George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
Encyclopedia
George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE
, DSO
, MC
, PC
, FRS (4 April 1918 – 22 February 2007) was a British
politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman.
Jellicoe was the only son but sixth and youngest child of First World War
naval commander, commander at the Battle of Jutland
, Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
by his wife Florence Gwendoline (died 1964), second daughter of Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Baronet
of Gartmore
, Perthshire
. George Jellicoe was one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in the world, being a member of the House of Lords for 68 years (1939–2007).
, the 89th Archbishop of York
, while King George V
, (represented by Admiral Sir Stanley Colville), and Lady Patricia Ramsay (at the time she was known as HRH Princess Patricia of Connaught
) stood sponsor as two of his godparents. The others were: Miss Lilian Lear, Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey (Third Sea Lord), Mr. Eustace Burrows (cousin), Major Herbert Cayzer
(uncle), and Rev. Frederick G. G. Jellicoe (uncle, and Rector of New Alresford
).
Much of his childhood was spent at St. Lawrence Hall, near Ventnor
on the Isle of Wight
; at a Broadstairs
(Kent) prep school; in London; and in the Dominion of New Zealand
, where his father was Viceroy
as Governor-General
between 1921 and 1924. He was educated at Winchester College
, where he was styled and known as Viscount Brocas
. He won the Vere Herbert Smith history prize and secured an exhibition to Trinity College, Cambridge
(matriculated 1936. BA, Modern History tripos 1939, but awarded 1966). He was chairman of the Pitt Club
, and his tutor Steven Runciman
became a lifelong friend.
. He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards
(23 March 1940), before joining No. 8 (Guards) Commando
with whom he sailed (31 January 1941) to the Middle East with Colonel Bob Lacock's
Layforce
, (whose Commando officers included Evelyn Waugh
, Randolph Churchill
, Philip Dunne
, Carol Mather
, David Stirling
and many distinguished others). Served with L Detachment (from April 1942) (with some of the above and Stephen Hastings
) which was the nucleus of the Special Air Service
. He was mentioned in despatches thrice, and wounded (bullet in shoulder) once whilst with the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 22 (Guards) Brigade in the Western Desert in January 1941. He won the DSO in November 1942 for operating on a raid that claimed to blow up more than 20 German aircraft, (Ju 88s
), on Heraklion
airfield, Crete that June:
In September 1943, Jellicoe was sent to the Italian held island of Rhodes
to negotiate with the Italian Admiral Inigo Campioni
for the surrender of his forces to the Allies. However, Jellicoe's negotiations were pre-empted by a surprise German attack on the island on 9 September. He was able to escape from Rhodes during the resulting chaos while the Italian garrison was captured by the German invasion force. This was part of the Dodecanese Campaign
.
In 1943 he was named Commander of the Special Boat Regiment Middle East
and he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. For the remainder of the war his SBS command conducted secretive and dangerous operations along the coast of Italy and Yugoslavia. In 1944 he won the MC for one of these actions. At the end of the war Jellicoe was among the first Allied soldiers to enter German-occupied Athens
, beating the communist-controlled guerrillas ELAS to create a pro-Allied presence in the capital.
Years later, when First Lord of the Admiralty, Jellicoe told at least one reporter:The only serious military distinction I ever achieved was having a new type of assault boat named after me. It was called I am ashamed to say, the Jellicoe Inflatable Intruder Mark One.
, (appointed a Foreign Service Officer, Grade 8 in the Senior Branch of the Foreign Service, 10 September 1947). He served in London (German political department, Third Secretary); Washington
(Third Secretary, when Donald Maclean
of the Cambridge five
was Head of Chancery, and then as one of the 11 Second Secretaries with H. A. R. Philby
, seeing NATO signed on 4 April 1949, all when Sir Oliver Franks was Ambassador); transferred to Brussels
10 September 1951 (Head of Chancery) acted as Chargé d'Affaires in 1952); London (no. 2 in Northern department in charge of the Soviet Desk from September 1953); and Baghdad from January 1956 (First Secretary and Deputy Secretary General of The Baghdad Pact Organisation). The Suez Crisis
(from July 1956) wrecked everything the Pact was trying to achieve; Jellicoe was appalled by British policy and came close to resigning (L. Windmill p. 136).
Jellicoe eventually left the Foreign Office in March 1958, after marital difficulties had caused an impasse (February 1958, Permanent Secretary
Sir Derek Hoyar-Millar wrote; 'You have a choice of ceasing your relationship with this lady [Philippa Dunne] or changing your job'). He became a director of the Cayzer dynasty's Clan Line
Steamers (cargo ships), and Union Castle Steamship Co.
(passengers).
However, his mother's family's businesses were ultimately less conducive than the Palace of Westminster
, where, back from Iraq
, he took the Oath in the Lords
on 3 December 1957, in the Third Session of the 41st Parliament.
during a debate entitled "The International Situation: The Middle East". He spoke from the Cross-Benches
about the Baghdad Pact and Iraq:
By October 1958 he had joined the Conservatives, in the Lords a natural home for such a distinctly pink. Whig
, who gave him the honour of moving "an humble Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech"
On 7 May 1959, he asked a prescient starred question on the Planning of Motorways:
On 20 July 1959 he initiated a debate on Western Aid for Uncommitted Countries, and by January 1961 he was a Lord-in-Waiting
to H.M. the Queen, a Government Whip, in Macmillan's
administration. He was Joint Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Local Government June 1961–July 1962; Minister of State, Home Office July 1962–October 1963; First Lord of the Admiralty October 1963–April 1964; Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy April - October 1964; delegate to the Council of Europe
and the Western European Union (WEU) 1965-1967; president of the National Federation of Housing Societies 1965-1970; a governor of the Centre for Environmental Studies
1967-1970; chairman of the British Advisory Committee on Oil Pollution at Sea 1968; chairman of the third International Conference on oil pollution of the sea 1968; an hon. vice-president of PEST
(Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism); and deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lords 1967–1970. From April 1967 Lords Jellicoe and Carrington
represented the Conservatives in the Lords on the Inter-Party conference group on Lords' reform, which came up with the unsuccessful Parliament (No.2) Bill (1968–1969). Leading the debate for the (Conservative) Opposition in November 1968 Jellicoe said:
During the late 1960s he worked in the City of London
where he became chairman of British Reserve Insurance and a director of S G Warburg (Finance and Development) Ltd
.
administration
he was Minister in charge for the Civil Service Department (CSD), Lord Privy Seal
(as such he was eighth on the Roll of The Lords
) and Leader of the House of Lords
from 20 June 1970 until 24 May 1973 when he admitted, "some casual affairs" with call girl
s (from Mayfair Escorts) and resigned (thus ending his third career in government service) in the wake of an unfortunate accidental confusion with Lord Lambton's different issue. The name Jellicoe seems to have emerged as a result of a connection between Lambton, the madame Norma Levy, and a tenement house or community hall in Somers Town
in the London district of St. Pancras called Jellicoe Hall or House, after Basil Jellicoe (1899–1935) the housing reformer, and priest. The word Jellicoe was seen in Levy's notebook, and a connection was assumed to the Minister rather than the building; a structure named after the earl's distant cousin, and one that may have been opened by the Admiral himself in June 1928.
Having earlier re-established relations with the miners' union leaders in February 1972, Heath appointed Jellicoe "energy supremo" to restore power supplies around the time of the Three-Day Week
and had him set up and chair a Civil Contingencies Unit, which was, when an internal crisis arose, to operate through "COBRA" (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
).
In June 1972 Jellicoe was sent to lead Concorde's
first sales expedition. As Alan Trengove in My Lord, the super salesman, in the Australian The Sun of 22 June 1972 put it,
Trengove considered Sir George Edwards
and Sir Geoffrey Tuttle "equally impressive members of the sales team". (Supersonic flights were on the prototype Concorde G-BSST, certificate signed by Brian Trubshaw
, and dated 15 June 1972). Jellicoe, with the help of his very experienced Chief Whip, the second Earl St. Aldwyn
), steered the European Communities Act (1972)
through the Lords, allowing no amendments. The Industrial Relations Act was another legislative highlight. After the resignation (over his marginal involvement in a minor indiscretion) Richard Crossman
, writing in The Times, 30 May 1973 (page 18), described Jellicoe as:
On return from the Whitsun recess fulsome tributes were paid in the Lords to their departed leader: The (Labour Party) Opposition leader and Jellicoe's predecessor as Lord Privy Seal, Lord Shackleton
said:
Lord Byers for the Liberal Party added:
From the Cross-Benches Lord Strang
added:
William Kendall, general secretary of the Civil and Public Services Association
said:
In July 1973 the Diplock
Commission, which had been set up to look into the security implications of Lambton and Jellicoe's adventures, concluded its section on Jellicoe (paragraph 24): ... it was Lord Jellicoe's misfortune that his use of 'call girls' happened to come to light at the particular moment that it did, when the attention of the Press was focused on the private conduct of Ministers in connection with the entirely separate case of Lord Lambton.
(1 October 1973), and with the help of Alan Lennox-Boyd
, who was soon to retire from the board, he became a non-executive director of the sugar company Tate & Lyle
1973–1993. Thanks in the main to Sir Saxon Tate, and presumedly because he had succeeded as chairman (until June 1978) of their subsidiary Tunnel Refineries, the family made him Tate & Lyle's first non-family chairman 1978–1983. Having revived and retrenched Tate & Lyle Jellicoe became chairman of Booker Tate, 1988-91.
Other non-governmental jobs include: chairman of engineering plant company the Davy Corporation (Davy McKee) (now subsummed into Aker Kværner
) 1985–1990; director Sotheby's
Holdings 1973–1993; Morgan Crucible 1974–88; Smiths Industries Ltd
1973–1986; S. G. Warburg & Co 1964–1970, 1973–1988. He was president of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry 1979-1982. He succeeded Lord Limerick
as chairman of the Department OF Trade and Industry
's British Overseas Trade Board (BOTB) 1983-1986, for which he was knighted. That was followed by chairmanship (1986–1990) and then the presidency (1990–1995) of the East European Trade Council (EETC). He was chairman of the Greek Fund Ltd 1988-1994 (Schroders
) and of European Capital Ltd 1991-1995.
Lord Jellicoe was chairman of the council of King's College London
(KCL) 1974-1983; chairman of the Medical Research Council
(MRC) 1982-1990; a trustee of the National Aids Trust (alongside the likes of Lord Goodman
, David Puttnam
and Robert Maxwell
);
president of the Royal Geographical Society
(RGS) (and of the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) after amalgamation) 1993–1997; president of the Anglo-Hellenic League
1978–1986; president of the Kennet and Avon Canal
Trust 1987-1994; president of the UK Crete
Veterans Association 1991-2001; president of the British Heart Foundation
(BHF) 1992-1995; chancellor
of Southampton University 1984–1995, and has been closely associated with research and higher education. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990.
In 1995 he helped found Hakluyt & Company
, a strategic intelligence and advisory firm, for which he was a director 1996-2000. He was president of the SAS Regimental Association 1996–2000, when he became its patron. Jellicoe was a member of the Onassis International Prizes Committee (1983–1992); a vice-president of The European-Atlantic Group and of the Byron Society; he was on the board of the Hellenic College London; patron of the City of Southampton Society; a patron of the Greek Archaeological Committee (UK); one of five patrons of The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon; a director of The Landscape Foundation (now dormant); patron of Friends of The Royal Hospital School; patron of the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology; a member of the World Innovation Fund (WIF) and an associate member of INEED. In 2002 he became a patron of The Second World War Experience Centre in Leeds
.
Between 1963 and 1973 Jellicoe had averaged 90 House of Lords daily attendances per parliamentary session. From 1973 to 1989 his attendance plummeted to a meagre average of nine appearances per session. However, between 1990 and 2001 he turned up a conscientious average of 72 visits per session. He maintained this rate until early 2006, though Jellicoe's last full speech in the Lords was made as part of the Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech (the Queen's Speech debate) on 28 October 1996, his subject was Ukraine
.
When the House of Lords Act 1999
removed his hereditary automatic entitlement to attend and sit in the House of Lords, he was created a life peer
as Baron Jellicoe of Southampton, of Southampton
in the County of Hampshire, so that he could continue to be summoned
Earl Jellicoe remained an active member of the House of Lords for the rest of his life. He died on 22 February 2007, six weeks shy of his 89th birthday.
At his death, Earl Jellicoe was the longest-serving member of the House of Lords, and arguably the longest-serving parliamentarian in the world, having succeeded his father on 20 November 1935 and come of age and sat first in parliament on 25 July 1939. Because he waited until 28 July 1958 to make his maiden speech, a few peers (viz. Earl Ferrers
and Lords Renton
, Carrington
, Healey
, and Strabolgi) could have been considered to have been active parliamentarians longer. Moreover, at the time of his death, on the Privy Council only the Duke of Edinburgh
(1951) and Lords Carrington
(1959), Deedes
and Renton
(both 1962) had served longer.
In July 1970, as one of the first people to be breathalized
, he was banned from driving for a year and fined 75 pounds with 20 guineas costs for having consumed more than the permitted level of alcohol in Old Brompton Road at 4 a.m. on 21 March 1970. The trouble was that his new Reliant Scimitar
had a stiff gearbox, or so his story went. Luck saw to it that the case came after the General Election and the ban coincided with the arrival of his right to a full time government car.
In 2000 his friend the former UK Ambassador to Washington, Sir Nicholas Henderson
, wrote:
Lord Jellicoe married firstly, 23 March 1944, Patricia O'Kane (born 4 October 1917) by whom he had two sons and two daughters. He married secondly, in 1966, Philippa, daughter of Philip Dunne
M.C. (1904–1965), by whom he had one son and two daughters. He had eight children in total, born between 1944 and 1984. He was a member of Brooks's
(since 1940), the Special Forces
Club, the Ski Club of Great Britain
and was a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Mercers
.
Lorna Windmill's biography termed Jellicoe a British Achilles on account of two of his careers derailing as a result of women: in the 1950s for love, and in the 1970s for escorts.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, PC
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...
, FRS (4 April 1918 – 22 February 2007) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman.
Jellicoe was the only son but sixth and youngest child of First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
naval commander, commander at the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
, Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
by his wife Florence Gwendoline (died 1964), second daughter of Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles William Cayzer, 1st Baronet was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. Born in Limehouse, a maritime district of London, Cayzer was the son of Charles Cayzer, a schoolmaster, and his wife Mary Elizabeth née Nicklin. At the age of fifteen Cayzer took a position as...
of Gartmore
Gartmore
Gartmore is a village in the Stirling council area, Scotland. It is a picturesque little village with an excellent view of the Wallace Monument in Stirling, almost 25 miles away....
, Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
. George Jellicoe was one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in the world, being a member of the House of Lords for 68 years (1939–2007).
Youth
Jellicoe was born at Hatfield and was christened on 29 July 1918 by Dr Cosmo LangCosmo Lang
William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth GCVO PC was an Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury . His rapid elevation to Archbishop of York, within 18 years of his ordination, is unprecedented in modern Church of England history...
, the 89th Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
, while King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, (represented by Admiral Sir Stanley Colville), and Lady Patricia Ramsay (at the time she was known as HRH Princess Patricia of Connaught
Princess Patricia of Connaught
Princess Patricia of Connaught was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria...
) stood sponsor as two of his godparents. The others were: Miss Lilian Lear, Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey (Third Sea Lord), Mr. Eustace Burrows (cousin), Major Herbert Cayzer
Baron Rotherwick
Baron Rotherwick, of Tylney in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 June 1939 for the shipping magnate and Conservative Member of Parliament, Sir Herbert Cayzer, 1st Baronet. He had previously represented Portsmouth South in the House of...
(uncle), and Rev. Frederick G. G. Jellicoe (uncle, and Rector of New Alresford
New Alresford
New Alresford or simply Alresford is a small town and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is situated some 12 km north-east of the city of Winchester and 20 km south-west of the town of Alton...
).
Much of his childhood was spent at St. Lawrence Hall, near Ventnor
Ventnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...
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...
; at a Broadstairs
Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
(Kent) prep school; in London; and in the Dominion of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, where his father was Viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
as Governor-General
Governor-General of New Zealand
The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....
between 1921 and 1924. He was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, where he was styled and known as Viscount Brocas
Earl Jellicoe
Earl Jellicoe is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Brocas, of Southampton in the County of Southampton, on 29 June 1925 for Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe, 1st Viscount Jellicoe, on his return from being Governor-General of...
. He won the Vere Herbert Smith history prize and secured an exhibition to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
(matriculated 1936. BA, Modern History tripos 1939, but awarded 1966). He was chairman of the Pitt Club
Pitt Club
The University Pitt Club, popularly referred to as the Pitt Club, is a club, only open to male students at the University of Cambridge. In the past, most of its membership attended certain private schools, and whilst this is no longer a criterion for membership it is still largely true...
, and his tutor Steven Runciman
Steven Runciman
The Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...
became a lifelong friend.
Second World War
In October 1939 Jellicoe was a cadet in the first wartime intake at RMC SandhurstRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
. He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
(23 March 1940), before joining No. 8 (Guards) Commando
No. 8 (Guards) Commando
No. 8 Commando was a unit of the British Commandos and part of the British Army during the Second World War. The Commando was formed in June 1940 primarily from members of the Brigade of Guards. It was one of the units selected to be sent to the Middle East as part of Layforce...
with whom he sailed (31 January 1941) to the Middle East with Colonel Bob Lacock's
Robert Laycock
Major General Sir Robert Edward Laycock KCMG, CB, DSO, KStJ was a British soldier, most famous for his service with the commandos during the Second World War...
Layforce
Layforce
Layforce was an ad hoc military formation of the British Army consisting of a number of commando units during the Second World War.Formed in February 1941 under the command of Colonel Robert Laycock, after whom the force was named, it consisted of approximately 2,000 men and served in the Middle...
, (whose Commando officers included Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, Randolph Churchill
Randolph Churchill
Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill, MBE was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston from 1940 to 1945....
, Philip Dunne
Philip Russell Rendel Dunne
Captain Philip Russell Rendel Dunne, MC was an English soldier and politician.Lord of the Manor of Leinthall Earls....
, Carol Mather
Carol Mather
Sir David Carol MacDonnell Mather MC , known as Carol Mather, was a British Army officer and Conservative MP, and senior government whip....
, David Stirling
David Stirling
Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, DSO, DFC, OBE was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.-Life before the war:...
and many distinguished others). Served with L Detachment (from April 1942) (with some of the above and Stephen Hastings
Stephen Hastings
Sir Stephen Lewis Edmonstone Hastings, Kt, MC, MFH, was a war hero, former MI6 operative, Master of Foxhounds, author, painter, sculptor, and British Conservative Party politician who was elected as Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire in a 1960 by-election caused by the elevation to the...
) which was the nucleus of the Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
. He was mentioned in despatches thrice, and wounded (bullet in shoulder) once whilst with the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 22 (Guards) Brigade in the Western Desert in January 1941. He won the DSO in November 1942 for operating on a raid that claimed to blow up more than 20 German aircraft, (Ju 88s
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
), on Heraklion
Heraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
airfield, Crete that June:
- His cool and resolute leadership, skill and courage throughout this very hazardous operation were mainly responsible for the high measure of success achieved. He ... placed charges on the enemy aircraft and brought off the survivors after the four Free FrenchFree French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
members of the party had been betrayed and killed or captured (from the London GazetteLondon GazetteThe London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
, 5 November 1942, quoted from L. Almonds Windmill, page 49).
In September 1943, Jellicoe was sent to the Italian held island of Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
to negotiate with the Italian Admiral Inigo Campioni
Inigo Campioni
Inigo Campioni was an Admiral in the Italian Royal Navy during World War II.Campioni was born in Viareggio, Tuscany....
for the surrender of his forces to the Allies. However, Jellicoe's negotiations were pre-empted by a surprise German attack on the island on 9 September. He was able to escape from Rhodes during the resulting chaos while the Italian garrison was captured by the German invasion force. This was part of the Dodecanese Campaign
Dodecanese Campaign
The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...
.
In 1943 he was named Commander of the Special Boat Regiment Middle East
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
and he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. For the remainder of the war his SBS command conducted secretive and dangerous operations along the coast of Italy and Yugoslavia. In 1944 he won the MC for one of these actions. At the end of the war Jellicoe was among the first Allied soldiers to enter German-occupied Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, beating the communist-controlled guerrillas ELAS to create a pro-Allied presence in the capital.
Years later, when First Lord of the Admiralty, Jellicoe told at least one reporter:The only serious military distinction I ever achieved was having a new type of assault boat named after me. It was called I am ashamed to say, the Jellicoe Inflatable Intruder Mark One.
HM Foreign Service 1947-1958
Soon after the war Jellicoe joined His Majesty's Foreign ServiceForeign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
, (appointed a Foreign Service Officer, Grade 8 in the Senior Branch of the Foreign Service, 10 September 1947). He served in London (German political department, Third Secretary); Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(Third Secretary, when Donald Maclean
Donald Duart Maclean
Donald Duart Maclean was a British diplomat and member of the Cambridge Five who were members of MI5, MI6 or the diplomatic service who acted as spies for the Soviet Union in the Second World War and beyond. He was recruited as a "straight penetration agent" while an undergraduate at Cambridge by...
of the Cambridge five
Cambridge Five
The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies, recruited in part by Russian talent spotter Arnold Deutsch in the United Kingdom, who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and at least into the early 1950s...
was Head of Chancery, and then as one of the 11 Second Secretaries with H. A. R. Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
, seeing NATO signed on 4 April 1949, all when Sir Oliver Franks was Ambassador); transferred to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
10 September 1951 (Head of Chancery) acted as Chargé d'Affaires in 1952); London (no. 2 in Northern department in charge of the Soviet Desk from September 1953); and Baghdad from January 1956 (First Secretary and Deputy Secretary General of The Baghdad Pact Organisation). The Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
(from July 1956) wrecked everything the Pact was trying to achieve; Jellicoe was appalled by British policy and came close to resigning (L. Windmill p. 136).
Jellicoe eventually left the Foreign Office in March 1958, after marital difficulties had caused an impasse (February 1958, Permanent Secretary
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
Sir Derek Hoyar-Millar wrote; 'You have a choice of ceasing your relationship with this lady [Philippa Dunne] or changing your job'). He became a director of the Cayzer dynasty's Clan Line
Clan Line
The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.-Foundation and early years:...
Steamers (cargo ships), and Union Castle Steamship Co.
Union-Castle Line
The Union-Castle Line was a prominent British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line...
(passengers).
However, his mother's family's businesses were ultimately less conducive than the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, where, back from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, he took the Oath in the 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....
on 3 December 1957, in the Third Session of the 41st Parliament.
House of Lords and 1960s
Having first sat in parliament on 25 July 1939, Jellicoe waited until 28 July 1958 to make his maiden speech in the House of LordsHouse 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....
during a debate entitled "The International Situation: The Middle East". He spoke from the Cross-Benches
Cross-bencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and Australian Senate. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber; compare...
about the Baghdad Pact and Iraq:
- ... Having lately lived for a year or so in BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
I confess that I have not been untouched by the charm of that ugly yet fascinating city, and, if I may say so, of the diverse peoples of Iraq... Like all your Lordships, I felt, and feel, a deep sense of shock, indeed revulsion, at the brutal butchery of the young King and his family, and of that great, and greatly human, statesman, Nuri PashaNuri as-SaidNuri Pasha al-Said was an Iraqi politician during the British Mandate and during the Kingdom of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet positions, and served seven terms as Prime Minister of Iraq....
. I have also been shocked by the tendency which one sees current at the moment to write off the Nuri regime as decadent, feudal and corrupt. That picture, in my view, is a travesty of the truth....As part of the admirable development programme which the Nuri regime was carrying through there was a large schools programme. These schools were built for the purpose your Lordships might expect-to educate Iraqis in. But the Iraqis did not believe that; they thought-it was a very widespread belief which one could not eradicate-that these schools were camouflaged barracks intended for the British Army when they reoccupied Iraq. These are the sorts of 'ingrowing toenails' in the Iraqi consciousness which I feel we must try to eradicate, to draw out...
By October 1958 he had joined the Conservatives, in the Lords a natural home for such a distinctly pink. Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
, who gave him the honour of moving "an humble Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech"
- My Lords, I am acutely, indeed somewhat painfully, conscious of the great honour which the noble Earl Lord HomeAlec Douglas-HomeAlexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
, (aka Alec Douglas-Home) the Leader of the House has done me in inviting me to move the humble Address to Her Majesty. The last time that I addressed your Lordships' House was from the platonic sanctity of the Cross-Benches. I then had the aesthetic pleasure of seeing your Lordships in profile: I now have the equal pleasure of seeing some of your Lordships full face. I do not know why I find myself in this particular hot spot this afternoon. I can only surmise that the noble Earl, fishing for a good large Tory trout, cast over the Cross-Benches for an ex-Ambassador and hooked an ex-First Secretary by mistake.
On 7 May 1959, he asked a prescient starred question on the Planning of Motorways:
...Just as the Roman roads are with us to-day, so these great new roads may be with our successors 1,000 years hence. With this in mind, can my noble friend assure us, first, that the advice of the Advisory Committee [on the Landscape Treatment of Trunk Roads] to which he referred will in all cases in future be sought at a very early stage in the planning of these new roads; and, secondly, that permanent professional advice will be enlisted from the outset at the planning, the reconnaissance stage, in order to ensure that these great new roads blend as harmoniously as possible with the land-scape through which they pass?
On 20 July 1959 he initiated a debate on Western Aid for Uncommitted Countries, and by January 1961 he was a Lord-in-Waiting
Lord-in-Waiting
Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...
to H.M. the Queen, a Government Whip, in Macmillan's
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
administration. He was Joint Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Local Government June 1961–July 1962; Minister of State, Home Office July 1962–October 1963; First Lord of the Admiralty October 1963–April 1964; Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy April - October 1964; delegate to the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and the Western European Union (WEU) 1965-1967; president of the National Federation of Housing Societies 1965-1970; a governor of the Centre for Environmental Studies
Centre for Environmental Studies
The Centre for Environmental Studies was an environmental think-tank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1967 by the second Wilson government as an independent charitable trust for the purpose of advancing education and research in the planning and design of the physical environment...
1967-1970; chairman of the British Advisory Committee on Oil Pollution at Sea 1968; chairman of the third International Conference on oil pollution of the sea 1968; an hon. vice-president of PEST
Tory Reform Group
The Tory Reform Group is a group aligned to, but independent of, the British Conservative Party, that works to promote the values of the One Nation Tory vision...
(Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism); and deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lords 1967–1970. From April 1967 Lords Jellicoe and Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
represented the Conservatives in the Lords on the Inter-Party conference group on Lords' reform, which came up with the unsuccessful Parliament (No.2) Bill (1968–1969). Leading the debate for the (Conservative) Opposition in November 1968 Jellicoe said:
We hold that a grave constitutional change of this kind should not be brought into effect in the dying years of a discredited Government...a viable Upper House has an essential part to play in our parliamentary structure. We now have a quite considerable constitutional prize in our grasp, the opportunity to build a really viable Upper House on the basis of a broad consensus of support from all Parties... (19 November 1968, Hansard via L. Windmill).
During the late 1960s he worked in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
where he became chairman of British Reserve Insurance and a director of S G Warburg (Finance and Development) Ltd
S. G. Warburg & Co.
S. G. Warburg & Co. was a London-based investment bank. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it was acquired by Swiss Bank Corporation in 1995.-Founding and early history:...
.
Cabinet minister and resignation
In Ted Heath'sEdward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
administration
Conservative Government 1970-1974
Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.incompleteSource: D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900-2000...
he was Minister in charge for the Civil Service Department (CSD), Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
(as such he was eighth on the Roll of The Lords
Order of precedence in England and Wales
The Order of precedence in England and Wales as of 11 May 2010:Names in italics indicate higher precedence elsewhere in the table or precedence in the table for the other sex.- Royal Family :* The Sovereign , regardless of gender...
) and Leader of the House of Lords
Leader of the House of Lords
The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council,...
from 20 June 1970 until 24 May 1973 when he admitted, "some casual affairs" with call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
s (from Mayfair Escorts) and resigned (thus ending his third career in government service) in the wake of an unfortunate accidental confusion with Lord Lambton's different issue. The name Jellicoe seems to have emerged as a result of a connection between Lambton, the madame Norma Levy, and a tenement house or community hall in Somers Town
Somers Town, London
Somers Town, was named for Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers. The area in St Pancras, London, was originally granted by William III to John Somers, Lord Chancellor and Baron Somers of Evesham. It was to be strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston , St...
in the London district of St. Pancras called Jellicoe Hall or House, after Basil Jellicoe (1899–1935) the housing reformer, and priest. The word Jellicoe was seen in Levy's notebook, and a connection was assumed to the Minister rather than the building; a structure named after the earl's distant cousin, and one that may have been opened by the Admiral himself in June 1928.
Having earlier re-established relations with the miners' union leaders in February 1972, Heath appointed Jellicoe "energy supremo" to restore power supplies around the time of the Three-Day Week
Three-Day Week
The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970–1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners...
and had him set up and chair a Civil Contingencies Unit, which was, when an internal crisis arose, to operate through "COBRA" (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
Cabinet Office Briefing Room is a term used to describe the formation of a crisis response committee, coordinating the actions of bodies within the government of the United Kingdom in response to instances of national or regional crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK...
).
In June 1972 Jellicoe was sent to lead Concorde's
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
first sales expedition. As Alan Trengove in My Lord, the super salesman, in the Australian The Sun of 22 June 1972 put it,
There has probably never been a sales team [122 strong] quite like the aristocratic British contingent that is trying to sell the Anglo-French supersonic Concorde to Qantas... The earl is an astute salesman who has obviously done his homework... He has the stamina to address a couple of press conferences each day as well as make daily speeches... cultivate politicians, DCA personnel and Qantas bosses. At fifty-four, the earl looks a rugged character. He has a strong broad chin and speaks with a directness that appeals to Australians... Inevitably, he is beginning to be known in Australia as 'Aeroplane Jellicoe'. If he can land the Concorde deal with Qantas, they may soon be singing in Britain:
- I like Aeroplane Jellicoe
- Aeroplane Jellicoe for me.
- I like it for dinner, like it for tea,
- Aeroplane Jellicoe has goodness for me.
Trengove considered Sir George Edwards
George Edwards (aviation)
Sir George Robert Freeman Edwards, OM, CBE, FRS, DL , was a British aircraft designer and industrialist.Edwards was born in Highams Park, England...
and Sir Geoffrey Tuttle "equally impressive members of the sales team". (Supersonic flights were on the prototype Concorde G-BSST, certificate signed by Brian Trubshaw
Brian Trubshaw
Ernest Brian Trubshaw, CBE, MVO was a notable test pilot, and the first British pilot to fly Concorde, in April 1969....
, and dated 15 June 1972). Jellicoe, with the help of his very experienced Chief Whip, the second Earl St. Aldwyn
Earl St Aldwyn
Earl St Aldwyn, of Coln St Aldwyn in the County of Gloucester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1915 for the prominent Conservative politician Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Viscount St Aldwyn, known from 1854 to 1907 Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 9th Baronet, of Beverston....
), steered the European Communities Act (1972)
European Communities Act 1972 (UK)
The European Communities Act 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom providing for the incorporation of European Community law into the domestic law of the United Kingdom. It is not to be confused with the Irish law of the same name, Act No...
through the Lords, allowing no amendments. The Industrial Relations Act was another legislative highlight. After the resignation (over his marginal involvement in a minor indiscretion) Richard Crossman
Richard Crossman
Richard Howard Stafford Crossman OBE was a British author and Labour Party politician who was a Cabinet Minister under Harold Wilson, and was the editor of the New Statesman. A prominent socialist intellectual, he became one of the Labour Party's leading Zionists and anti-communists...
, writing in The Times, 30 May 1973 (page 18), described Jellicoe as:
- ... among the bravest, ablest, most decent members of the Heath Government... [B]ut need the Prime Minister have got rid of Lord Jellicoe in such peremptory style? Could he not have refused his resignation until all the facts were available?
On return from the Whitsun recess fulsome tributes were paid in the Lords to their departed leader: The (Labour Party) Opposition leader and Jellicoe's predecessor as Lord Privy Seal, Lord Shackleton
Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton
Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, KG AC OBE PC FRS , was a British geographer and Labour Party politician....
said:
- Lord Jellicoe... has been as good a leader of this House as we have known [cheers].. I don't think we can let him go -though happily this is not an epitaph- without expressing our very deep sorrow to the House and to the country [cheers]...with immense thoroughness, patience and personal sensitivity Lord Jellicoe fulfilled his role as Leader of your Lordships House [cheers]... we [Lords Byers and Shackleton] found him an admirable open-minded and wise colleague; my Lords, I believe that we and the country have suffered a grievous loss... (Hansard, 5 June 1973, and The Times, 6 June 1973, for the cheers)
Lord Byers for the Liberal Party added:
- we regret bitterly his resignation... He was a reforming innovator and the House owes a great deal more than it probably knows to the interest he took in this House and to his initiatives. (Hansard, 5 June 1973)
From the Cross-Benches Lord Strang
William Strang, 1st Baron Strang
William Strang, 1st Baron Strang, GCMG, KCB, MBE was a British diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1949 to 1953....
added:
- To some of us it had been a comfort to have had Lord Jellicoe as Leader. I doubt whether he realises how much we shall miss him. We have been deeply saddened by what has happened. The outstanding record of his achievements will not be dimmed; our warm regard for him will remain. (Hansard, 5 June 1973)
William Kendall, general secretary of the Civil and Public Services Association
Civil and Public Services Association
The Civil and Public Services Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom, representing civil servants.The union was founded in 1921, when the Civil Service Clerical Union and the Clerical Officers' Association merged to form the Civil Service Clerical Association. It affiliated with the...
said:
- In our union we respected him as a tough, capable and fair negotiator (quoted from The Times, 25 May 1973, page 2); or, as Daniel McGeachie (of The Daily Express) reported on 25 May 1973, He was a man in the Macmillan mould... [H]e gave the impression of a solid and straightforward approach to life, to the cut and thrust of debate-but at the same time he was an extraordinarlily subtle person.
In July 1973 the Diplock
Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock
William John Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock, KC was an English judge and Law Lord.-Early life:Born the son of a Croydon solicitor, he attended Whitgift School and University College, Oxford, where he read chemistry and was later to become an Honorary Fellow.-Career:Diplock was called to the bar by...
Commission, which had been set up to look into the security implications of Lambton and Jellicoe's adventures, concluded its section on Jellicoe (paragraph 24): ... it was Lord Jellicoe's misfortune that his use of 'call girls' happened to come to light at the particular moment that it did, when the attention of the Press was focused on the private conduct of Ministers in connection with the entirely separate case of Lord Lambton.
Business and post-government public career
Loss of government office soon seemed somewhat serendipitous. With no estates to distract him Jellicoe was free to re-join S. G. Warburg & Co.S. G. Warburg & Co.
S. G. Warburg & Co. was a London-based investment bank. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it was acquired by Swiss Bank Corporation in 1995.-Founding and early history:...
(1 October 1973), and with the help of Alan Lennox-Boyd
Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton
Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, CH, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician.-Background, education and military service:...
, who was soon to retire from the board, he became a non-executive director of the sugar company Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle plc is a British-based multinational agribusiness. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index as of 20 June 2011...
1973–1993. Thanks in the main to Sir Saxon Tate, and presumedly because he had succeeded as chairman (until June 1978) of their subsidiary Tunnel Refineries, the family made him Tate & Lyle's first non-family chairman 1978–1983. Having revived and retrenched Tate & Lyle Jellicoe became chairman of Booker Tate, 1988-91.
Other non-governmental jobs include: chairman of engineering plant company the Davy Corporation (Davy McKee) (now subsummed into Aker Kværner
Aker Kværner
Aker Solutions ASA is a Norwegian multinational provider of services related to engineering, construction, maintenance, modification and operation of both large and small industrial facilities. The company, with roots back to 1841, has its headquarters in Oslo and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange...
) 1985–1990; director Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
Holdings 1973–1993; Morgan Crucible 1974–88; Smiths Industries Ltd
Smiths Group
Smiths Group plc is a global engineering company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has operations in over 50 countries and employs around 23,550 staff....
1973–1986; S. G. Warburg & Co 1964–1970, 1973–1988. He was president of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry 1979-1982. He succeeded Lord Limerick
Patrick Pery, 6th Earl of Limerick
Patrick Edmund Pery, 6th Earl of Limerick KBE , was an Irish peer and public servant. He was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford....
as chairman of the Department OF Trade and Industry
Department of Trade and Industry
The Department of Trade and Industry was a United Kingdom government department which was replaced with the announcement of the creation of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills on 28 June 2007.-History:The...
's British Overseas Trade Board (BOTB) 1983-1986, for which he was knighted. That was followed by chairmanship (1986–1990) and then the presidency (1990–1995) of the East European Trade Council (EETC). He was chairman of the Greek Fund Ltd 1988-1994 (Schroders
Schroders
Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company with over 200 years of experience in the world's financial markets. The company employs 2,905 people worldwide who are operating from 32 offices in 25 different countries around Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East...
) and of European Capital Ltd 1991-1995.
Lord Jellicoe was chairman of the council of King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
(KCL) 1974-1983; chairman of the Medical Research Council
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
(MRC) 1982-1990; a trustee of the National Aids Trust (alongside the likes of Lord Goodman
Arnold Goodman, Baron Goodman
Arnold Abraham Goodman, Baron Goodman, CH, QC, was a British lawyer and political advisor.-Life:Lord Goodman was educated at University College London and Downing College, Cambridge. He became a leading London lawyer as Senior Partner in the law firm Goodman, Derrick & Co...
, David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
and Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
);
president of the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
(RGS) (and of the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) after amalgamation) 1993–1997; president of the Anglo-Hellenic League
Anglo-Hellenic League
The Anglo-Hellenic League is an organisation supporting and promoting Anglo-Greek relations and understanding. It was founded in 1913 in London and it carries out charitable and cultural work...
1978–1986; president of the Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
Trust 1987-1994; president of the UK Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
Veterans Association 1991-2001; president of the British Heart Foundation
British Heart Foundation
The British Heart Foundation is a charity organisation in Britain that funds research, education, care and awareness campaigns aimed to prevent heart diseases in humans.-Foundation:...
(BHF) 1992-1995; chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
of Southampton University 1984–1995, and has been closely associated with research and higher education. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990.
In 1995 he helped found Hakluyt & Company
Hakluyt & Company
Hakluyt & Company is a British strategic intelligence and advisory firm. The company was founded in 1995 by Christopher James and Mike Reynolds. James retired in mid-2006, and was replaced as managing director by Keith Craig...
, a strategic intelligence and advisory firm, for which he was a director 1996-2000. He was president of the SAS Regimental Association 1996–2000, when he became its patron. Jellicoe was a member of the Onassis International Prizes Committee (1983–1992); a vice-president of The European-Atlantic Group and of the Byron Society; he was on the board of the Hellenic College London; patron of the City of Southampton Society; a patron of the Greek Archaeological Committee (UK); one of five patrons of The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon; a director of The Landscape Foundation (now dormant); patron of Friends of The Royal Hospital School; patron of the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology; a member of the World Innovation Fund (WIF) and an associate member of INEED. In 2002 he became a patron of The Second World War Experience Centre in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
.
Later state contributions
Back in the Lords and affairs of state; he was chairman of the Select Committee on Committees (1990–1993) and President of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (1980–1983). In 1983 he was author of the Jellicoe Report which reviewed the Operation of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1976. The Times saw this appointment as the end of nine years penance in the political wilderness.Between 1963 and 1973 Jellicoe had averaged 90 House of Lords daily attendances per parliamentary session. From 1973 to 1989 his attendance plummeted to a meagre average of nine appearances per session. However, between 1990 and 2001 he turned up a conscientious average of 72 visits per session. He maintained this rate until early 2006, though Jellicoe's last full speech in the Lords was made as part of the Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech (the Queen's Speech debate) on 28 October 1996, his subject was Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
When the House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999
The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...
removed his hereditary automatic entitlement to attend and sit in the House of Lords, he was created a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Jellicoe of Southampton, of Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
in the County of Hampshire, so that he could continue to be summoned
1. Earl Jellicoe (Lord Jellicoe of Southampton) —The Rt Hon. George Patrick John Rushworth Earl Jellicoe, having been created Baron Jellicoe of Southampton, of Southampton in the County of Hampshire, for life by Letters Patent dated 6 o’clock in the forenoon of 17th November 1999, took and subscribed the oath pursuant to statute.
Earl Jellicoe remained an active member of the House of Lords for the rest of his life. He died on 22 February 2007, six weeks shy of his 89th birthday.
At his death, Earl Jellicoe was the longest-serving member of the House of Lords, and arguably the longest-serving parliamentarian in the world, having succeeded his father on 20 November 1935 and come of age and sat first in parliament on 25 July 1939. Because he waited until 28 July 1958 to make his maiden speech, a few peers (viz. Earl Ferrers
Robert Shirley, 13th Earl Ferrers
Robert Washington Shirley, 13th Earl Ferrers PC , styled Viscount Tamworth between 1937 and 1954, is British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords as one of the remaining hereditary peers...
and Lords Renton
David Renton, Baron Renton
David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton, KBE, QC, TD, DL, PC was a British politician. He served for over 60 years in Parliament, 34 in the House of Commons and then 28 in the House of Lords...
, Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
, Healey
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...
, and Strabolgi) could have been considered to have been active parliamentarians longer. Moreover, at the time of his death, on the Privy Council only the Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
(1951) and Lords Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
(1959), Deedes
Bill Deedes
William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, KBE, MC, PC, DL was a British Conservative Party politician, army officer and journalist; he is to date the only person in Britain to have been both a member of the Cabinet and the editor of a major daily newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.-Early life and...
and Renton
David Renton, Baron Renton
David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton, KBE, QC, TD, DL, PC was a British politician. He served for over 60 years in Parliament, 34 in the House of Commons and then 28 in the House of Lords...
(both 1962) had served longer.
Character
In May 1973, at the time of his resignation from the government, friends are quoted as saying:- If he has a fault it is because he wears his weaknesses on his sleeve. He is too frank. I suppose though, that is no bad thing. He was not flamboyant but he was a hedonist. He is the sort of non-pompous person who does not try to hide his weaknesses (quoted from Christopher Sweeney's article in The Times, 25 May 1973, page 2)
In July 1970, as one of the first people to be breathalized
Breathalyzer
A breathalyzer or breathalyser is a device for estimating blood alcohol content from a breath sample...
, he was banned from driving for a year and fined 75 pounds with 20 guineas costs for having consumed more than the permitted level of alcohol in Old Brompton Road at 4 a.m. on 21 March 1970. The trouble was that his new Reliant Scimitar
Reliant Scimitar
Reliant's first Scimitar was a coupé based upon the styling of a Daimler SP250 prototype and the chassis of a Reliant Sabre. It was first displayed in 1964. It was powered by a 2.6 L Ford straight six from the Ford Zephyr / Ford Zodiac...
had a stiff gearbox, or so his story went. Luck saw to it that the case came after the General Election and the ban coincided with the arrival of his right to a full time government car.
In 2000 his friend the former UK Ambassador to Washington, Sir Nicholas Henderson
Nicholas Henderson
Sir John Nicolas Henderson, GCMG, KCVO was a distinguished British career diplomat and writer, who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1979 to 1982....
, wrote:
- George is a man of moods. He is not complicated but a many-sided character. There are in fact four Georges: there is George the First, the unabstemious, boisterous LotharioLotharioLothario is a male first name which came to connote an unscrupulous seducer of women.In The Impertinent Curiosity, a story-within-the-story in Don Quixote , by Miguel de Cervantes, a man named Anselmo coerces Lothario, his faithful friend, to test the virtue of Anselmo's wife, Camila...
, with a leer like a roué in a Peter ArnoPeter ArnoPeter Arno was a U.S. cartoonist.-Biography:Born Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. in New York, New York, and educated at the Hotchkiss School and Yale University, his cartoons were published in The New Yorker from 1925–1968. They often depicted a cross-section of New York society from the 1920s through...
cartoon, blessed with an iron constitution and athletic prowess that enabled him to have been on the verge of the British Olympic ski and sleigh teams; then we have Hero George, the dashing man of action, a leader who whether descending by parachute or commanding by sea, kept the enemy on tenterhooks in the Eastern Mediterranean throughout the war; thirdly, there is George the aesthete and sightseer, who, with little finger raised, will speak discerningly of paintings, mosaics and furniture, a great patron of the arts, his talent as a collector manqué only due to lack of funds, which has not prevented some bold purchases; and finally we have pensive George, scholar and public servant, concerned to promote the national interest, high-minded, cautious and conscientious ... [A] striking and irrepressible feature of that character has been his easy communion with members of the opposite sex, and this may have been prefigured by an early experience. He spent some time as a small boy in New Zealand where his father was Governor-General. George wanted to become a wolf cubCub ScoutA Cub Scout is a member of the section of the worldwide Scouting movement for young persons, mainly boys normally aged about 7 to 11. In some countries they are known by their original name of Wolf Cubs and are often referred to simply as Cubs. The movement is often referred to simply as Cubbing...
, but no pack was available, so instead he joined the Brownies. He got on very well with them. (Old Friends and Modern Instances, 2000)
Lord Jellicoe married firstly, 23 March 1944, Patricia O'Kane (born 4 October 1917) by whom he had two sons and two daughters. He married secondly, in 1966, Philippa, daughter of Philip Dunne
Philip Russell Rendel Dunne
Captain Philip Russell Rendel Dunne, MC was an English soldier and politician.Lord of the Manor of Leinthall Earls....
M.C. (1904–1965), by whom he had one son and two daughters. He had eight children in total, born between 1944 and 1984. He was a member of Brooks's
Brooks's
Brooks's is one of London's most exclusive gentlemen's clubs, founded in 1764 by 27 men, including four dukes. From its inception, it was the meeting place for Whigs of the highest social order....
(since 1940), the Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
Club, the Ski Club of Great Britain
Ski Club of Great Britain
The Ski Club of Great Britain is a recreational snow sports club, founded on May 6, 1903. It is a not-for-profit organisation. The Ski Club was until the 1960s responsible for the British racing teams.-Respect the Mountain campaign:...
and was a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Mercers
Worshipful Company of Mercers
The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in order of precedence. It is the first of the so-called "Great Twelve City Livery Companies". It was incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1394...
.
Lorna Windmill's biography termed Jellicoe a British Achilles on account of two of his careers derailing as a result of women: in the 1950s for love, and in the 1970s for escorts.
Honours
- Page of Honour (one of nine) to King George VIGeorge VI of the United KingdomGeorge VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
at his Coronation (12 May 1937) - Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(DSO) (1942) - Military CrossMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(MC) (1944) - Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(France) (1945) - Croix de GuerreCroix de guerreThe Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
(France) (1945) - Greek Order of Honour (1950)
- Greek War Cross (1950)
- Privy Counsellor (PC) (1963)
- Freeman of the City of Athens
- Knight of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(KBE) (1986) - Honorary Citizenship of the Village of Southampton, New YorkSouthampton (village), New YorkSouthampton is a village in Suffolk County, New York, USA. The village is named after the Earl of Southampton. The Village of Southampton is in the southeast part of the county in the Town of Southampton...
(12 September 1987) - Companion of the British Institiute of Management (elected 11October 1988)
- Hon. Admiral in the Texas NavyTexas NavyThe Texas Navy was the official navy of the Republic of Texas. Two Texas Navies were naval fighting forces. There is a “Third and Honorary” Texas Navy, in which officers are commissioned by the Governor of Texas as Admirals, Commanders and Lieutenants....
(1988) - 27 October 1988 was Lord Earl Jellicoe Day in the City of Houston
- Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) (8 November 1990)
- Grand Commander Order of Honour (Greece, 1991)
- La Medaille de la Ville de Paris (echelon vermeil), (6 June 1994)
- UK Life Peer (1999)
- 27 April 2001 was Earl Jellicoe Day in the City of VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
- Winston S. Churchill Allied Nations Award from World War II Veterans Committee (8 November 2003, USA).
- Hon. degrees from:
- King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
(Fellow (FKC) 1979) - Southampton University (LLD, 1985)
- Long Island UniversityLong Island UniversityLong Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
(Doctor of Laws, 12 September 1987).
External links
- Announcement of his taking the oath for the first time as Lord Jellicoe of Southampton, House of Lords Minutes of proceedings, 23 November 1999
- Speech to The Churchill Centre Inc., from proceedings of the International Churchill Societies 1994-95.
- Jellicoe on the Ukraine. His last full speech in the Lords, 28 October 1996.
- Independent obituary
- Tributes: Earl Jelicoe Link to Hansard, Monday 26 February 2007.