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Tufton Beamish, Baron Chelwood: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|British Army officer and politician (1917–1989)}}
{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=September 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2015}}
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|image = Tufton Beamish 1969.jpg
|image_size = 200px
|caption = Beamish in 1969.
|office = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Lewes (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewes]]
|majority =
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|predecessor = [[Tufton Percy Hamilton Beamish]]
|successor = [[Tim Rathbone]]
|birth_name = Tufton Victor Hamilton Beamish
|birth_date = {{birth date|1917|01|27|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Dunfermline]], Scotland
|death_date = {{death date and age|1989|04|06|1917|01|27|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Eastbourne]], England
|restingplace =
|birthname =
|party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|otherparty =
|spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Janet McMillan Stevenson|1950|1973|end=divorced}} <br />
* {{Marriage|Pia McHenry|1975}}
}}
|relations = [[Tufton Percy Hamilton Beamish]] (father)
|children = 2 including [[Claudia Hamilton Beamish|Claudia]]
|education =
|alma_mater = [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
|occupation =
|profession =
|cabinet =
|committees =
|portfolio =
|religion =
|signature =
<!--Military service-->
|nickname =
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|branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears = 1937–1945
|servicenumber = 71099
|rank = [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]]
|unit = [[Royal Northumberland Fusiliers]]
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|mawards = [[File:Military cross BAR.svg|40px]] [[Military Cross]]
}}
'''Tufton Victor Hamilton Beamish, Baron Chelwood''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MC|DL|size=100%}} (27 January 1917{{spaced ndash}}6 April 1989) was a [[British Army]] officer and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Lewes (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewes]] for 29 years (1945–1974), and an [[author]].
 
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], he served in France, Belgium (1940), Malaya (1942), India and Burma (1942–43), North Africa and Italy (1943–44). In 1940 he was awarded the [[Military Cross]]; was knighted in 1961<ref>{{London Gazette
|issue= 42231
|date=27 December 1960
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}}</ref> and upon his retirement from the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] was created a [[life peer]] as '''Baron Chelwood''', ''of [[Lewes]] in the [[East Sussex|County of East Sussex]]'' on 7 May 1974.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=46289 |date=14 May 1976 |page=5851}}</ref>
 
==Early life and family==
Beamish's was born in [[Dunfermline]] in 1917.<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = Beamish, Tufton Victor Hamilton, Baron Chelwood (1917–1989), army officer and politician|last = Cosgrave|first = Patrick|authorlink = Patrick Cosgrave|date = 2004|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/69057}}</ref> His father was [[Tufton Beamish (Royal Navy officer)|Tufton P. H. Beamish]], who served in the [[Royal Navy]] until 19251922 when he retired with the rank of [[rear admiral]]captain. He had followed his career in the navy by entering politics and served as the member of Parliament for [[Lewes (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewes]] from 1924 until 1931 and again from 1936 until 1945, when his son succeeded him.<ref name = ODNB/>
 
Beamish was married twice: first to Janet McMillan Stevenson of New York in 1950 (dissolved in 1973), and secondly to Pia "Maria" McHenry (also a divorcee) in 1975. Lord Chelwood died from a heart attack in [[Eastbourne]] on 6 April 1989, aged 72, and was survived by his second wife (who died 7 February 2019, aged 96)<ref>The Times, 21 February 2019, page 55</ref> and by two daughters from his first marriage.<ref name = ODNB/><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/751136016/|title = Tufton Beamish|date = 8 April 1989|newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|page = 1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = 2 April 2024|url-access = subscription}}</ref>▼
Beamish's daughter, [[Claudia Hamilton Beamish]], was elected [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] for [[South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|South of Scotland]] in 2011.▼
 
▲Beamish'sOne of his daughterdaughters, [[Claudia Hamilton Beamish]], was elected as a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] for [[South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|South of Scotland]] in 2011.
 
==Military career==
Beamish was educated at [[Stowe School]] and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]. He received his commission as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Northumberland Fusiliers]] in 1937.<ref name="Officers of the British Army">{{cite web|url=https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_B02.html#Beamish_TVH|title=British Army officer histories|publisher=Unit Histories|access-date=2022-09-19}}</ref> In 1938 Beamish served in [[Cairo]] and [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] (presumably during the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|Arab revolt in Palestine]]) and developed a lifelong interest in the [[Arabs|Arab]] people of the region. After the outbreak of [[World War II]], he was transferred to France as a [[company commander]] with the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF). He was wounded on the retreat to [[Dunkirk]] and managed to secure his evacuation.<ref name = ODNB/>
 
In 1941, he was transferred to the Far East and was serving in [[Singapore]] when the Japanese began their assault of the Malayan peninsula. He avoided being captured at the [[Fall of Singapore]] by taking to a rowing boat with seven other men.<ref name = ODNB/> The men rowed to [[Sumatra]] but upon reaching their destination they found that it too had fallen to the Japanese and laid a new course for [[Ceylon]], which they eventually reached safely.<ref name = Times>{{cite news|title = Lord Chelwood|newspaper = [[The Times]]|date = 8 April 1989|page = 12}}</ref> Beamish next worked as an intelligence officer in India before being transferred to the [[British Eighth Army|Eighth Army]] in [[North Africa]] in 1943, taking part in the invasion of Italy later that year. He left the army in 1945 with the rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]].<ref name="Officers of the British Army" />
 
==Political career==
In 1945, his father retired from politics and Beamish was chosen to replace him as the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate for the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]].<ref name = ODNB/> He was elected and continued to serve as the constituency Member of Parliament until he retired from the Commons at the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974 general election]].<ref name = ODNB/>
 
From 1947 to 1953, Beamish served on the executive of the [[1922 Committee]] and, from 1965 to 1967, as opposition spokesman on defence.<ref name = ODNB/> He neverremained sought,a andbackbencher eventhrough refused,his theentire offercareer ofand awas uninterested in ministerialcabinet positionoffice.<ref name = ODNB/> Beamish was a firm believer in the creation of European harmony through the promotion of a strong [[European Economic Community]] (serving on the Monnet Action Committee for United States of Europe, 1971–76).<ref name = ODNB/><ref name = Times/> He was strongly opposed to the Soviet Union's domination of Eastern Europe to which he addressed himself in his 1950 book ''Must Night Fall?''.<ref name = ODNB/> He chaired the Conservative Foreign Affairs Committee from 1960 to 1964.<ref name = Times/>
 
In 1970, he published a book, ''Half Marx'', warning against the rise of the extreme left in the [[Labour Party (United Kingdom)|Labour Party]]. His other noted publication was ''Battle Royale'' (1965), a book on the [[Battle of Lewes]] (1264) between [[Henry III of England|King Henry III]] and [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]],.<ref butname = Times/> However, he iswas also mostwidely noted forfort his interest in nature conservancy.: Hehe was an active member of the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]], and, from 1978, a member of the [[Nature Conservancy Council]]. He fought hard for the passing of a [[private member's bill]] that was enacted as the [[Protection of Birds Act 1954]], and the subsequent amendments in 1964 and 1967. As a member of the [[House of Lords]], he campaigned vigorously for the passing of the [[Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981]]. He was Deputy President of [[Sussex Wildlife Trust]] from 1967 until 1978.
 
▲Beamish was married twice: first to Janet McMillan Stevenson of New York in 1950 (dissolved in 1973), and secondly to Pia "Maria" McHenry (also a divorcee) in 1975. Lord Chelwood died on 6 April 1989, aged 72, and was survived by his second wife (who died 7 February 2019, aged 96)<ref>The Times, 21 February 2019, page 55</ref> and by two daughters from his first marriage.
 
Although Beamish's name inspired the ''[[Private Eye]]'' character ''Sir Bufton Tufton'', he was not as far to the right of the Tory party as was suggested by that character, who bore a closer resemblance to the likes of [[Gerald Nabarro|Sir Gerald Nabarro]], [[Patrick Wall|Sir Patrick Wall]], [[Marcus Fox|Sir Marcus Fox]], and the general attitudes associated with the [[Conservative Monday Club|Monday Club]]. Within the party, Beamish was considered a "[[One nation conservatism|One Nation Conservative]]" and as a member of the [[House of Lords]] he moved an amendment to the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|Community Charge]] ('Poll Tax') legislation to have the charge vary by income rather than being the same rate for all.<ref name="Poll tax amendment">[[David Butler (academic)|David Butler]], [[Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis|Andrew Adonis]], [[Tony Travers]], "Failure in British Government: The Politics of the Poll Tax" ([[Oxford University Press]], 1994), p. 123</ref>
 
Beamish's daughter, [[Claudia Hamilton Beamish]], after standing for the [[South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|South of Scotland]] in the [[2003 Scottish Parliament election|2003]] and [[2007 Scottish Parliament election]]s and for [[Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)|Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale]] at the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] was elected [[Scottish Labour Party]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]], representing the [[South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|South of Scotland]] under the [[list system]] on 5 May 2011.
 
==Books==
Beamish wrote a number of political and historical non-fiction books, reflecting his interests in Eastern Europe under communism, and his constituency of Lewes. These include:
* ''Must Night Fall?'' (1950)
* ''Battle Royal : a new account of Simon de MontfortsMontfort's struggle against King Henry III'' (1965), covering the [[Battle of Lewes]].
* ''Half Marx'' (1970)
* ''The Kremlin's Dilemma : the struggle for human rights in Eastern Europe'' (1979)
 
He also wrote forewords to several books, including:
* ''The Battle of Lewes, 1264 : its place in English history'' (1964), a book of essays by [[F. M. Powicke|Sir Maurice Powicke]], R.F. Treharne [and] Charles H. Lemmon forto commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Lewes.
* ''The Defenders: a history of the British volunteer'' (1968), by Geoffrey Cousins (1968).
 
==Honours and arms==
 
* [[Knight Bachelor]] - 1961<br />
* [[Military Cross]] - 20 December 1940<br />
[[Mentioned in Despatches]] - 19 July 1945<br />
* [[GoldenMentioned Crossin of MeritDespatches]] - 1944<br19 July />1945
* [[Golden Cross of Merit]] - 1944
* [[Polonia Restituta]] (Poland)<br />
[[Order of the Phoenix (Greece)|Commander, Order of the Phoenix]] (Greece) - 1949<br />
* [[Order of the CedarPhoenix (Greece)|Commander, Order of the Phoenix]] (LebanonGreece) - 1969<br />1949
* [[FreedomOrder of the City|Honorary FreemanCedar]], Lewes(Lebanon) - 19701969
* [[Freedom of the City|Honorary Freeman]], Lewes - 1970
 
{{Infobox COA wide
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|mantling = Gules doubled Argent
|supporters = Dexter: A Maiden proper draped around the shoulders with a Veil Argent holding in the dexter hand a Roundel Azure charged with a Martlet Or; Sinister: A Bull quarterly Gules and Argent charged with a Garland of Flowers proper
|motto = Virtus Insignit Audentes<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/lp1958%20c.htm | title=Cracroftspeerage.co.uk }}</ref>
}}
 
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[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British male writers]]
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[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]▼
[[Category:British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine]]
[[Category:British political writers]]
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[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MEPs]]▼
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Beamish, Tufton]]▼
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]▼
[[Category:Deputy Lieutenantslieutenants of Sussex]]▼
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor|Beamish, Tufton]]▼
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]▼
[[Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979]]▼
[[Category:People educated at Stowe School]]
[[Category:RecipientsPresidents of the MilitaryRoyal CrossSociety for the Protection of Birds]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the OrderMilitary of Polonia RestitutaCross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar]]
[[Category:CommandersRecipients of the Order of the PhoenixPolonia (Greece)Restituta]]
[[Category:Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers]]
▲[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Beamish, Tufton]]
▲[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
▲[[Category:Knights Bachelor|Beamish, Tufton]]
[[Category:Politicians awarded knighthoods]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950|Beamish, Tufton]]
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[[Category:UK MPs 1970–1974|Beamish, Tufton]]
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▲[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MEPs]]
▲[[Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979]]
▲[[Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Sussex]]
▲[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
▲[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
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