William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford
Encyclopedia
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford PC
, PC (NI)
, DL
(23 June 1865 – 8 June 1932), known as Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt, from 1919 to 1929 and popularly known as Jix, was an English
solicitor and Conservative Party
politician, best known as a long-serving and controversial Home Secretary from 1924 to 1929, during which he gained a reputation for strict authoritarianism
.
, and his wife Harriett, daughter of William Watts. Hicks was a prosperous merchant and strict Evangelical Christian who demanded the very best from his children. William Hicks was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London
. After leaving school, he was articled to a solicitor
between 1881 and 1887, before setting up his own practice in 1888. Initially he struggled to attract clients, but Henry Hicks became associated with the London General Omnibus Company
and this connection gained his son much legal work. It also made him an early authority on transport law, particularly motoring law. He was a founder member of The Automobile Association
and served as its chairman for fifteen years. In 1894 while on holiday, he met Grace Joynson, the daughter of a Lancashire silk manufacturer. They were married the following year, Hicks subsequently adding his wife's maiden name to his own.
in the general elections of 1900
and 1906
, but was elected in a by-election
in 1908. The Ministers of the Crown Act 1908 required newly appointed Cabinet
ministers to recontest their seats, and the President of the Board of Trade Winston Churchill
was obliged to submit to re-election in Manchester North West
. As Churchill had defected from the Conservatives to the Liberals
, the Conservatives were disinclined to allow him an uncontested return. Joynson-Hicks was adopted against him and in a high profile campaign defeated Churchill. This provoked a strong reaction across the country with The Daily Telegraph
running the front page headline "Winston Churchill is OUT! OUT! OUT!" This election was notable for both the attacks of the Suffragette
movement on Churchill, over his refusal to support legislation that would give women the vote, and Jewish hostility to Joynson-Hicks over his support for the controversial Aliens Act
.
Joynson-Hicks gained personal notoriety in the immediate aftermath of this election for an address to his Jewish hosts at a dinner given by the Maccabean Society, during which he said "he had beaten them all thoroughly and soundly and was no longer their servant." Subsequent allegations that he was personally anti-Semitic have been frequently and thoroughly discussed. It has formed an important strand of the authoritarian streak that many, including recent scholars David Cesarani
and Geoffrey Alderman
, have detected in his speeches and behaviour. It also led to the nickname "Mussolini
Minor" being coined for him, something that led Cesarani to caution "Although he may have been nicknamed "Mussolini Minor", Jix was no fascist." Other work has disputed the notion that Joynson-Hicks was an anti-Semite, most notably a major article by W. D. Rubinstein
which asserted Joynson-Hicks had allowed more Jews to be naturalized than any other Home Secretary. Whether or not it was justified, the notion that Joynson-Hicks was an anti-Semite has played a large part in his portrayal as a narrow-minded and intolerant man, most obviously in the work of Ronald Blythe
.
Joynson-Hicks lost the seat in the January 1910 general election but was elected for the seat of Brentford
in 1911, switching to Twickenham
in 1918, a seat that he held until 1929. During the First World War he raised a regiment, known as the "Middlesex Footballers," and continued to speak on matters pertaining to transport, especially Air Defence. However, he was not offered a government post.
For his war work, he was created a Baronet
, of Holmbury in the County of Surrey
, in 1919.
, which changed his political fortunes. At the time, there was considerable unrest in India and a rapid growth in the Home Rule movement, something Joynson-Hicks opposed due to the great economic importance of the Indian Empire
to Britain. He at one time had commented "I know it is frequently said at missionary meetings that we conquered India to raise the level of the Indians. That is cant. We hold it as the finest outlet for British goods in general, and for Lancashire cotton goods in particular."
He emerged as a strong supporter of General Reginald Dyer
over the Amritsar Massacre, and nearly forced the resignation of the Secretary of State for India
, Edwin Montagu, over the motion of censure the government put down concerning Dyer's actions. This episode established his reputation as one of the "die-hards" on the right-wing of the party, and he emerged as a strong critic of the party's participation in a coalition
government with the Liberal David Lloyd George
.
As part of this campaign, he led an abortive attempt to block Austen Chamberlain
's nomination as leader of the Unionist party on Andrew Bonar Law's retirement, putting forward Lord Birkenhead
instead with the express aim of "splitting the coalition".
. In the fifteen-month Conservative administration of first Andrew Bonar Law and then Stanley Baldwin
, Joynson-Hicks was rapidly promoted, often filling positions left vacant by the promotion of Neville Chamberlain
. In 1923, he became Paymaster-General
then Postmaster General
. When Stanley Baldwin
became Prime Minister
, he initially also retained his previous position of Chancellor of the Exchequer
whilst searching for a permanent successor. To relieve the burden of this position, he promoted Joynson-Hicks to Financial Secretary to the Treasury
and included him in the Cabinet.
In that role, Joynson-Hicks was responsible for making the Hansard
statement, on 19 July 1923, that the Inland Revenue
would not prosecute a defaulting taxpayer who made a full confession and paid the outstanding tax, interest and penalties. Joynson-Hicks had hopes of eventually becoming Chancellor himself, but instead Neville Chamberlain was appointed to the post in August 1923. Once more, Joynson-Hicks filled the gap left by Chamberlain's promotion, serving as Minister of Health
. He became a Privy Counsellor
in 1923. Following the hung parliament
, amounting to a Unionist defeat in the general election of 1923
, Joynson-Hicks became a key figure in various intra-party attempts to oust Baldwin.
At one time, the possibility of his becoming leader himself was discussed, but it seems to have been quickly discarded. He was involved in a plot to persuade Arthur Balfour
that should the King seek his advice on who to appoint Prime Minister, Balfour would advise him to appoint Austen Chamberlain or Lord Derby
Prime Minister instead of Labour leader Ramsay MacDonald
. The plot failed when Balfour refused to countenance such a move and the Liberals publicly announced they would support MacDonald, causing the government to fall in January 1924.
". He was also heavily implicated in the banning of Radclyffe Hall's novel on a lesbian theme, The Well of Loneliness
in which he took a personal interest. During the General Strike of 1926, he was a leading organizer of the systems that maintained supplies and law and order, although there is some evidence that left to himself he would have pursued a more hawkish policy - most notably, his repeated appeals for more volunteer constables and his attempt to close down the Daily Herald.
In 1927 Joynson-Hicks turned his fire on the proposed new version of the Book of Common Prayer
. The law required Parliament to approve such revisions, normally regarded as a formality, but when the Prayer Book came before the House of Commons
Joynson-Hicks argued strongly against its adoption as he felt it strayed far from the Protestant principles of the Church of England
. The debate on the Prayer Book is regarded as one of the most eloquent ever seen in the Commons, and resulted in the rejection of the revised Prayer Book. A further revised version was submitted in 1928 but rejected again. However, the National Assembly of the Church of England then declared an emergency, and this was argued as a pretext for the use of the 1928 Prayer Book in many churches for decades afterwards.
Joynson-Hicks was also responsible for piloting the Equal Franchise Act through Parliament in 1928, which allowed women to vote on the same terms as men. He made a strong speech in support of the Bill, and was blamed for the Conservatives' unexpected electoral defeat the following year, which the right of the party attributed to newly-enfranchised young women (referred to derogatorily as "flappers") voting for the opposition Labour party. This led to the creation by Winston Churchill of the oft-repeated legend that Joynson-Hicks had committed the party to giving votes to young women with a parliamentary pledge to Lady Astor in 1925 - a claim that has entered popular mythology but has no basis in fact.
Throughout his tenure at the Home Office, Joynson-Hicks was noted for his reform of the penal system - in particular, Borstal reform and the introduction of a legal requirement for all courts to have a probation officer. He made a point of visiting all the prisons in the country, and was often dismayed by what he found there. He made a concerted effort to improve the conditions of the prisons under his jurisdiction, and earned a compliment from persistent offender and night-club owner Kate Meyrick, who noted in her memoirs that prisons had improved considerably thanks to his efforts.
The Conservatives lost power in 1929, and Joynson-Hicks was raised to the peerage as the Viscount Brentford, of Newick
in the County of Sussex
. He remained a leading figure in the Conservative Party, but due to his declining health he was not invited to join the National Government
in either August or November 1931.
Cheshire
, on 12 June 1895 in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. They had two sons and one daughter. He died in June 1932, aged 66, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard. His youngest son, the Hon. Lancelot
(who succeeded in the viscountcy in 1958), was also a Conservative politician. The Viscountess Brentford died in January 1952.
, yet he was not included in a list of long-serving Home Secretaries presented to Jack Straw
in 2001 on his departure from the Home Office. He is also virtually the only major politician of the 1920s not to have been accorded a recent biography.
For many years detailed discussion of Joynson-Hicks' life and career was hampered by the inaccessibility of his papers, which were kept by the Brentford family. This meant the discourse on his life was shaped by the official biography of 1933 by H. A. Taylor, and by material published by his contemporaries - much of it published by people who hated him. As a result, public discourse has been shaped by material that portrayed him in an unflattering light. Ronald Blythe's biographical chapter in The Age of Illusion is perhaps the apogee of this tendency. Huw Clayton, a former pupil of W. D. Rubinstein, commented that "to refer to The Age of Illusion as Irvingesque would be to overstate the case, yet I managed to get even one of Blythe’s admirers to admit that the chapter on Joynson-Hicks (where he somehow worked the word “paederast” into the debate) was an unfair caricature of the man".
In the 1990s the current Viscount loaned his grandfather's papers to an MPhil student at the University of Westminster
, Jonathon Hopkins, who prepared a catalogue of them and wrote a short biography of Joynson-Hicks as part of his thesis. In 2007, a number of these papers were deposited with the East Sussex Record Office in Lewes, where they are available to the public. Following this Clayton, whose PhD thesis concerned Joynson-Hicks' moral policies at the Home Office, has announced that he plans to write a new biography of Joynson-Hicks with the aid of these sources.
|-
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...
, PC (NI)
Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom....
, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
(23 June 1865 – 8 June 1932), known as Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt, from 1919 to 1929 and popularly known as Jix, was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
solicitor and 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...
politician, best known as a long-serving and controversial Home Secretary from 1924 to 1929, during which he gained a reputation for strict authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
.
Background and early life
Born William Hicks, he was the eldest of four sons and two daughters of Henry Hicks, of Plaistow Hall, KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, and his wife Harriett, daughter of William Watts. Hicks was a prosperous merchant and strict Evangelical Christian who demanded the very best from his children. William Hicks was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
. After leaving school, he was articled to a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
between 1881 and 1887, before setting up his own practice in 1888. Initially he struggled to attract clients, but Henry Hicks became associated with the London General Omnibus Company
London General Omnibus Company
The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer.- Overview :...
and this connection gained his son much legal work. It also made him an early authority on transport law, particularly motoring law. He was a founder member of The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
and served as its chairman for fifteen years. In 1894 while on holiday, he met Grace Joynson, the daughter of a Lancashire silk manufacturer. They were married the following year, Hicks subsequently adding his wife's maiden name to his own.
Entering Parliament
He joined the Conservative Party (at that time part of the Unionist coalition, which name it retained until 1925) and unsuccessfully contested seats in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in the general elections of 1900
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
and 1906
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, but was elected in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in 1908. The Ministers of the Crown Act 1908 required newly appointed Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
ministers to recontest their seats, and the President of the Board of Trade 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...
was obliged to submit to re-election in Manchester North West
Manchester North West (UK Parliament constituency)
Manchester North West was one of six single-member Parliamentary constituencies created in 1885 by the division of the three-member Parliamentary Borough of Manchester under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Its first MP, William Houldsworth, had previously sat for Manchester...
. As Churchill had defected from the Conservatives to the Liberals
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...
, the Conservatives were disinclined to allow him an uncontested return. Joynson-Hicks was adopted against him and in a high profile campaign defeated Churchill. This provoked a strong reaction across the country with The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
running the front page headline "Winston Churchill is OUT! OUT! OUT!" This election was notable for both the attacks of the Suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
movement on Churchill, over his refusal to support legislation that would give women the vote, and Jewish hostility to Joynson-Hicks over his support for the controversial Aliens Act
Aliens Act 1905
The Aliens Act 1905 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act for the first time introduced immigration controls and registration, and gave the Home Secretary overall responsibility for immigration and nationality matters...
.
Joynson-Hicks gained personal notoriety in the immediate aftermath of this election for an address to his Jewish hosts at a dinner given by the Maccabean Society, during which he said "he had beaten them all thoroughly and soundly and was no longer their servant." Subsequent allegations that he was personally anti-Semitic have been frequently and thoroughly discussed. It has formed an important strand of the authoritarian streak that many, including recent scholars David Cesarani
David Cesarani
David Cesarani OBE is an English historian who specialises in Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. He has also written several biographies, notably Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind.-Early life:...
and Geoffrey Alderman
Geoffrey Alderman
Geoffrey Alderman is a British historian, especially of the Jewish community in England in the 19th and 20th centuries, and also an academic, political adviser and award-winning journalist.-Life:...
, have detected in his speeches and behaviour. It also led to the nickname "Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
Minor" being coined for him, something that led Cesarani to caution "Although he may have been nicknamed "Mussolini Minor", Jix was no fascist." Other work has disputed the notion that Joynson-Hicks was an anti-Semite, most notably a major article by W. D. Rubinstein
W. D. Rubinstein
William D. Rubinstein is a historian and author. His best-known work, Men of Property: The Very Wealthy in Britain Since the Industrial Revolution, charts the rise of the 'super rich', a class he sees as expanding exponentially....
which asserted Joynson-Hicks had allowed more Jews to be naturalized than any other Home Secretary. Whether or not it was justified, the notion that Joynson-Hicks was an anti-Semite has played a large part in his portrayal as a narrow-minded and intolerant man, most obviously in the work of Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe is an English writer and editor, best known in his native England for his Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village , a portrait of agricultural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s...
.
Joynson-Hicks lost the seat in the January 1910 general election but was elected for the seat of Brentford
Brentford (UK Parliament constituency)
Brentford was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Brentford district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
in 1911, switching to Twickenham
Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency)
Twickenham 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:...
in 1918, a seat that he held until 1929. During the First World War he raised a regiment, known as the "Middlesex Footballers," and continued to speak on matters pertaining to transport, especially Air Defence. However, he was not offered a government post.
For his war work, he was created a Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, of Holmbury in the County of 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...
, in 1919.
The Lloyd George Coalition
In 1919 he went on an extended visit to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, which changed his political fortunes. At the time, there was considerable unrest in India and a rapid growth in the Home Rule movement, something Joynson-Hicks opposed due to the great economic importance of the Indian Empire
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
to Britain. He at one time had commented "I know it is frequently said at missionary meetings that we conquered India to raise the level of the Indians. That is cant. We hold it as the finest outlet for British goods in general, and for Lancashire cotton goods in particular."
He emerged as a strong supporter of General Reginald Dyer
Reginald Dyer
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer CB was a British Indian Army officer who as a temporary Brigadier-General was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar ....
over the Amritsar Massacre, and nearly forced the resignation of the Secretary of State for India
Secretary of State for India
The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...
, Edwin Montagu, over the motion of censure the government put down concerning Dyer's actions. This episode established his reputation as one of the "die-hards" on the right-wing of the party, and he emerged as a strong critic of the party's participation in a coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
government with the Liberal David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
.
As part of this campaign, he led an abortive attempt to block Austen Chamberlain
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, KG was a British statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and half-brother of Neville Chamberlain.- Early life and career :...
's nomination as leader of the Unionist party on Andrew Bonar Law's retirement, putting forward Lord Birkenhead
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
instead with the express aim of "splitting the coalition".
Entering government
When the coalition fell in October 1922 and most of its leading Unionist members refused to serve in government, Joynson-Hicks was appointed Secretary for Overseas TradeSecretary for Overseas Trade
The Secretary for Overseas Trade was a junior Ministerial position in the United Kingdom government from 1917 until 1953, subordinate to the President of the Board of Trade. The office was replaced by the Minister of State for Trade on 3 September 1953....
. In the fifteen-month Conservative administration of first Andrew Bonar Law and then Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
, Joynson-Hicks was rapidly promoted, often filling positions left vacant by the promotion of Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
. In 1923, he became Paymaster-General
Paymaster-General
HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom. The Paymaster General is in charge of the Office of HM Paymaster General , which held accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of Government departments and selected other public bodies...
then Postmaster General
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs...
. When Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
became 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...
, he initially also retained his previous position of Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
whilst searching for a permanent successor. To relieve the burden of this position, he promoted Joynson-Hicks to Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Secretary to the Treasury
In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are junior Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The...
and included him in the Cabinet.
In that role, Joynson-Hicks was responsible for making the Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...
statement, on 19 July 1923, that the Inland Revenue
Inland Revenue
The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty...
would not prosecute a defaulting taxpayer who made a full confession and paid the outstanding tax, interest and penalties. Joynson-Hicks had hopes of eventually becoming Chancellor himself, but instead Neville Chamberlain was appointed to the post in August 1923. Once more, Joynson-Hicks filled the gap left by Chamberlain's promotion, serving as Minister of Health
Secretary of State for Health
Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health.The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848 a General Board of Health was created with the First Commissioner of Woods and...
. He became a Privy Counsellor
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...
in 1923. Following the hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
, amounting to a Unionist defeat in the general election of 1923
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
, Joynson-Hicks became a key figure in various intra-party attempts to oust Baldwin.
At one time, the possibility of his becoming leader himself was discussed, but it seems to have been quickly discarded. He was involved in a plot to persuade Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
that should the King seek his advice on who to appoint Prime Minister, Balfour would advise him to appoint Austen Chamberlain or Lord Derby
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, TD, PC, KGStJ, JP , known as Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, diplomat and racehorse owner. He was twice Secretary of State for War and also served as British Ambassador to...
Prime Minister instead of Labour leader 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....
. The plot failed when Balfour refused to countenance such a move and the Liberals publicly announced they would support MacDonald, causing the government to fall in January 1924.
Home Secretary
The Conservatives returned to power in November 1924 and Joynson-Hicks was appointed to his most famous role, that of Home Secretary. In this role he was portrayed as a reactionary for his attempts to crack down on night clubs and other aspects of the "Roaring TwentiesRoaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
". He was also heavily implicated in the banning of Radclyffe Hall's novel on a lesbian theme, The Well of Loneliness
The Well of Loneliness
The Well of Loneliness is a 1928 lesbian novel by the British author Radclyffe Hall. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" is apparent from an early age...
in which he took a personal interest. During the General Strike of 1926, he was a leading organizer of the systems that maintained supplies and law and order, although there is some evidence that left to himself he would have pursued a more hawkish policy - most notably, his repeated appeals for more volunteer constables and his attempt to close down the Daily Herald.
In 1927 Joynson-Hicks turned his fire on the proposed new version of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
. The law required Parliament to approve such revisions, normally regarded as a formality, but when the Prayer Book came before the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
Joynson-Hicks argued strongly against its adoption as he felt it strayed far from the Protestant principles of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. The debate on the Prayer Book is regarded as one of the most eloquent ever seen in the Commons, and resulted in the rejection of the revised Prayer Book. A further revised version was submitted in 1928 but rejected again. However, the National Assembly of the Church of England then declared an emergency, and this was argued as a pretext for the use of the 1928 Prayer Book in many churches for decades afterwards.
Joynson-Hicks was also responsible for piloting the Equal Franchise Act through Parliament in 1928, which allowed women to vote on the same terms as men. He made a strong speech in support of the Bill, and was blamed for the Conservatives' unexpected electoral defeat the following year, which the right of the party attributed to newly-enfranchised young women (referred to derogatorily as "flappers") voting for the opposition Labour party. This led to the creation by Winston Churchill of the oft-repeated legend that Joynson-Hicks had committed the party to giving votes to young women with a parliamentary pledge to Lady Astor in 1925 - a claim that has entered popular mythology but has no basis in fact.
Throughout his tenure at the Home Office, Joynson-Hicks was noted for his reform of the penal system - in particular, Borstal reform and the introduction of a legal requirement for all courts to have a probation officer. He made a point of visiting all the prisons in the country, and was often dismayed by what he found there. He made a concerted effort to improve the conditions of the prisons under his jurisdiction, and earned a compliment from persistent offender and night-club owner Kate Meyrick, who noted in her memoirs that prisons had improved considerably thanks to his efforts.
The Conservatives lost power in 1929, and Joynson-Hicks was raised to the peerage as the Viscount Brentford, of Newick
Newick
Newick is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road six miles east of Haywards Heath....
in the County of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. He remained a leading figure in the Conservative Party, but due to his declining health he was not invited to join the National Government
UK National Government
In the United Kingdom the term National Government is an abstract concept referring to a coalition of some or all major political parties. In a historical sense it usually refers primarily to the governments of Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain which held office from 1931...
in either August or November 1931.
Family
Lord Brentford married Grace Lynn, only daughter of Richard Hampson Joynson, JP, of BowdonBowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...
Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, on 12 June 1895 in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. They had two sons and one daughter. He died in June 1932, aged 66, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard. His youngest son, the Hon. Lancelot
Lancelot Joynson-Hicks, 3rd Viscount Brentford
Lancelot William Joynson-Hicks, 3rd Viscount Brentford , known as Sir Lancelot William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Baronet from 1956 to 1958, was an English Conservative politician....
(who succeeded in the viscountcy in 1958), was also a Conservative politician. The Viscountess Brentford died in January 1952.
Subsequent reputation
Although Joynson-Hicks was Home Secretary, a notoriously difficult office to hold, for some four and a half years, he is frequently overlooked by both historians and politicians. His length of tenure was exceeded in the twentieth century only by Chuter Ede, R. A. Butler and Herbert MorrisonHerbert Morrison
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...
, yet he was not included in a list of long-serving Home Secretaries presented to Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
in 2001 on his departure from the Home Office. He is also virtually the only major politician of the 1920s not to have been accorded a recent biography.
For many years detailed discussion of Joynson-Hicks' life and career was hampered by the inaccessibility of his papers, which were kept by the Brentford family. This meant the discourse on his life was shaped by the official biography of 1933 by H. A. Taylor, and by material published by his contemporaries - much of it published by people who hated him. As a result, public discourse has been shaped by material that portrayed him in an unflattering light. Ronald Blythe's biographical chapter in The Age of Illusion is perhaps the apogee of this tendency. Huw Clayton, a former pupil of W. D. Rubinstein, commented that "to refer to The Age of Illusion as Irvingesque would be to overstate the case, yet I managed to get even one of Blythe’s admirers to admit that the chapter on Joynson-Hicks (where he somehow worked the word “paederast” into the debate) was an unfair caricature of the man".
In the 1990s the current Viscount loaned his grandfather's papers to an MPhil student at the University of Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
, Jonathon Hopkins, who prepared a catalogue of them and wrote a short biography of Joynson-Hicks as part of his thesis. In 2007, a number of these papers were deposited with the East Sussex Record Office in Lewes, where they are available to the public. Following this Clayton, whose PhD thesis concerned Joynson-Hicks' moral policies at the Home Office, has announced that he plans to write a new biography of Joynson-Hicks with the aid of these sources.
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