William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton,
KPThe Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by George III. The regular creation of knights of Saint Patrick lasted until 1921, when most of Ireland became independent as the Irish Free State...
, PC (14 December 1856 – 13 February 1942), commonly known as
St John Brodrick, was a British
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
statesmanA statesman or stateswoman or statesperson is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
.
He came of a
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
family who in the 17th century, in the persons of Sir St John Brodrick and Sir Thomas Brodrick, obtained grants of land in the south of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. Sir St John Brodrick settled at
MidletonMidleton , historically known as Ballymacora, is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies some 22 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare...
, between
CorkCork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster...
and
YoughalYoughal is a seaport in County Cork, Ireland. Youghal is located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, and in the past was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout...
in 1641; and his son
Alan BrodrickAlan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton PC was an Irish lawyer and politician.-Background:He was the second son of Sir St John Brodrick of Ballyannan, near Midleton in County Cork, who had had received large land grants during the Protectorate...
(1660–1728), Speaker of the
Irish House of CommonsThe Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
and
Lord Chancellor of IrelandThe office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also sthe highest political office of the Irish Parliament....
, was created Baron Brodrick in 1715 and Viscount Midleton in 1717 in the Irish peerage.
In 1796 the title of Baron Brodrick in the
Peerage of Great BritainThe Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
was created.
William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton,
KPThe Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by George III. The regular creation of knights of Saint Patrick lasted until 1921, when most of Ireland became independent as the Irish Free State...
, PC (14 December 1856 – 13 February 1942), commonly known as
St John Brodrick, was a British
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
statesmanA statesman or stateswoman or statesperson is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
.
Background and education
He came of a
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
family who in the 17th century, in the persons of Sir St John Brodrick and Sir Thomas Brodrick, obtained grants of land in the south of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. Sir St John Brodrick settled at
MidletonMidleton , historically known as Ballymacora, is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies some 22 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare...
, between
CorkCork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster...
and
YoughalYoughal is a seaport in County Cork, Ireland. Youghal is located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, and in the past was militarily and economically important. Being built on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a distinctive long and narrow layout...
in 1641; and his son
Alan BrodrickAlan Brodrick, 1st Viscount Midleton PC was an Irish lawyer and politician.-Background:He was the second son of Sir St John Brodrick of Ballyannan, near Midleton in County Cork, who had had received large land grants during the Protectorate...
(1660–1728), Speaker of the
Irish House of CommonsThe Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
and
Lord Chancellor of IrelandThe office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also sthe highest political office of the Irish Parliament....
, was created Baron Brodrick in 1715 and Viscount Midleton in 1717 in the Irish peerage.
In 1796 the title of Baron Brodrick in the
Peerage of Great BritainThe Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
was created. The English family seat at Peper Harrow, near
GodalmingGodalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
, Surrey, was designed by Sir
William ChambersSir William Chambers was a Scottish architect, born in Gothenburg, Sweden, where his father was a merchant. Between 1740 and 1749 he was employed by the Swedish East India Company making several voyages to China where he studied Chinese architecture and decoration.Returning to Europe, he studied...
.
William Brodrick, 8th Viscount MidletonWilliam Brodrick, 8th Viscount Midleton , was a British peer and Conservative politician.-Background:Midleton was the son of Reverend William John Brodrick, 7th Viscount Midleton, Dean of Exeter and Chaplain to Queen Victoria, son of the Right Reverend the Hon. Charles Brodrick, Archbishop of Cashel...
was a
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
in politics, who for a few years had a seat in the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members...
, and who was responsible in the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
for carrying the Infants Protection Act. His brother, the Honourable G. C. Brodrick, was for many years warden of
Merton College, OxfordMerton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
. He was educated at
EtonEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
Balliol College, OxfordBalliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include three former prime ministers. H. H...
, where he served as president of the
Oxford UnionThe Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, UK, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
.
Political career
Brodrick entered
ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
as Conservative member for
West SurreyWest Surrey was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Surrey, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system....
in 1880. In 1883 he was appointed to a
Royal CommissionIn states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. They have been held in states such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia...
examining the condition of Irish prisons. From 1886 to 1892 he was
Financial Secretary to the War OfficeFinancial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the financial secretary of the War Office department.The post was combined with that of Under-Secretary of State for War from 17 April 1947....
;
Under-Secretary of State for WarThe position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean . In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies...
, 1895–1898; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1898–1900;
Secretary of State for WarThe position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
, 1900–1903; and
Secretary of State for IndiaThe office of Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was created in 1858 when Company rule in India ended and British India was brought under direct British administration ....
, 1903–1905. In 1885, he moved to the
GuildfordGuildford is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Prior to 1868 the, constituency was jointly represented by two separately elected members of parliament at once. The Reform Act, 1867 redistributed a number of parliamentary seats from two-seat...
seat, but lost it at the
general election of January 1906The United Kingdom general election of 1906 was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906.The Liberals, led by sitting minority Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman, won a large majority in the election...
. In March 1907 he was made an
aldermanAn alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions. Historically the term could also refer to local municipal judges in small legal proceedings...
of the
London County CouncilLondon County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889-1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
.
From c. 1910 he was regarded as the nominal leader of the Irish Unionist alliance (the umbrella body for Southern Irish Unionists, corresponding to the Ulster Unionists' Ulster Unionist Council). He was a remote and condescending leader who relied on a few intimates and was suspected of being more interested in a future career in British conservative politics than in his Irish followers. In 1916 Midleton's lobbying helped to defeat an attempt to implement immediate Home Rule with Ulster exclusion; this was supported by the Ulster leader Edward Carson and the Home Ruler John Redmond, but Midleton believed it would be disastrous for the Southern Unionist minority.
In 1918, during the
Irish ConventionThe Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the Irish Question and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wider future, discuss and come to an understanding on ...
, Midleton tried to reach a compromise with Redmond which would allow Home Rule without partition subject to certain financial restrictions. This was rejected both by Redmond's followers (who saw it as too restrictive) and the hardline IUA rank-and-file, who deposed Midleton. He and his followers then formed the Irish Unionist Anti-Partition League, an elite body mainly concerned with lobbying. It had some influence on the
1920 Government of Ireland ActAn Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, but none of the safeguards for Southern Unionist interests which it sought were included in the 1921
Anglo-Irish TreatyThe Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the de facto Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence...
. Successful lobbying by Middleton and associated Southern Unionists was instrumental in ensuring their representation in the
SeanadSeanad Éireann was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936. It has also been known simply as the Senate, or as the First Seanad. The Senate was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were...
of the Irish Free State.
Family
He married, first in 1880, Lady Hilda (died 1901), daughter of
Francis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of WemyssFrancis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss, 5th Earl of March , was a Scottish peer.Wemyss-Charteris was the son of Francis Douglas, 8th Earl of Wemyss, and succeeded in 1853...
, by whom he had a family; and secondly in 1903, Madeleine Stanley, daughter of
Lady St HelierFrancis Henry Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier was an English judge.Jeune was the son of the Rt. Rev. Francis Jeune, Bishop of Peterborough and Margaret Dyne Symons....
by her first husband. In the 1920 New Year Honours, he was created
Earl of Midleton, a title that became extinct with the death of his son in 1979.
His sister, the Honourable Marian Cecilia Brodrick, married Sir James Whitehead, son of the inventor
Robert WhiteheadRobert Whitehead was an English engineer. He was born the son of a cotton-bleacher, in Bolton, England.He developed the first self-propelled torpedo in 1866...
. Sir James Whitehead was to become the British Ambassador to Austria, and his daughter Agathe was the first wife of Georg Ludwig von Trapp; the story of their children and his second wife,
Maria von TrappBaroness Maria Augusta von Trapp was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. Her story and that of her family's escape from the Nazis after the Anschluss served as inspiration for the musical The Sound of Music.-Biography:Maria Augusta Kutschera was born on a train heading from...
was the basis of the musical
The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
.