMiramichi, New BrunswickMiramichi is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay...
- Lord Beaverbrook Arena (LBA)
- Beaverbrook Kin Centre (formerly the Beaverbrook Theatre and Town Hall)
- Beaverbrook House (his boyhood home and formerly the Old Manse Library)
- Lord Beaverbrook bust in Queen Elizabeth Park
- Aitken Avenue
- City of Campbellton, New BrunswickCampbellton, New BrunswickCampbellton is a Canadian city in Restigouche County, New Brunswick.Situated on the south bank of the Restigouche River opposite Pointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec, Campbellton was officially incorporated in 1889 and achieved city status in 1958.Forestry and tourism are major industries in the regional...
- Lord Beaverbrook School
- City of Saint John, New BrunswickSaint John, New BrunswickCity of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
- Lord Beaverbrook Rink
- City of Calgary, Alberta
- Lord Beaverbrook High SchoolLord Beaverbrook High SchoolLord Beaverbrook High School or LBHS is a high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada founded in 1967. It is operated by the Calgary Board of Education.-Notable alumni:*Don Cairns, former National Hockey League player....
- Lord Beaverbrook High School
- McGill UniversityMcGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
- The Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications
In popular culture
For a period of time Beaverbrook employed novelist Evelyn WaughEvelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
in London and abroad. Waugh later lampoon
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
ed his employer by portraying him as Lord Copper in Scoop
Scoop (novel)
Scoop is a 1938 novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, a satire of sensationalist journalism and foreign correspondence.-Plot:William Boot, a young man who lives in genteel poverty far from the iniquities of London, is contributor of nature notes to Lord Copper's Beast, a national newspaper...
and as Lord Monomark in both Put Out More Flags
Put Out More Flags
Put Out More Flags, the sixth novel by Evelyn Waugh, was first published by Chapman and Hall in 1942. The novel is set during the first year of the Second World War, and follows the wartime activities of characters introduced in Waugh's earlier satirical novels Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies and...
and Vile Bodies
Vile Bodies
Vile Bodies is a 1930 novel by Evelyn Waugh satirising the Bright Young People: decadent young London society between World War I and World War II.-Title:The title comes from the Epistle to the Philippians 3:21...
.
The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
recorded "Mr. Churchill Says" for their 1969 album Arthur
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
Arthur is the seventh studio album by English rock band The Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; however, the television programme was...
, which contains the lines: "Mr. Beaverbrook says: 'We've gotta save our tin/And all the garden gates and empty cans are gonna make us win...'."
Published works by Lord Beaverbrook
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook.The Abdication of Edward VIII. 1966.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Canada in Flanders London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1917, First edition, 1916.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Courage, The Story of Sir James Dunn. Brunswick Press, First edition, 1961.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. The Decline and Fall of Lloyd George. Greenwood Press, 1981, First edition, 1962. ISBN 978-0313230073.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. The Divine Propagandist. 1962.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Don't Trust to Luck. London: London Express Newspaper.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Friends: Sixty years of Intimate personal relations with Richard Bedford Bennett. 1959.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Men and Power, 1917–1918. North Haven, Connecticut: The Shoe String Press, Inc, 1956.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. My Early Life. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Atlantic Advocate Book, 1962.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Politicians and the Press. 1925.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Politicians and the War, Vol. 1. London: Oldbourne, 1928.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Politicians and the War, Vol. 2. London: Oldbourne, 1932.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Spirit of the Soviet Union. London: The Pilot Press, 1942.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. The Resources of The British Empire.London: Lane Publications, 1934.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Success. Kessinger Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-0766154094. Originally published by Small, Maynard and Company, Inc, 1922.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. The Three Keys to Success. London: Hawthorn Books, 1956.
- Aitken, Max, Lord Beaverbrook. Why Didn't you Help the Finns? Are you in the Hands of the Jews? And 10 Questions, Answers. London: London Express, 1939.
External links
- Lord Beaverbrook, a Week at the Office
- National Film Board of Canada biography
- Ontario Plaques - Lord Beaverbrook
- His role as minister of Information during WW1
- The Beaverbrook Papers at the UK Parliamentary Archives
- Darryl Landy. Lord Beaverbrook genealogy. Retrieved 2 June 2009.