Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid
Encyclopedia
Major-General Sir Henry Joseph "Harry" d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, 2nd Baronet DSO
, MC
, DL
, TD
(10 June 1909 – 11 December 1976), was a British
army
officer, company director and politician.
The eldest son of Sir Osmond d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, 1st Baronet, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid went to Harrow School
and Balliol College
, Oxford
. On the death of his father in 1940, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid inherited Somerhill House
near Tonbridge
, Kent
. He joined the Royal West Kent
Regiment and the 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment, Reconnaissance Corps
and was twice mentioned in dispatches
. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
and Military Cross
in 1945.
Following the Second World War, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid left the army and became a member of Kent County Council
from 1946 to 1953. He was made a Freeman of the City of London and became a Justice of the Peace
, Deputy Lieutenant
(1949) and High Sheriff of Kent
for 1953 . His business career as a banker and bullion broker was marked by being Chairman of the Anglo-Israel Bank from 1961, and Chairman of Pergamon Press
from 1969 to 1971.
At the 1955 general election
, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid was elected as Conservative
Member of Parliament
for Walsall South. He was recruited by Duncan Sandys
, then Minister of Housing, to be his Parliamentary Private Secretary
but held the post for only a year.
Following the 1970 general election
, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid was joined in the House of Commons by his younger brother James
who won the nearby seat of Lichfield and Tamworth
. In that Parliament, Henry served as Chairman of the Select Committee on Nationalized Industries and of that on Public Expenditure. In 1973 he was appointed a member of the Horserace Totalisator Board
. He stood down from Parliament at the February 1974 general election
.
His daughter Sarah died at sea in 1963. In memory of her, Sir Henry commissioned a series of stained glass
windows at All Saints' Church, Tudeley
, which were designed by the famous artist Marc Chagall
. The windows were installed between 1967 and 1985.
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....
, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, TD
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
(10 June 1909 – 11 December 1976), 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...
army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer, company director and politician.
The eldest son of Sir Osmond d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, 1st Baronet, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid went to Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. On the death of his father in 1940, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid inherited Somerhill House
Somerhill House
Somerhill House is a Grade I listed Jacobean mansion situated near Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. It was built for Richard de Burgh in 1611–13. The estate was sequestrated by Parliament in 1645, and restored to its rightful owner in 1660. The building had become derelict by the mid-eighteenth...
near Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He joined the Royal West Kent
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1961. It was formed as The Queen's Own as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 50th Regiment of Foot and the 97th Regiment of Foot...
Regiment and the 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment, Reconnaissance Corps
Reconnaissance Corps
The Reconnaissance Corps or simply Recce Corps was a short-lived elite corps of the British Army whose units provided the mobile spearhead of infantry divisions from the Far East to Europe during the Second World War. It was formed from Infantry Brigade Reconnaissance Groups on 14 January 1941...
and was twice mentioned in dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
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...
and Military Cross
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....
in 1945.
Following the Second World War, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid left the army and became a member of Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
from 1946 to 1953. He was made a Freeman of the City of London and became a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
(1949) and High Sheriff of Kent
High Sheriff of Kent
The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...
for 1953 . His business career as a banker and bullion broker was marked by being Chairman of the Anglo-Israel Bank from 1961, and Chairman of Pergamon Press
Pergamon Press
Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, which published scientific and medical books and journals. It is now an imprint of Elsevier....
from 1969 to 1971.
At the 1955 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1955
The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...
, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid was elected as Conservative
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...
Member of Parliament
Member 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,...
for Walsall South. He was recruited by Duncan Sandys
Duncan Sandys
Edwin Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys CH PC was a British politician and a minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s...
, then Minister of Housing, to be his 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...
but held the post for only a year.
Following the 1970 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
, d'Avigdor-Goldsmid was joined in the House of Commons by his younger brother James
James d'Avigdor-Goldsmid
Major-General Sir James Arthur d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, 3rd Baronet CB OBE MC was a British Army officer and British Conservative politician...
who won the nearby seat of Lichfield and Tamworth
Lichfield and Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Lichfield and Tamworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Lichfield and Tamworth in Staffordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.-History:The constituency was...
. In that Parliament, Henry served as Chairman of the Select Committee on Nationalized Industries and of that on Public Expenditure. In 1973 he was appointed a member of the Horserace Totalisator Board
The Tote
The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...
. He stood down from Parliament at the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
.
His daughter Sarah died at sea in 1963. In memory of her, Sir Henry commissioned a series of stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows at All Saints' Church, Tudeley
Tudeley
thumb|Chagall windowTudeley is a small village near Tonbridge Kent in South East England.It is the location of All Saints' church, the only church in the world that has all its windows in stained glass designed by Marc Chagall.The East window...
, which were designed by the famous artist Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
. The windows were installed between 1967 and 1985.