Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote
Henry Stafford Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote was a British Conservative politician who served as the third Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1904 to 1908. He was Governor of Bombay from 1900 to 1903, as well as a government minister under Lord Salisbury. Northcote was the son of 1st Earl of Iddesleigh, he was educated at Eton and Merton College and worked for the Foreign Office and as private secretary to his father. Northcote was elected to the House of Commons in 1880, served as Financial Secretary to the War Office and Surveyor-General of the Ordnance during Lord Salisbury's first and second terms as prime minister. Northcote was made Governor of Bombay in 1900, he became Governor-General of Australia in 1904, brought much needed stability to the post – his two predecessors had both resigned after less than two years in office. Northcote played a active role in politics, due to the unstable three-party system in place, he served for five years, resigning in 1908 following a falling out with Prime Minister Alfred Deakin.
Northcote was born in London, the second son of the prominent Conservative politician Sir Stafford Northcote first Earl of Iddesleigh, by his wife Cecilia Frances, daughter of Thomas Farrer and sister of Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer. He was educated at Eton and Merton College and joined the Foreign Office as a diplomat. Northcote was secretary to the British delegation negotiating the Alabama Claims between 1871 and 1873. From 1877 to 1880 he was private secretary to his father Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1880 he was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Exeter, a seat he held until 1899, he served under Lord Salisbury as Financial Secretary to the War Office between 1885 and 1886 and as Surveyor-General of the Ordnance between 1886 and 1888, when that office was abolished. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1880 and created a Baronet, of Seamore Place in the Parish of St George, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex, in 1887. On his resignation after 20 years as MP, in January 1900 he was presented with the Freedom of the City of Exeter.
Northcote was appointed Governor of Bombay in November 1899, through the influence of his father-in-law, Lord Mount Stephen. He visited Queen Victoria at Osborne and kissed hands upon his appointment in early January 1900, was raised to the peerage as Baron Northcote, of the City and County of the City of Exeter, on 22 January 1900. Lord and Lady Northcote left London in late January, arrived in Bombay the following month, where he took up the position of Governor on 17 February 1900 and was appointed a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire on the same day. Northcote was still Governor of Bombay when the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, offered him the post of Governor-General of Australia in 1903; the first two Governors-General, Lord Hopetoun and Lord Tennyson, had served shortened terms and had had difficult relations with Australian ministers. Both the British and Australian governments wanted stability and continuity, Northcote was appointed for a five-year term.
His lifelong experience in politics and his time in Bombay made him a suitable appointment. He was neither as imperious as Hopetoun nor as stuffy as Tennyson, he made a good impression with both politicians and the public; this was just as well, because Northcote was the first Australian Governor-General to have to deal with political instability. In doing this, he sought the advice of the Chief Justice of the newly created High Court of Australia, Sir Samuel Griffith. In April 1904 the Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin and was succeeded in quick succession by the Labor leader Chris Watson, the Free Trade leader George Reid and Deakin again. Both Watson and Reid asked Northcote to dissolve Parliament before their resignations, in both cases he refused. At this time no-one doubted, it is a measure of Northcote's standing. Like his predecessors, Northcote saw himself as a diplomatic representative of the British government as well a vice-regal representative, he was involved in negotiations between the British and Australian governments over contentious trade and shipping issues, although his role diminished after 1906 when the Liberal Party came to power in Britain, cutting off much of his influence in London.
In 1907 Northcote and Deakin had a falling out when the Governor-General, on instructions from London, declined to give his assent to a bill restricting appeals from the Australian courts to the Privy Council in London. Deakin, although a loyal Imperialist, believed that Australian parliaments should be sovereign in Australia, bluntly told Northcote so; this prompted Northcote to announce in February 1908. He left Australia in September, he had been made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1904 and in 1909 he was sworn of the Privy Council. Lord Northcote married Alice, adopted daughter of George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, in 1873. There were no children from the marriage. Lady Northcote was created a Companion of the Order of the Crown of India when her husband became Governor of Bombay in 1900 and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. Northcote's health declined after his return to Britain from Australia and he died in September 1911, aged 64.
The barony became extinct on his death. Lady Northcote died in June 1934. 1846-1880: Mr Henry Northcote
Iddesleigh
Iddesleigh is a village and civil parish in the county of Devon, England. The settlement is listed in the Domesday Book; the village lies on the B3217 road central in its parish of around 2,900 acres, about eight miles north of the town of Okehampton. Iddesleigh has been described as an attractive small village, with good views of Dartmoor to the south, its church is a grade I listed building and there are a number of other listed buildings in the parish. Sir Stafford Northcote owned most of the parish at one time and took the title of Earl of Iddesleigh, though he never lived here. Author Michael Morpurgo has lived here since the 1970s; the name Iddesleigh derives from the Old English personal name, Ēadwīġ, lēah, a wood or clearing. The first documentary evidence of the settlement appears in the Domesday Book, where it is referred to twice, as Edeslege and as Iweslei. By the 13th century its name was recorded in 1428 as Yeddeslegh. Domesday Book shows that in 1086 the majority of the manor of Iddesleigh was owned directly by the king, but a small part of it was held from the king by William of Claville.
The pre-conquest owner of this land is unclear: two women's names – Alware Pet and Aelfeva Thief – are recorded. The overlord is recorded as Brictric son of Algar. By the 13th century the lands had passed to the de Reigny family as part of the honour of Gloucester; the village is three miles north-east of Hatherleigh and eight miles north of Okehampton. It is in the centre of its parish, on the B3217 road that runs from Okehampton to Atherington, near the A377; the parish, which covers about 2,900 acres on the Culm Measures, has its southern border along the River Okement and its western along the River Torridge. Clockwise from the north, it is bordered by the parishes of Dowland, Broadwoodkelly, Monkokehampton and Meeth. In 2001, the population of the parish was 198, down from 335 in 1901, 441 in 1801; the landscape historian W. G. Hoskins, writing in 1953, described the village as "an excellent example of a cob and thatch village, most attractive to explore", in 1973 S. H. Burton wrote that it gave the appearance of being "thatchier" than anywhere else in Devon.
Situated on a south-facing slope, the village has good views of northern Dartmoor, including its highest point, High Willhays. The Church of St James, the parish church, is at the western edge of the village, is a grade I listed building. With 13th-century origins, but dating from the 15th century, it has wagon roofs in its nave and north aisle. A recumbent effigy of a knight with a plain shield, lying under an arch has been dated to c. 1250 and is believed to be of a squire of Iddesleigh, a member of the locally-notable Sully family. The church was rebuilt in 1720 with further work in the early 19th century, followed by restoration by Charles S. Adye in 1878–9; the listed village pub, the "Duke of York", is made of cob and thatch, is hidden from the main road being along a side street behind some terraced cottages. Its facade was used in the BBC television series Down to Earth, broadcast in 2000, it was in this pub that Michael Morpurgo says he talked to an old soldier with first-hand knowledge of the use of horses in the First World War which became the basis for his 1982 novel War Horse.
The village was used as inspiration for the Michael Morpurgo novel, Private Peaceful. Ash House, a grade II listed building in the south of the parish, was the seat of the Mallet family from 1530 to 1881, it was bought by the founders of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. There has been a settlement at Barwick, in the south-east corner of the parish, since at least the early 15th century: a document dated 1440 refers to it as Berewyke. There are two listed buildings here. Little Barwick is a late 15th-century building with 17th-century and alterations—its most notable feature is its medieval full cruck trusses, unusual in Devon. South Barwick Farmhouse dates from the first part of the 17th century. Barwick had a stud farm breeding shire horses before World War I; the "Barwick Madam" was noted in the local shire horse stud book. The Tarka Trail, a series of footpaths and cycle routes radiating from Barnstaple, passes from north to south through the parish, taking in the village; the Reverend Jack Russell, originator of the eponymous dog breed, was curate at Iddesleigh between 1830 and 1836.
In 1885, when Sir Stafford Northcote was raised to the peerage, he took the title of Earl of Iddesleigh, which was, according to W. G. Hoskins, a curious choice since his main estates were not here, he did, own some 2,000 acres of the parish. The Scottish-born poet, Seán Rafferty lived in the parish from 1948 until his death in December 1993. Rafferty was a friend of author Michael Morpurgo. In his book Private Peaceful, the village is the home of the protagonist, it is one of the main settings for the book. In 1976 Morpurgo and his wife, set up the Farms for City Children charity, based at Nethercott House in the parish. Poet Ted Hughes who lived nearby was a close friend and regular visitor to the Morpurgos and became the first president of the charity
President of the Board of Trade
The President of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th century, that evolved into a government department with a diverse range of functions; the current holder is the Secretary of State for International Trade. The idea of a Board of Trade was first translated into action by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 when he appointed his son Richard Cromwell to head a body of Lords of the Privy Council and merchants to consider measures to promote trade. Charles II established a Council of Trade on 7 November 1660 followed by a Council of Foreign Plantations on 1 December that year; the two were united on 16 September 1672 as the Board of Plantations. After the Board was re-established in 1696, there were 15 members of the Board - the 7 Great Officers of State, 8 unofficial members, who did the majority of the work; the senior unofficial member of the board was the President of the Board known as the First Lord of Trade.
The board was abolished on 11 July 1782, but a Committee of the Privy Council was established on 5 March 1784 for the same purposes. On 23 August 1786 a new Committee was set up, more focused on commercial functions than the previous boards of trade. At first the President of the Board of Trade only sat in the Cabinet, but from the early 19th century it was a cabinet-level position
Governor of Hong Kong
The Governor of Hong Kong was the representative in Hong Kong of the British Crown from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong; the governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Royal Instructions. Upon the end of British rule and the transfer of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997, most of the civil functions of this office went to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, military functions went to the Commander of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison. Authorities and duties of the governor were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions in 1843; the governor, appointed by the British monarch, exercised the executive branch of the Government of Hong Kong throughout British sovereignty and, with the exception of a brief experiment after World War II, no serious attempt was made to introduce representative government, until the final years of British rule.
The Governor of Hong Kong chaired the colonial cabinet, the Executive Council, until 1993, was the President of the Legislative Council. The governor appointed most, if not all, of the members of the colony's legislature, an advisory body until the first indirect election to LegCo was held in 1985. Both Councils were dominated by British expatriates; this was not given way to local Hong Kong Chinese appointees until only 15 years before Hong Kong was going to be returned to China. The Governors of Hong Kong were either professional diplomats or senior colonial officials, except for the last governor, Chris Patten, a career politician. In December 1996, the governor's salary was HK$3,036,000 per annum, tax-free, it was fixed at 125% of the Chief Secretary's salary. In the absence of the governor, the chief secretary became the acting governor of the colony; the chief secretaries were drawn from the Colonial Office or British military. One Royal Navy Vice Admiral served as administrator after World War II.
Four Japanese military officers served as administrators during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II. The Governor of Hong Kong used a Daimler DS420 for day to day transport and a Rolls-Royce Phantom V landaulette for ceremonial occasions. Both vehicles were removed by the Royal Navy following the handover to China on 1 July 1997; the first governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Bt. resided in the Former French Mission Building from 1843 to 1846. It was used as the home of the Provisional Government after Japanese surrender from 1945 to 1946; the building now houses the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. His successor, Sir John Davis, 1st Bt. lived there before moving to Caine Road. Since the 4th governor, Sir John Bowring, the governors resided at Government House, excluding the period from 1941 to 1946. From 1941 to 1945 the Commandant of Japanese Forces as Military Governor of Hong Kong occupied Flagstaff House as their residence; the residence was returned to the Commander of British Forces following the end of World War II.
Charles Elliot, first administrator Sir Henry Pottinger, first governor and first Irishman to serve in the role Sir John Francis Davis, first Sinologist to serve as governor Sir John Bowring, first Puritan to serve as governor Sir John Pope Hennessy, first Irish Catholic to serve as governor Sir Matthew Nathan, first Jew to serve as governor Sir Francis H. May, first police chief to serve as governor and first governor being to suffer an assassination attempt Sir Cecil Clementi, first Indian-born and Cantonese-speaking governor Sir Mark Young, first prisoner of war to serve as governor Takashi Sakai, first Japanese administrator to serve as governor Cecil Harcourt, first British military administrator to serve as governor Sir Murray MacLehose, first non-colonial officer to serve as governor.
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person, first in a line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive, by contrast, is someone, first in line to inherit a title but who can be displaced by the birth of a more eligible heir. Today these terms most describe heirs to hereditary titles or offices when only inheritable by a single person. Most monarchies refer to the heir apparent of their thrones with the descriptive term of crown prince but these heirs may be accorded with a more specific substantive title, such as Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, Duke of Brabant in Belgium, Prince of Asturias in Spain, or Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. In France the title was le Dauphin, in Imperial Russia; the term is used metaphorically to indicate an "anointed" successor to any position of power, e.g. a political or corporate leader. This article describes the term heir apparent in a hereditary system regulated by laws of primogeniture—as opposed to cases where a monarch has a say in naming the heir.
In a hereditary system governed by some form of primogeniture, an heir apparent is identifiable as the person whose position as first in the line of succession to a title or office is secure, regardless of future births. An heir presumptive, by contrast, can always be "bumped down" in the succession by the birth of somebody more related in a legal sense to the current title-holder; the clearest example occurs in the case of a holder of a hereditary title, one that can only be inherited by a single person, with no children. If at any time he were to produce children, they rank ahead of whatever more "distant" relative had been heir presumptive. Many legal systems assume childbirth is always possible regardless of health. In such circumstances a person may be, in a practical sense, the heir apparent but still speaking, heir presumptive. Indeed, when Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle King William IV, the wording of the proclamation gave as a caveat:...saving the rights of any issue of his late Majesty King William IV, which may be born of his late Majesty's consort.
This provided for the possibility that William's wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, was pregnant at the moment of his death, since such a posthumous child, regardless of its sex, would have displaced Victoria from the throne. Adelaide was 44 at the time, so pregnancy was possible if unlikely. Daughters may inherit titles that descend according to male-preference primogeniture, but only in default of sons; that is, both female and male offspring have the right to a place somewhere in the order of succession, but when it comes to what that place is, a female will rank behind her brothers regardless of their ages or her age. Thus even an only daughter will not be heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, though younger, would assume that position. Hence, she is an heir presumptive. For example, Queen Elizabeth II was heir presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son. In a system of absolute primogeniture that disregards gender, female heirs apparent occur.
As succession to titles, positions, or offices in the past most favoured males than females, females considered to be an heir apparent were rare. Absolute primogeniture was not practised by any modern monarchy for succession to their thrones until the late twentieth century with Sweden being the first to adopt absolute primogeniture in 1980 and other Western European monarchies following suit. Since the adoption of absolute primogeniture by contemporary Western European monarchies, examples of female heirs apparent include: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is heir apparent to her father, Victoria herself has a female heir apparent in her oldest child, Princess Estelle. Victoria was not heir apparent from birth, but gained the status in 1980 following a change in the Swedish Act of Succession, her younger brother Carl Philip was thus heir apparent for a few months. In 2015, pursuant to the 2011 Perth Agreement, the Commonwealth realms changed the rules of succession to the 16 thrones of Elizabeth II to absolute primogeniture, except for male heirs born before the Perth Agreement.
The effects are not to be felt for many years. But in legal systems that apply male-preference primogeniture, female heirs apparent are by no means impossible: if a male heir apparent dies leaving no sons but at least one daughter the eldest daughter would replace her father as heir apparent to whatever throne or title is concerned, but only when it has become clear that the widow of the deceased is not pregnant; as the representative of her father's line she would assume a place ahead of any more distant relatives. Such a situation has not to date occurred with the British throne.
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster; the full name of the house is the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Owing to shortage of space, its office accommodation extends into Portcullis House; the Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved; the House of Commons of England started to evolve in 14th centuries. It became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland in 1707, assumed the title of "House of Commons of Great Britain and Ireland" after the political union with Ireland at the start of the 19th century; the "United Kingdom" referred to was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1800, became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922.
Accordingly, the House of Commons assumed its current title. Under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power; the Government is responsible to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister stays in office only as long as she or he retains the confidence of a majority of the Commons. Although it does not formally elect the prime minister, the position of the parties in the House of Commons is of overriding importance. By convention, the prime minister is answerable to, must maintain the support of, the House of Commons. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the Sovereign appoints the person who has the support of the House, or, most to command the support of the House—normally the leader of the largest party in the Commons, while the leader of the second-largest party becomes the Leader of the Opposition. Since 1963, by convention, the prime minister is always a member of the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords.
The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the Government by rejecting a motion of confidence or by passing a motion of no confidence. Confidence and no confidence motions are phrased explicitly, for instance: "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government." Many other motions were until recent decades considered confidence issues though not explicitly phrased as such: in particular, important bills that were part of the Government's agenda. The annual Budget is still considered a matter of confidence; when a Government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, the prime minister is obliged either to resign, making way for another MP who can command confidence, or to request the monarch to dissolve Parliament, thereby precipitating a general election. Parliament sits for a maximum term of five years. Subject to that limit, the prime minister could choose the timing of the dissolution of parliament, with the permission of the Monarch. However, since the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011, terms are now a fixed five years, an early general election is brought about by a two-thirds majority in favour of a motion for a dissolution, or by a vote of no confidence, not followed within fourteen days by a vote of confidence.
By this second mechanism, the UK's government can change its political composition without an intervening general election. Only four of the eight last Prime Ministers have attained office as the immediate result of a general election; the latter four were Jim Callaghan, John Major, Gordon Brown and the current Prime Minister Theresa May. In such circumstances there may not have been an internal party leadership election, as the new leader may be chosen by acclaim, having no electoral rival. A prime minister will resign after party defeat at an election if unable to lead a coalition, or obtain a confidence and supply arrangement, she or he may resign after a motion of no confidence or for health reasons. In such cases, the premiership goes to, it has become the practice to write the constitution of major UK political parties to provide a set way in which to appoint a new leader. Until 1965, the Conservative Party had no fixed mechanism for this, it fell to the Queen to appoint Harold Macmillan as the new prime minister, after taking the consensus of cabinet ministers.
By convention, ministers are members of the House of House of Lords. A handful have been appointed who were outside Parliament, but in most cases they entered Parliament in a by-election or by receiving a peerage. Exceptions include Peter Mandelson, appointed Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform in October 2008 before his peerage. Since 1902, all prime ministers have been members of the Commons; the new session of Parliament was delayed to await the outcome of his by-election, which happened
Exeter (UK Parliament constituency)
Exeter is a constituency composed of the cathedral city and county town of Devon represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency has had a history of representatives from 1900 of Conservative, Liberal Party and Labour representation and has been represented since 1997 by Ben Bradshaw of the Labour Party, who served in government as a Health Minister and as Secretary of State for Culture and Sport. 1918-1950: The County Borough of Exeter. 1950-1974: As prior but with redrawn boundaries. 1974-1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries. 1983-2010: The City of Exeter. 2010-present: The City of Exeter wards of Alphington, Duryard, Heavitree, Newtown, Pinhoe, Priory, St David’s, St James, St Leonard’s, St Thomas, Whipton and Barton. The constituency covers most of the city of Exeter in Devon. Following a review of parliamentary representation in Devon by the Boundary Commission for England, which has increased the number of seats in the county from 11 to 12, two wards of the City of Exeter have been transferred to the neighbouring East Devon constituency.
Two members General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected. On the first count, St. Maur led with 4,786 votes to Duke's 4,782. On a second count, St. Maur again led with 4,782 votes to Duke's 4,778. Closer scrutiny led to the above count. General Election 1914/15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915; the political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected. Duke is appointed Lord Justice of resigns, prompting a by-election. Coleridge was appointed Solicitor General for Wales, requiring a by-election. Coleridge resigned after being appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas Follett was appointed Solicitor General of England and Wales, requiring a by-election.
Follett was appointed Attorney General of Wales, requiring a by-election. Follett's death caused a by-election. Divett's death caused a by-election. List of Parliamentary constituencies in Devon Notes References
Sir John Northcote of Hayne, 1st Baronet (d. c. 1676)[4]
Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh (1818–1887)[5]
Henry Stafford Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote (1846–1911)
