Shane Leslie
Encyclopedia
Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet, generally known as Shane Leslie (24 September 1885 – 14 August 1971), was an Irish
-born diplomat
and writer
. He was a first cousin of the British war time Prime Minister
Sir Winston Churchill
. In 1908, Leslie converted to Roman Catholicism and supported Irish Home Rule.
, County Monaghan
, into a wealthy Anglo-Irish
landowning family (49,968 acre
s). His father was Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet
, and his mother, Leonie Jerome, was the sister of Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie. Both were daughters of Leonard W. Jerome. His ancestor, The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Leslie
, Bishop of the Isles
, moved from Scotland
to Ireland
in 1633 when he was made Bishop of Raphoe
in County Donegal
and was subsequently made Bishop of Clogher
in 1661 The bishop was a vocal opponent of Oliver Cromwell
.
His early education began at home - a German governess, Clara Woelke, was the first teacher of Shane and his brother Norman. The children had more contact with servants than they had with their parents. His own daughter, Anita, claimed that "In my parents' view schools performed the same functions that kennels did for dogs. They were places where pets could be conveniently deposited while their owners travelled".
He was educated at Ludgrove School
, then Eton College
and King's College, Cambridge
. While at Cambridge he converted to Roman Catholicism and became a supporter of Irish Home Rule. He adopted an Anglicised Irish variant of his name ("Shane"). Not overly impressed by Eton, as a lower boy he and his roommates occupied "an old battered warren betwixt the chapel cemetery and Wise's horse yard ... [T]he food was wretched and tasteless ... As for thrashings which tyrannised rather than disciplined our house, they were excessive. Bullying was endemic and Irish boys were ridiculed, especially at St Patrick's Day."
He refused to send his own sons to Eton but they were educated at English Roman Catholic Benedictine schools: Jack at Downside
and Desmond at Ampleforth
.
he travelled extensively and in 1912 he married Marjorie Ide, the youngest daughter of Henry Clay Ide
, the United States
ambassador to Spain and Governor-General of The Philippines. His parents and other family members moved temporarily to London at the outbreak of war.
During the war he was in a British Ambulance Corps, until invalided out; he was then sent to Washington, D.C.
to help the British Ambassador, Sir Cecil Spring Rice, soften Irish-American hostility towards England and obtain American intervention in the war in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising
in Dublin and the execution of its leaders. But he also looked to Ireland for inspiration when writing and edited a literary magazine that contained much Irish verse. He became a supporter of the ideals of Irish nationalism
, although not physical force republicanism.
In the 1918 election
the Irish Parliamentary Party
lost massively to Sinn Féin
, putting an end to Shane Leslie's political career, but as the first cousin of Winston Churchill
he remained a primary witness to much that was said and done outside the official record during the negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
of 1921. Disappointed, he felt unwanted in Ireland and abandoned by the British. Like many members of the landed gentry from the 1880s who were obliged to turn to other occupations, Shane could no longer rely on income from landholdings. He wrote extensively, in a wide range of styles, in verse and prose, over several decades. In his unpublished memoirs, he wrote "a gentleman's standing in his world was signalled by his list of clubs and it was worth paying hundreds of pounds in subs".
Finding the business of running an estate uncreative and boring, Shane transferred the estate entailed to him to his eldest son, John Norman Leslie, who became the 4th Baronet. He transferred St Patrick's Purgatory on Lough Derg
to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher
, The Most Rev. Dr. Eugene O'Callaghan
. The wealth of the Leslies had waned by the 1930s following the Wall Street
crash of 1929 and a farm that was loss-making. But the Leslies continued to maintain their lifestyle, attendance at the London season and entertaining distinguished visitors, including Anthony Eden
at Glaslough. At the outbreak of World War II
in 1939 he joined the Home Guard
. He spent the remainder of his life between Glaslough and London. He was a passionate advocate of reforestation.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
dedicated his novel The Beautiful and Damned
to Leslie.
, and Leonie Blanche Jerome. He married, firstly, Marjorie Ide, daughter of General
Henry Clay Ide
, on 11 June 1912 and had two sons and one daughter:
After his wife Marjorie died on 8 February 1951, Shane Leslie (died 1971, aged 85) married, secondly, Iris Carola Laing, daughter of Charles Miskin Laing, on 30 May 1958; she died in 1995.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
-born diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
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....
. He was a first cousin of the British war time 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...
Sir Winston Churchill
Winston 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...
. In 1908, Leslie converted to Roman Catholicism and supported Irish Home Rule.
Education
He was born in GlasloughGlaslough
Glaslough is a village and townland in the north of County Monaghan, Ireland, on the R185 regional road south of the border with Northern Ireland and northeast of Monaghan Town. Glaslough won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1978. Castle Leslie, the large Victorian country house and luxury...
, County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
, into a wealthy Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
landowning family (49,968 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s). His father was Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet
Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet
Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet was an Anglo-Irish baronet.-Family:Leslie was the only son of Sir John Leslie, 1st Baronet, and Lady Constance Wilhelmina Frances Dawson-Damer...
, and his mother, Leonie Jerome, was the sister of Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie. Both were daughters of Leonard W. Jerome. His ancestor, The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Leslie
John Leslie (bishop of Clogher)
John Leslie was a combative Scottish royalist bishop of Clogher, who became known as the "fighting bishop" for his resistance to the Irish rebellion of 1641 and the parliamentarian forces.-Life:...
, Bishop of the Isles
Bishop of the Isles
The Bishop of the Isles or Bishop of Sodor was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Sodor, one of Scotland's thirteen medieval bishoprics. The bishopric, encompasing both the Hebrides and Mann, probably traces its origins as an ecclesiastical unity to the careers of Olaf, King of the Isles,...
, moved from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1633 when he was made Bishop of Raphoe
Bishop of Raphoe
The Bishop of Raphoe is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
in County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
and was subsequently made Bishop of Clogher
Bishop of Clogher
The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church.-History:Clogher is one...
in 1661 The bishop was a vocal opponent of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
His early education began at home - a German governess, Clara Woelke, was the first teacher of Shane and his brother Norman. The children had more contact with servants than they had with their parents. His own daughter, Anita, claimed that "In my parents' view schools performed the same functions that kennels did for dogs. They were places where pets could be conveniently deposited while their owners travelled".
He was educated at Ludgrove School
Ludgrove School
Ludgrove School is an independent preparatory boarding school for about 200 boys, aged from seven or eight years to thirteen. It is situated in the civil parish of Wokingham Without, adjoining the town of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...
, then Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
. While at Cambridge he converted to Roman Catholicism and became a supporter of Irish Home Rule. He adopted an Anglicised Irish variant of his name ("Shane"). Not overly impressed by Eton, as a lower boy he and his roommates occupied "an old battered warren betwixt the chapel cemetery and Wise's horse yard ... [T]he food was wretched and tasteless ... As for thrashings which tyrannised rather than disciplined our house, they were excessive. Bullying was endemic and Irish boys were ridiculed, especially at St Patrick's Day."
He refused to send his own sons to Eton but they were educated at English Roman Catholic Benedictine schools: Jack at Downside
Downside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...
and Desmond at Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about north of York. The village is situated on the edge of the North York Moors National Park...
.
Adult life
Before World War IWorld 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...
he travelled extensively and in 1912 he married Marjorie Ide, the youngest daughter of Henry Clay Ide
Henry Clay Ide
Henry Clay Ide was a U.S. judge, colonial Commissioner, ambassador, and Governor-General.- Early life, States Attorney, Senator, and Presidential Commissioner to Samoa :...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ambassador to Spain and Governor-General of The Philippines. His parents and other family members moved temporarily to London at the outbreak of war.
During the war he was in a British Ambulance Corps, until invalided out; he was then sent to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to help the British Ambassador, Sir Cecil Spring Rice, soften Irish-American hostility towards England and obtain American intervention in the war in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
in Dublin and the execution of its leaders. But he also looked to Ireland for inspiration when writing and edited a literary magazine that contained much Irish verse. He became a supporter of the ideals of Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
, although not physical force republicanism.
In the 1918 election
Irish (UK) general election, 1918
The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. It is seen as a key moment in modern Irish history...
the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
lost massively to Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
, putting an end to Shane Leslie's political career, but as the first cousin of Winston Churchill
Winston 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...
he remained a primary witness to much that was said and done outside the official record during the negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
of 1921. Disappointed, he felt unwanted in Ireland and abandoned by the British. Like many members of the landed gentry from the 1880s who were obliged to turn to other occupations, Shane could no longer rely on income from landholdings. He wrote extensively, in a wide range of styles, in verse and prose, over several decades. In his unpublished memoirs, he wrote "a gentleman's standing in his world was signalled by his list of clubs and it was worth paying hundreds of pounds in subs".
Finding the business of running an estate uncreative and boring, Shane transferred the estate entailed to him to his eldest son, John Norman Leslie, who became the 4th Baronet. He transferred St Patrick's Purgatory on Lough Derg
Lough Derg (Donegal)
Lough Derg is a small lake in County Donegal, Ireland, about seven kilometres north of the border village of Pettigoe...
to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher
Bishop of Clogher
The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church.-History:Clogher is one...
, The Most Rev. Dr. Eugene O'Callaghan
Eugene O'Callaghan
Eugene O'Callaghan was a priest in the Archdiocese of Armagh, ordained on 21 June 1913. Having served as curate in Armagh City for a period, he was then appointed as Administrator of the Cathedral parish of Armagh. He was responsible for building the parish church of St Malachy's in that city...
. The wealth of the Leslies had waned by the 1930s following the Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
crash of 1929 and a farm that was loss-making. But the Leslies continued to maintain their lifestyle, attendance at the London season and entertaining distinguished visitors, including Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
at Glaslough. At the outbreak of World War II
World 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...
in 1939 he joined the Home Guard
British Home Guard
The Home Guard was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War...
. He spent the remainder of his life between Glaslough and London. He was a passionate advocate of reforestation.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
dedicated his novel The Beautiful and Damned
The Beautiful and Damned
The Beautiful and Damned, first published by Scribner's in 1922, is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel. The novel provides a portrait of the Eastern elite during the Jazz Age, exploring New York Café Society. As with his other novels, Fitzgerald's characters are complex, especially in their...
to Leslie.
Family
He was the elder son of Sir John Leslie, 2nd BaronetLeslie Baronets
There have been four Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Leslie, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
, and Leonie Blanche Jerome. He married, firstly, Marjorie Ide, daughter of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Henry Clay Ide
Henry Clay Ide
Henry Clay Ide was a U.S. judge, colonial Commissioner, ambassador, and Governor-General.- Early life, States Attorney, Senator, and Presidential Commissioner to Samoa :...
, on 11 June 1912 and had two sons and one daughter:
- Anita Theodosia Moira Rodzianko King (21 November 1914 – 5 November 1985), novelist & biographer; was married (secondly) to Commander Bill KingWilliam King (Royal Navy officer)Commander William Donald Aelian "Bill" King, DSO & Bar, DSC , is a retired British naval officer, yachtsman and author. He was the oldest participant in the first solo non-stop around the world yacht race, the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, and is the oldest surviving World War II submarine...
, World War II submarine commander and yachtsman; had two children; friend of Hazel LaveryHazel LaveryHazel, Lady Lavery was a painter and the second wife of the celebrated portrait artist Sir John Lavery. She is remembered for having her likeness appearing on Banknotes of the Republic of Ireland for much of the 20th century.- Life :Born in Chicago, Hazel Martyn was the only daughter of Edward...
who was reputedly a paramour of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Irish leader)Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
. - Sir John Norman Ide Leslie, 4th BaronetSir John Leslie, 4th BaronetCaptain Sir John Norman Ide Leslie, 4th Baronet , is the eldest son of Sir Shane Leslie, 3rd Bt., and Marjorie Ide. He became the fourth baronet when his father died in 1971. He is popularly known as Sir Jack Leslie....
(b. 6 December 1916), popularly known as Sir Jack Leslie, never married or sired children. - Desmond Arthur Peter LeslieDesmond LeslieDesmond Arthur Peter Leslie was a British pilot, film maker, writer, and musician, of English, Irish and Scottish descent...
(29 June 1921 – 21 February 2001). One of Desmond Leslie's children or grandchildren will eventually assume the baronetcy.
After his wife Marjorie died on 8 February 1951, Shane Leslie (died 1971, aged 85) married, secondly, Iris Carola Laing, daughter of Charles Miskin Laing, on 30 May 1958; she died in 1995.
External links
- Shane Leslie papers at Georgetown U
- http://metalib.bc.edu:8080/examples/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=ead/leslie.xml&style=styles/bcead1.xsl&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes?/Register of Shane Leslie Papers 1916-1952, John J. Burns Library, Boston CollegeBoston CollegeBoston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
] - Shane Leslie naval papers at Janus (Cambridge Univ.)
- The Shane Leslie Biography Project