Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes

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Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes (April 2, 1901November 5, 1974) was the first and only Governor-General of the short-lived West Indies Federation, from January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962, when the country was disbanded.

Born in the United Kingdom, he was a personal secretary to Winston Churchill and a London County Councillor before being elected to Parliament in 1929. In 1939 he was appointed a Parliamentary Whip for the Conservative Party and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. During World War II he served in the military, but returned to politics in 1945, serving as Deputy Whip to 1948 and then Chief Whip. He was Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1951 to 1955. In 1957 he was made a peer with the title of Baron Hailes.

With the formation of the West Indies Federation in response to complaints against British colonialism in the Caribbean, Baron Hailes was appointed the country's first Governor-General and relocated to Port of Spain on the island of Trinidad. Four years later, the new state was dissolved and he returned to England, where he served as Chairman of the Historic Buildings Council (a predecessor body of English Heritage, formally known as the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England).

Buchan-Hepburn died in 1974.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
Henry Mond
Member of Parliament for East Toxteth[1]
1931–1950
Succeeded by:
Constituency abolished
Preceded by:
Constituency created
Member of Parliament for Beckenham
1950–1957
Succeeded by:
Philip Goodhart
Political offices
Preceded by:
William Whiteley
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
1951–1955
Succeeded by:
Edward Heath
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
New creation
Baron Hailes
1957–1974
Succeeded by:
Extinct

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Janus project: The Papers of Patrick George Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes of Prestonkirk, PC, GBE, CH 1901-1974
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