David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty
Encyclopedia
David Field Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty (22 February 1905 – 10 June 1972), known as Viscount Borodale from 1919 to 1936, was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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.
Family
Beatty was a son of Admiral of the FleetAdmiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-10. The rank still exists in the Royal Navy but routine appointments ceased in 1996....
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
and his wife Ethel, daughter of the American businessman Marshall Field
Marshall Field
Marshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Life and career:...
. He gained the courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
of Viscount Borodale in 1919 when his father was created Earl Beatty. He had one brother, Peter Beatty.
Military career
Beatty was educated at the Royal Naval CollegeBritannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
, Dartmouth and the Royal Naval College
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. In 1919 he gained the rank of Midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in the service of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1928. He would later serve in the Leicestershire Yeomanry
Leicestershire Yeomanry
The Leicestershire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the South African War and First World War and provided two field artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery in the Second World War,...
, part of the Territorial Army, and gained the rank of Lieutenant in 1933.
Political career
From 1931 to 1936 he was the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Peckham
Peckham (UK Parliament constituency)
Peckham was a borough constituency in South London which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. During his time in parliament he held the office of Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty from 1931 until 1936. He succeeded as 2nd Earl Beatty on his father's death on 11 March 1936 when he moved to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He also served as a member of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
in 1937. In 1945 he served as Under-Secretary of State for Air
Under-Secretary of State for Air
The Under-Secretary of State for Air was a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom Government, supporting the Secretary of State for Air in his role of managing the Royal Air Force....
in the Caretaker Government
Caretaker Government 1945
The Caretaker Government 1945 was a United Kingdom Ministry, which held office from 23 May 1945 until 26 July 1945, during the latter stages of the Second World War...
after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Marriages and children
Beatty was married four times, firstly to Dorothy Power who he married on the 21 April 1937. He and Dorothy Power were divorced in 1945. He married, secondly Dorothy Rita Furey on the 7 February 1946. He and Dorothy Rita Furey were divorced in 1950 having had one son David (born 1946). Between 1946 and 1950, she conducted an affair with Conservative PartyConservative 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...
leader Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
whilst he was separated from his wife.
His third wife was Adelle Dillingham who he married on the 5 July 1951 and divorced in 1958 having had one daughter Diana (born 1952), who is the wife of the 8th Viscount Gage
Nicolas Gage, 8th Viscount Gage
Henry Nicholas Gage, 8th Viscount Gage is a British viscount.He was educated at Eton, and Oxford.He opened it for public tours and exhibited his paintings in 2010....
. His fourth wife was Diane Kirk Blundell who he married on the 3 December 1959 and remained married until his death. From his fourth marriage he had a son Nicholas (born 1961) and a daughter Miranda (born 1963).