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{{short description|British politician (1837–1916)}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2015}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Earl St Aldwyn
| name = The Earl St Aldwyn
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| caption =
| caption =
| order1 = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| order1 = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| term_start1 = 24 June 1885
| term_start2 = 24 June 1885
| term_end1 = 28 January 1886
| term_end2 = 28 January 1886
| monarch1 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| monarch2 = Victoria
⚫
| primeminister2 = The Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor2 = [[Hugh Childers]]
| successor2 = Sir William Harcourt
⚫
| term_start1 = 29 June 1895
⚫
| term_end1 = 11 August 1902
| monarch1 = {{Ubl
⚫
| [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]
}}
| primeminister1 = [[Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| primeminister1 = [[Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| predecessor1 = [[Hugh Childers]]
| predecessor1 = [[William Harcourt (politician)|Sir William Harcourt]]
| successor1 = [[William Harcourt (politician)|Sir William Harcourt]]
| successor1 = [[Charles Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee|Charles Ritchie]]
⚫
| term_start2 = 29 June 1895
⚫
| term_end2 = 11 August 1902
⚫
| monarch2 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]] <br> [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]
⚫
| primeminister2 = [[Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| predecessor2 = [[William Harcourt (politician)|Sir William Harcourt]]
| successor2 = [[Charles Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee|Charles Ritchie]]
| order3 = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| order3 = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| term_start3 = 21 February 1888
| term_start3 = 21 February 1888
| term_end3 = 11 August 1892
| term_end3 = 11 August 1892
| monarch3 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| monarch3 = Victoria
| primeminister3 = [[Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| primeminister3 = The Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor3 = [[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|The Lord Stanley of Preston]]
| predecessor3 = [[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|The Lord Stanley of Preston]]
| successor3 = [[A. J. Mundella]]
| successor3 = [[A. J. Mundella]]
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| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| spouse = {{Ubl
⚫
| spouse = Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue <br> (1851–1940)
| {{Marriage|Caroline Susan Elwes|1864|1865|end=d}}
⚫
| {{Marriage|Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue|1874}}
}}
| children = 4, including [[Michael Hicks Beach, Viscount Quenington|Michael]]
}}
}}

'''Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn''', {{postnominals|coutnry=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|DL}} (23 October 1837 – 30 April 1916), known as '''Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt''', from 1854 to 1906 and subsequently as '''The Viscount St Aldwyn''' to 1915, was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician. Known as "Black Michael", he notably served as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] from 1885 to 1886 and again from 1895 to 1902 and also led the Conservative Party in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] from 1885 to 1886. Due to the length of his service, he was [[Father of the House]] from 1901 to 1906, when he took his peerage.
'''Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|DL}} (23 October 1837 – 30 April 1916), known as '''Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt''', from 1854 to 1906 and subsequently as '''The Viscount St Aldwyn''' to 1915, was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician. Known as "Black Michael", he was notably [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] from 1885 to 1886 and again from 1895 to 1902 and also led the Conservative Party in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] from 1885 to 1886. Due to the length of his service, he was [[Father of the House]] from 1901 to 1906, when he took his peerage.


==Background and education==
==Background and education==
Born at Portugal Street in London, Hicks Beach was the son of [[Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 8th Baronet]], of [[Beverston Castle|Beverston]], and his wife Harriett Vittoria, second daughter of John Stratton.<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 109 }}</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]], where he graduated with a first class degree in the School of Law and Modern History in 1858. In 1854 he succeeded his father as ninth Baronet.<ref name = Dod/>
Born at Portugal Street in London, Hicks Beach was the son of [[Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 8th Baronet]], of [[Beverston Castle|Beverston]], and his wife Harriett Vittoria, second daughter of John Stratton.<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 109 }}</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]],<ref name=dib>{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/beach-sir-michael-edward-hicks-a0504|title=Beach, Sir Michael Edward Hicks
|work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]|last=Quinn|first=James|access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref> where he graduated with a first class degree in the School of Law and Modern History in 1858. In 1854 he succeeded his father as ninth Baronet.<ref name = Dod/>


==Political career, 1864–1888==
==Political career, 1864–1888==
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==Political career, 1888–1902==
==Political career, 1888–1902==
[[Image:Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour; Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn; Joseph ('Joe') Chamberlain by Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.').jpg|thumb|left|300px|Michael Hicks Beach (centre) with [[Arthur Balfour]] (left) and [[Joseph Chamberlain]] (right), by [[Francis Carruthers Gould|Sir Francis Carruthers Gould]].]]
[[Image:Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour; Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn; Joseph ('Joe') Chamberlain by Sir Francis Carruthers Gould ('F.C.G.').jpg|thumb|left|300px|Michael Hicks Beach (centre) with [[Arthur Balfour]] (left) and [[Joseph Chamberlain]] (right), by [[Francis Carruthers Gould|Sir Francis Carruthers Gould]].]]
[[File:O'Hea the burning question.jpg|thumb|left|1887 cartoon of Hicks Beach ("Mickey the [[wikt:botch#Noun|Botch]]") being dragged to the [[House of Commons]] by [[Erin (personification)|Erin]].]]
From 1888 to 1892 Hicks Beach returned to active work as [[President of the Board of Trade]], and in 1895, [[George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|Goschen]] being transferred to the [[Admiralty]], he again became Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1899 he lowered the fixed charge for the National Debt from twenty-five to twenty-three million, a reduction imperatively required, apart from other reasons, by the difficulties found in redeeming [[Consols]] at their then inflated price. When compelled to find means for financing the war in South Africa, he insisted on combining the raising of loans with the imposition of fresh taxation; and besides raising the income-tax each year, he introduced taxes on sugar and exported coal (1901), and in 1902 reimposed the registration duty on corn and flour which had been abolished in 1869 by [[Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke|Lowe]]. The sale of his [[Netheravon]] estates in [[Wiltshire]] to the [[War Office]] in 1898 occasioned some acrid criticism concerning the valuation, for which, however, Sir Michael himself was not responsible. On Lord Salisbury's retirement in 1902 Hicks Beach also left the government.
From 1888 to 1892 Hicks Beach returned to active work as [[President of the Board of Trade]], and in 1895, [[George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|Goschen]] being transferred to the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]], he again became Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1899 he lowered the fixed charge for the National Debt from twenty-five to twenty-three million, a reduction imperatively required, apart from other reasons, by the difficulties found in redeeming [[Consols]] at their then inflated price. When compelled to find means for financing the war in South Africa, he insisted on combining the raising of loans with the imposition of fresh taxation; and besides raising the income-tax each year, he introduced taxes on sugar and exported coal (1901), and in 1902 reimposed the registration duty on corn and flour which had been abolished in 1869 by [[Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke|Lowe]]. The sale of his [[Netheravon]] estates in [[Wiltshire]] to the [[War Office]] in 1898 occasioned some acrid criticism concerning the valuation, for which, however, Sir Michael himself was not responsible. On Lord Salisbury's retirement in August 1902 Hicks Beach also left the government.

Following his resignation, Sir Michael and Lady Lucy Hicks Beach, with their family, visited Egypt in late 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence - Lord Kitchener in Cairo|date=29 October 1902 |page=3 |issue=36911| }}</ref>


==Other public appointments==
==Other public appointments==
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Lord St Aldwyn married firstly (6.1.1864, [[South Molton]], Devon), Caroline Susan Elwes (3 Prior Buildings, Cheltenham 4 April 1845 – 41 Portman Square, Marylebone 14 August 1865), daughter of John Henry Elwes by Mary Bromley, sister of [[Henry John Elwes]], and secondly Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue, daughter of [[Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue]], in 1874. They had one son, [[Michael Hicks Beach, Viscount Quenington|Viscount Quenington]], also a politician, and three daughters.
Lord St Aldwyn married firstly (6.1.1864, [[South Molton]], Devon), Caroline Susan Elwes (3 Prior Buildings, Cheltenham 4 April 1845 – 41 Portman Square, Marylebone 14 August 1865), daughter of John Henry Elwes by Mary Bromley, sister of [[Henry John Elwes]], and secondly Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue, daughter of [[Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue]], in 1874. They had one son, [[Michael Hicks Beach, Viscount Quenington|Viscount Quenington]], also a politician, and three daughters.


His second daughter, Susan Hicks Beach (1878-1965), was the sitter representing Britannia on the reverse of the Edward VII silver florins (two shilling pieces) issued from 1902 to 1910 and designed by [[George William de Saulles]]. She chose the single life residing with her mother for sundry years subsequent to World War II cultivating and caring for the family lands in the [[Cotswolds]].
His second daughter, [[Lady Susan Hicks Beach|Susan Hicks Beach]] (1878-1965), was the sitter representing Britannia on the reverse of the Edward VII silver florins (two shilling pieces) issued from 1902 to 1910 and designed by [[George William de Saulles]]. She resided with her mother for sundry years subsequent to World War II, cultivating and caring for the family land in the [[Cotswolds]].


Lord St Aldwyn died in April 1916, aged 78, only a week after his son was killed in action in the [[First World War]], and was succeeded in his titles by his grandson [[Michael Hicks Beach, 2nd Earl St Aldwyn|Michael]], who also became a Conservative politician. Lucy, The Countess St Aldwyn had been involved with [[Elizabeth Malleson]] in the creating of a Rural Nursing Association in the 1880s. This organisation was successful and incorporated in similar initiatives by Queen Victoria.<ref name="Horn2014">{{cite book|author=Pamela Horn|title=Ladies of the Manor: How wives & daughters really lived in country house society over a century ago|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BEdpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT130|date=3 September 2014|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-1989-7|pages=130–}}</ref> The countess died in March 1940. The coastal town of [[Beachport]] in the Australian state of South Australia was named after Lord St Aldwyn in 1878.
Lord St Aldwyn died in April 1916, aged 78, only a week after his son was killed in action in the [[First World War]], and was succeeded in his titles by his grandson [[Michael Hicks Beach, 2nd Earl St Aldwyn|Michael]], who also became a Conservative politician. Lucy, The Countess St Aldwyn had been involved with [[Elizabeth Malleson]] in the creating of a Rural Nursing Association in the 1880s. This organisation was successful and incorporated in similar initiatives by Queen Victoria.<ref name="Horn2014">{{cite book|author=Pamela Horn|title=Ladies of the Manor: How wives & daughters really lived in country house society over a century ago|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BEdpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT130|date=3 September 2014|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-1989-7|pages=130–}}</ref> The countess died in March 1940. The coastal town of [[Beachport]] in the Australian state of South Australia was named after Lord St Aldwyn in 1878.
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== External links ==
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-michael-hicks-beach | the Earl St Aldwyn }}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-michael-hicks-beach | the Earl St Aldwyn }}


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| with = [[Robert Stayner Holford]] 1864–1872
| with = [[Robert Stayner Holford]] 1864–1872
| with2 = [[John Yorke (Conservative politician)|John Yorke]] 1872–1885
| with2 = [[John Yorke (Conservative politician)|John Yorke]] 1872–1885
| years = 1864–[[United Kingdom general election, 1885|1885]] }}
| years = 1864–[[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]] }}
{{s-non| reason = Constituency abolished }}
{{s-non| reason = Constituency abolished }}


{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for [[Bristol West (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol West]]
{{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for [[Bristol West (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol West]]
| years = [[United Kingdom general election, 1885|1885]]–[[United Kingdom general election, 1906|1906]] }}
| years = [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]–[[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]] }}
{{s-aft| after = [[George Gibbs, 1st Baron Wraxall|George Gibbs]] }}
{{s-aft| after = [[George Gibbs, 1st Baron Wraxall|George Gibbs]] }}
{{succession box | before=[[William Wither Beach]] | title=[[Father of the House of Commons]] | years=1901–1906 | after=[[George Finch (1835–1907)|George Finch]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Bramston Beach (politician)|Bramston Beach]] | title=[[Father of the House of Commons]] | years=1901–1906 | after=[[George Finch (1835–1907)|George Finch]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing|George Sclater-Booth]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board]]|years= February–August 1868 }}
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{{s-aft|after=[[Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel|Arthur Peel]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel|Arthur Peel]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]]|years= August–December 1868 }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]]|years= August–December 1868 }}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne|Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne|Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen]]}}
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{{succession box | before=[[John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn|John Morley]] | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | years=1886–1887
{{succession box | before=[[John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn|John Morley]] | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | years=1886–1887
| after=[[Arthur Balfour]]}}
| after=[[Arthur Balfour]]}}
{{succession box | before= – | title=[[Minister without Portfolio]] | years=1887–1888 | after= –}}
{{succession box | before= – | title=[[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]] | years=1887–1888 | after= –}}
{{succession box | before=[[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|The Lord Stanley of Preston]] | title=[[President of the Board of Trade]] | years=1888–1892 | after=[[A. J. Mundella]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|The Lord Stanley of Preston]] | title=[[President of the Board of Trade]] | years=1888–1892 | after=[[A. J. Mundella]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[William Harcourt (politician)|Sir William Harcourt]] | title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] | years=1895–1902
{{succession box | before=[[William Harcourt (politician)|Sir William Harcourt]] | title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] | years=1895–1902
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{{s-aft|after=[[Lord Claud Hamilton (1843–1925)|Lord Claud Hamilton]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lord Claud Hamilton (1843–1925)|Lord Claud Hamilton]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Leader in the Commons]]|before=[[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh|Sir Stafford Northcote]]|after=[[Lord Randolph Churchill]]|years=1885–1886}}
{{succession box|title=[[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Leader in the Commons]]|before=[[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh|Sir Stafford Northcote]]|after=[[Lord Randolph Churchill]]|years=1885–1886}}
{{s-rel|en}}
{{succession box|title=[[Third Church Estates Commissioner]]|years=1892–1895|before=[[Sir John Mowbray]]|after=[[Charles Stuart-Wortley]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new| rows = 2 |creation}}
{{s-new| rows = 2 |creation}}
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{{Leaders of the Opposition UK}}
{{Leaders of the Opposition UK}}
{{Chancellor of the Exchequer}}
{{British Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
{{Leader of the House of Commons}}
{{Leader of the House of Commons}}
{{Presidents of the Board of Trade}}
{{Fathers of the House}}
{{Fathers of the House}}
{{First Salisbury Ministry}}
{{First Salisbury Ministry}}
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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks Beach, Michael}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Aldwyn, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:British Secretaries of State]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom|Saint Aldwyn, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl]]
[[Category:Earls St Aldwyn|1]]
[[Category:Hicks-Beach family|Michael]]
[[Category:Hicks-Beach family|Michael]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)|Saint Aldwyn, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)|Saint Aldwyn, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl]]
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[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Saint Aldwyn, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Saint Aldwyn, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1859–65]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1859–1865]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1865–68]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–74]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1874–80]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–85]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–86]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–92]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1892–95]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1895–1900]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1895–1900]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1900–06]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1900–1906]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Chief Secretaries for Ireland]]
[[Category:Chief Secretaries for Ireland]]
[[Category:Secretaries of State for the Colonies]]
[[Category:Secretaries of State for the Colonies]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Board of Trade]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Board of Trade]]
[[Category:Peers created by Edward VII]]
[[Category:Peers created by George V]]
[[Category:Church Estates Commissioners]]

Latest revision as of 07:32, 13 August 2024

The Right Honourable
The Earl St Aldwyn
Bt PC DL
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
29 June 1895 – 11 August 1902
Monarchs
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded bySir William Harcourt
Succeeded byCharles Ritchie
In office
24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byHugh Childers
Succeeded bySir William Harcourt
President of the Board of Trade
In office
21 February 1888 – 11 August 1892
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byThe Lord Stanley of Preston
Succeeded byA. J. Mundella
Personal details
Born(1837-10-23)23 October 1837
London
Died30 April 1916(1916-04-30) (aged 78)
Coln St Aldwyn, Gloucestershire
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouses
  • Caroline Susan Elwes
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1864; died 1865)​
  • Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1874)​
Children4, including Michael
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn, PC, DL (23 October 1837 – 30 April 1916), known as Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt, from 1854 to 1906 and subsequently as The Viscount St Aldwyn to 1915, was a British Conservative politician. Known as "Black Michael", he was notably Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1885 to 1886 and again from 1895 to 1902 and also led the Conservative Party in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1886. Due to the length of his service, he was Father of the House from 1901 to 1906, when he took his peerage.

Background and education

[edit]

Born at Portugal Street in London, Hicks Beach was the son of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 8th Baronet, of Beverston, and his wife Harriett Vittoria, second daughter of John Stratton.[1] He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford,[2] where he graduated with a first class degree in the School of Law and Modern History in 1858. In 1854 he succeeded his father as ninth Baronet.[1]

Political career, 1864–1888

[edit]

In 1864 he was returned to Parliament as a Conservative for East Gloucestershire.[3] During 1868 he acted both as Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board and as Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs. In 1874 he was made Chief Secretary for Ireland, and was included in the Cabinet in 1877. From 1878 to 1880 he was Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 1885 he was elected for Bristol West,[4] and became Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. After Gladstone's brief Home Rule Ministry in 1886 Hicks Beach entered Lord Salisbury's next Cabinet again as Irish Secretary, making way for Lord Randolph Churchill as Leader of the House; but troubles with his eyesight compelled him to resign in 1887.

Political career, 1888–1902

[edit]
Michael Hicks Beach (centre) with Arthur Balfour (left) and Joseph Chamberlain (right), by Sir Francis Carruthers Gould.
1887 cartoon of Hicks Beach ("Mickey the Botch") being dragged to the House of Commons by Erin.

From 1888 to 1892 Hicks Beach returned to active work as President of the Board of Trade, and in 1895, Goschen being transferred to the Admiralty, he again became Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1899 he lowered the fixed charge for the National Debt from twenty-five to twenty-three million, a reduction imperatively required, apart from other reasons, by the difficulties found in redeeming Consols at their then inflated price. When compelled to find means for financing the war in South Africa, he insisted on combining the raising of loans with the imposition of fresh taxation; and besides raising the income-tax each year, he introduced taxes on sugar and exported coal (1901), and in 1902 reimposed the registration duty on corn and flour which had been abolished in 1869 by Lowe. The sale of his Netheravon estates in Wiltshire to the War Office in 1898 occasioned some acrid criticism concerning the valuation, for which, however, Sir Michael himself was not responsible. On Lord Salisbury's retirement in August 1902 Hicks Beach also left the government.

Following his resignation, Sir Michael and Lady Lucy Hicks Beach, with their family, visited Egypt in late 1902.[5]

Other public appointments

[edit]
Memorial to Sir Michael Edward Hicks Beach in Gloucester Cathedral

He accepted the chairmanship of the Royal Commission on Ritualistic Practices in the Church, and he did valuable work as an arbitrator; and though when the fiscal controversy arose he became the first president of the Unionist Free Food League, his parliamentary loyalty to Balfour did much to prevent the Unionist free-traders from precipitating a rupture. Hicks-Beach was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Gloucestershire in 1861.[6] In 1906 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount St Aldwyn, of Coln St Aldwyn, in the County of Gloucester,[7] and in 1915 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Quenington, of Quenington, in the County of Gloucester, and Earl St Aldwyn, of Coln St Aldwyn, in the County of Gloucester.[8]

Family

[edit]
Memorial service booklet for Lord St Aldwyn and his son
Susan Elwes, aka Lady Hicks Beach.
Part of a letter from St. Aldwyn, 8 January 1915.

Lord St Aldwyn married firstly (6.1.1864, South Molton, Devon), Caroline Susan Elwes (3 Prior Buildings, Cheltenham 4 April 1845 – 41 Portman Square, Marylebone 14 August 1865), daughter of John Henry Elwes by Mary Bromley, sister of Henry John Elwes, and secondly Lady Lucy Catherine Fortescue, daughter of Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl Fortescue, in 1874. They had one son, Viscount Quenington, also a politician, and three daughters.

His second daughter, Susan Hicks Beach (1878-1965), was the sitter representing Britannia on the reverse of the Edward VII silver florins (two shilling pieces) issued from 1902 to 1910 and designed by George William de Saulles. She resided with her mother for sundry years subsequent to World War II, cultivating and caring for the family land in the Cotswolds.

Lord St Aldwyn died in April 1916, aged 78, only a week after his son was killed in action in the First World War, and was succeeded in his titles by his grandson Michael, who also became a Conservative politician. Lucy, The Countess St Aldwyn had been involved with Elizabeth Malleson in the creating of a Rural Nursing Association in the 1880s. This organisation was successful and incorporated in similar initiatives by Queen Victoria.[9] The countess died in March 1940. The coastal town of Beachport in the Australian state of South Australia was named after Lord St Aldwyn in 1878.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 109.
  2. ^ Quinn, James. "Beach, Sir Michael Edward Hicks". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
  5. ^ "Latest intelligence - Lord Kitchener in Cairo". The Times. No. 36911. London. 29 October 1902. p. 3.
  6. ^ "No. 22467". The London Gazette. 1 January 1861. p. 45.
  7. ^ "No. 27873". The London Gazette. 9 January 1906. p. 187.
  8. ^ "No. 29084". The London Gazette. 26 February 1915. p. 1975.
  9. ^ Pamela Horn (3 September 2014). Ladies of the Manor: How wives & daughters really lived in country house society over a century ago. Amberley Publishing Limited. pp. 130–. ISBN 978-1-4456-1989-7.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire East
1864–1885
With: Robert Stayner Holford 1864–1872
John Yorke 1872–1885 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Bristol West
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Peerage of the United Kingdom
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Baronetage of the United Kingdom
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