Violet Bonham Carter
Encyclopedia
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(15 April 1887 – 19 February 1969) was a 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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and diarist. She was the daughter 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...
, Prime Minister from 1908-1916, and later became active in 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...
politics herself, being a leading opponent of appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
, standing for Parliament and being made a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
. She was also involved in arts and literature. Her illuminating diaries cover her father's premiership before and during World War I
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...
and continue until the 1960s.
She was 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...
's closest female friend, and also the grandmother of well-known actress Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
.
Early life
She grew up in a heavily political environment, living in Downing StreetDowning Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
at the time her father occupied it, and socialised with the key political figures of her day. She did not go to school, but was educated at home by governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
es, and later sent to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
to improve her languages. Her mother, Helen Kelsall (née Melland), died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
when Violet was four. Her stepmother was Margot Asquith
Margot Asquith
Margot Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith , born Emma Alice Margaret Tennant, was an Anglo-Scottish socialite, author and wit...
.
As the Liberal Party fell on hard times in the 1920s, she became a tireless defender of her father and his reputation, beginning by campaigning for him at the 1920 Paisley by-election. She was particularly close to 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...
, a leading light in the Liberals during her father's (and Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
's) administration.
Family
Violet Bonham Carter's family was strongly intertwined with the Liberal Party. Her father is generally considered one of the most successful of British Prime Ministers, especially during the peacetime portion of his premiership (1908–1914). He was Prime Minister at the beginning of 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...
and then headed a coalition with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
beginning in 1915 until turned out as head of the coalition by fellow Liberal Lloyd George in December 1916.
As well as having an illustrious father, she married her father's Principal Private Secretary, Sir Maurice Bonham Carter, nicknamed "Bongie"
Maurice Bonham Carter
Sir Maurice Bonham Carter, KCB, KCVO was an English Liberal politician and cricketer.Bonham Carter was the second son of Sibella Charlotte and Henry Bonham Carter. He was born in London and educated at Winchester College and Balliol College, Oxford...
, in 1915. They had four children together:
- The Honourable Helen Laura Cressida, Mrs. Jasper Ridley
- The Right Honourable Mark Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham Carter of Yarnbury (who became a Liberal MP later)
- The Honourable Raymond Bonham CarterRaymond Bonham CarterThe Honourable Raymond Henry Bonham Carter was a leading British banker, and a member of a distinguished British theatrical and political family....
, father of actress Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
. - The Honourable Laura Bonham Carter, Lady Grimond (she would marry Liberal leader Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond of Firth)
Political career
Lady Violet lived in an age when women were uncommon in frontline British politics. She was nonetheless active as President of the Women's Liberal FederationWomen's Liberal Federation
The Women's Liberal Federation was an organisation which was part of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom during the 1880s.During this period women became more active in politics. The Women's Liberal Federation attempted to make the Liberal Party introduce a measure which gave women the vote...
1923 - 1925, and 1939–1945, and was President of the Liberal Party 1945- 1947. In the 1945 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
she stood for Wells
Wells (UK Parliament constituency)
Wells is a county constituency centred on the city of Wells in Somerset. It elects one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, by the first past the post voting system...
, coming third, while in 1951
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
she stood for the winnable seat of Colne Valley
Colne Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Colne Valley is a county 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. In the post-war period the seat had the distinction of being one of the few Labour/Liberal marginals,...
.
As an old friend, Churchill arranged for the Conservatives to refrain from nominating a candidate for the constituency, giving her a clear run against 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...
. She was nonetheless narrowly defeated. She continued to be a popular and charismatic speaker for Liberal candidates, including for her son-in-law Jo Grimond, her son Mark, and the then-rising star Jeremy Thorpe
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...
, and she was a frequent broadcaster on current affairs programmes on radio and television.
Perhaps her greatest contribution, however, was as a much-esteemed orator and perceptive thinker on politics and policy issues, dedicated to classic Liberal politics in the mold of her father. She spoke on many platforms throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and along with Winston Churchill (and others), she very early on perceived the dangers of European fascism. In the cause to awake Britain and the world to the fascist danger, she joined and animated a number of anti-fascist groups (e.g., The Focus Group), often in concert with Churchill, and spoke at many of their gatherings.
In the non-political sphere, she was also active in the arts, being a Governor 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...
1941-1946, and a Governor of the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
(1945–1969).
Additionally, she was an avid keeper of diaries
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
, which now form an important original source of history of early 20th century Britain and contain many perceptive character sketches, as well as insights into contemporary events. Indeed, it was Lady Violet who supplied one of the most famous — and telling — anecdotes about Winston Churchill (in a book on Churchill published in 1965, the story not apparently having been recorded in her diaries or contemporaneous letters): how Churchill during the course of an intense and deep conversation at a dinner party at which they first met, concluded a thought by saying to the effect that "Of course, we are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow worm."
In 1964, she was created Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, of Yarnbury in the County of Wiltshire, one of the first new Liberal peers in several decades. She continued to be extremely active in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
.
Her previous title, Lady Violet, was a courtesy title from her father's elevation to the peerage as Earl of Oxford and Asquith
Earl of Oxford and Asquith
Earl of Oxford and Asquith is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the Liberal politician H. H. Asquith. He was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1905 to 1908, Leader of the Liberal Party from 1908 to 1926 and Prime Minister of...
in 1925, and her husband was a knight of the realm. She and her husband were one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right.
Death
She died of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, aged 82, and was interred at Mells Church, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
.
Titles from birth
- 15 April 1887–30 November 1915: Miss Violet Asquith
- 30 November 1915–1916: Mrs Maurice Bonham Carter
- 1916–9 February 1925: Lady Bonham Carter
- 9 February 1915–1953:Lady Violet Bonham Carter
- 1953–21 December 1964: Lady Violet Bonham Carter, DBE
- 21 December 1964–19 February 1969: the Rt. Hon. The Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, DBE
Suggested reading
- "Winston Churchill As I Know Him" by Violet Bonham Carter, in Winston Spencer Churchill Servant of Crown and Commonwealth, ed Sir James Marchant, London: Cassell, 1954.
- Winston Churchill as I Knew Him, Violet Bonham Carter (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1965), published in the USA as Winston Churchill - An Intimate Portrait
- Lantern Slides - The Diaries and Letters of Violet Bonham Carter, 1904-1914, eds. Mark Bonham Carter and Mark Pottle (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996)
- Champion Redoubtable - The Diaries and Letters of Violet Bonham Carter, 1914-1945, ed. Mark Pottle (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998)
- Daring to Hope - The Diaries and Letters of Violet Bonham Carter, 1945-1969, ed. Mark Pottle (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000)
Further reading
- Lady Violet Bonham Carter, DBE, "British Democracy Today and Yesterday, the Challenge to the Individual". The Falconer Lectures, University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, 10/11 November 1953. - Violet Asquith at Spartacus schoolnet, includes quotations. Accessed June 2008
- Catalogue of the correspondence and papers of Lady Violet Bonham Carter, 1892-1969, University of Oxford, Elizabeth Turner 2003
- Lady Violet Bonham-Carter has also been cited many times in Lynne Olson's 2007 history, Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England (Farrar Strauss Giroux, Publ.)