Sir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet PC (28 October 1870 – 24 January 1958), the Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
, was a British Liberal
, and later Labour
, politician and landowner. He served as President of the Board of Education in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations of Ramsay MacDonald
.
), Charles was the eldest son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet
, and his wife Caroline, daughter of Robert Needham Philips
MP. He was the grandson of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
, the elder brother of R. C. Trevelyan
and G. M. Trevelyan
and the great-nephew of Lord Macaulay
. He was the great-great grandson of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet
(1735–1828). Family legend traced their ancestry to Sir Trevillian, one of King Arthur's knights, who swam ashore on horseback when Lyonesse
sank. The family kept three houses year round: Wallington Hall
, which the family had owned since 1777, Welcombe House, and a town house in Knightsbridge. The family estates comprised more than 11,000 acres. After Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles Philips decided upon a political career. Beatrice Webb
, his friend, described him as "a man who has every endowment - social position, wealth, intelligence, an independent outlook, good looks, good manners".
Member of Parliament
for Elland
, Yorkshire
, in a by-election in 1899
. He served under H. H. Asquith
as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
between 1908 and 1914. In the 1918 general election
he lost his Elland seat running as an Independent Labour Party
(ILP) candidate. At that time, the ILP was part of the Labour Party (it had in fact under its leader, Keir Hardie, been largely been responsible for the creation of the Labour Party).
He won Newcastle Central
for Labour in 1922 and held it until 1931. He was a member of Ramsay Macdonald
's Labour cabinets as President of the Board of Education
between January and November 1924 and between 1929 and 1931, when he resigned. In 1924 he was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1928 he succeeded his father as third Baronet.
In early 1939, following Stafford Cripps
and with Aneurin Bevan
among others, Trevelyan was briefly expelled from the Labour Party for persisting with support for a "popular front" (involving cooperation with the Liberal Party and Communist Party
) against the National Government.
Apart from his political career Trevelyan was also Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
between 1930 and 1949.
and the daughter of Sir Thomas Bell, 2nd Baronet
. They had six children including his first born, Sir George Trevelyan
, whom he disinherited. He passed Wallington Hall
, which he had inherited in 1928, to the National Trust
, the first such property to be owned by the Trust. He died in January 1958, aged 87.
Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Northumberland. Since 1802, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Northumberland.*Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland*Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland ?–1489...
, was a British 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...
, and later Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, politician and landowner. He served as President of the Board of Education in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations of Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
.
Background
Born into a liberal aristocratic family (see Trevelyan Baronets of Nettlecombe, 1662Trevelyan Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for members of the Trevelyan family, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
), Charles was the eldest son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet
Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet
Sir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet OM, PC was a British statesman and author. In a ministerial career stretching almost 30 years, he was most notably twice Secretary of State for Scotland under William Ewart Gladstone and the Earl of Rosebery...
, and his wife Caroline, daughter of Robert Needham Philips
Robert Needham Philips
Robert Needham Philips DL was an English merchant and manufacturer in the Lancashire textiles business, a Liberal Party politician, and the grandfather of the Whig historian G. M...
MP. He was the grandson of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India; in the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments...
, the elder brother of R. C. Trevelyan
R. C. Trevelyan
Robert Calverly Trevelyan was an English poet and translator, of a traditionalist sort, and a follower of the lapidary style of Logan Pearsall Smith.-Life:...
and G. M. Trevelyan
G. M. Trevelyan
George Macaulay Trevelyan, OM, CBE, FRS, FBA , was a British historian. Trevelyan was the third son of Sir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and great-nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose staunch liberal Whig principles he espoused in accessible works of literate narrative avoiding a...
and the great-nephew of Lord Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
. He was the great-great grandson of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet
Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet
Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet , was a British politician.The member of an ancient Cornwall family, Trevelyan sat as Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1777 to 1780 and for Somerset from 1780 to 1796. He died in April 1828, aged 93...
(1735–1828). Family legend traced their ancestry to Sir Trevillian, one of King Arthur's knights, who swam ashore on horseback when Lyonesse
Lyonesse
Lyonesse is a country in Arthurian legend, particularly in the story of Tristan and Iseult. Said to border Cornwall, it is most notable as the home of the hero Tristan, whose father was king...
sank. The family kept three houses year round: Wallington Hall
Wallington Hall
Wallington is a country house and gardens located about west of Morpeth, Northumberland, England, near the village of Cambo. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1942, after it was donated by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, the first donation of its kind...
, which the family had owned since 1777, Welcombe House, and a town house in Knightsbridge. The family estates comprised more than 11,000 acres. After Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles Philips decided upon a political career. Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
, his friend, described him as "a man who has every endowment - social position, wealth, intelligence, an independent outlook, good looks, good manners".
Political career
Trevelyan was first a Liberal and later a Labour MP. His eventual political achievements were uneven. As member of the landed gentry serving in the Labour Party, he was considered by some to be a walking anachronism. Despite this, his own privileges and gentlemanly pursuits always remained intact. Trevelyan was elected LiberalLiberal 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...
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 Elland
Elland (UK Parliament constituency)
Elland was a parliamentary constituency in the West Riding of Yorkshire that existed between 1885 and 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons, by the first-past-the-post voting system....
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, in a by-election in 1899
Elland by-election, 1899
A by-election was held for the British House of Commons in the constituency of Elland on 8 March 1899. The seat became vacant following the retirement on grounds of ill-health of the sitting Member of Parliament, Thomas Wayman...
. He served under 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...
as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education was a junior ministerial office in the United Kingdom Government. In 1899 the Board of Education Act abolished the Committee of the Privy Council which had been responsible for education matters and instituted a new Board from 1 April 1900. The...
between 1908 and 1914. In the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
he lost his Elland seat running as an Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP) candidate. At that time, the ILP was part of the Labour Party (it had in fact under its leader, Keir Hardie, been largely been responsible for the creation of the Labour Party).
He won Newcastle Central
Newcastle upon Tyne Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Newcastle upon Tyne Central is a borough 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 :...
for Labour in 1922 and held it until 1931. He was a member of Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
's Labour cabinets 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 January and November 1924 and between 1929 and 1931, when he resigned. In 1924 he was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1928 he succeeded his father as third Baronet.
In early 1939, following Stafford Cripps
Stafford Cripps
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production...
and with Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
among others, Trevelyan was briefly expelled from the Labour Party for persisting with support for a "popular front" (involving cooperation with the Liberal Party and Communist Party
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
) against the National Government.
Apart from his political career Trevelyan was also Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland
This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Northumberland. Since 1802, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Northumberland.*Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland*Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland ?–1489...
between 1930 and 1949.
Family
Trevelyan married Mary Katherine Bell, a younger half-sister of Gertrude BellGertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along...
and the daughter of Sir Thomas Bell, 2nd Baronet
Sir Thomas Bell, 2nd Baronet
Sir Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet CB JP FSA was mayor of Middlesbrough three times - in 1874, 1883 and 1911 - High Sheriff of Durham 1895, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham, Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire.His friendship with the architect Philip Webb, led to...
. They had six children including his first born, Sir George Trevelyan
Sir George Trevelyan, 4th Baronet
Sir George Lowthian Trevelyan 4th Baronet, , an educational pioneer, a founding father of the New Age movement. After listening to a lecture by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner in 1942, he turned from being agnostic to new age spiritual thinker, and even studied anthroposophy in the...
, whom he disinherited. He passed Wallington Hall
Wallington Hall
Wallington is a country house and gardens located about west of Morpeth, Northumberland, England, near the village of Cambo. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1942, after it was donated by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, the first donation of its kind...
, which he had inherited in 1928, to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, the first such property to be owned by the Trust. He died in January 1958, aged 87.