Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr
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Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr GBE , PC (20 June 1900 - 28 January 1976), known as Lord Buckhurst from 1900 until 1915 (and sometimes nicknamed "Buck de la Warr" after that), was a British National Labour politician in the 1930s.
The son of a Conservative father and Liberal mother, Herbrand Sackville was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he developed trends towards socialism. In 1915 his father was killed in the First World War, and Herbrand succeeded to the title as a minor. On reaching 18, he refused as a conscientious objector to take part in active combat, but joined the Royal Naval Reserve (trawler section).
De La Warr became the first hereditary peer to join the Labour Party, and in 1924 was one of the youngest ever ministers when he was appointed Lord in Waiting in the first Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald. In the second Labour government of 1929-1931 he served as Under-Secretary of State for War (1929-1930) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (1930-1931).
In 1931 the Labour government fell and MacDonald formed a "National Government" of politicians drawn from all parties. De La Warr was one of only a tiny handful of Labour ministers to follow MacDonald, and prior to the 1931 general election he was instrumental in the formation of the National Labour Party to provide a vehicle of support for MacDonald and other ex-Labour members of the National Government. He resumed service as a junior minister for Agriculture and Fisheries (1931-35), then at the Board of Education (1935-36) and the Colonial Office (1936-37).
In 1937 the new Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave De La Warr his first Cabinet post as Lord Privy Seal. Like several other younger members of the Cabinet, De La Warr found himself disagreeing over the government's foreign policy, and contemplated resigning over the Munich Agreement but decided not to do so. In the aftermath of the agreement he was transferred in 1938 to be President of the Board of Education. During his time in this post it was expected that he would oversee legislation for raising of the school leaving age to 15, but the outbreak of World War II deferred all such plans until the end of hostilities.
In April 1940 De La Warr became First Commissioner of Works in a series of ministerial changes by Chamberlain. The following month Chamberlain was replaced by Winston Churchill, who formed an all-party coalition government, and the objections of the Labour Party to National Labour ministers meant that De La Warr was dropped, and he did not return to government for eleven years.
In 1951, in Churchill's peacetime government, De La Warr was appointed Postmaster General, which post he held for the next four years, leaving office for the final time in 1955.
The Earl was twice married:
- 1) Diana Leigh (1920-1966)
- 2) Sylvia, Countess of Kilmuir (1968-1976.
In 1935 the De La Warr Pavilion was built in Bexhill-on-Sea and named after the 9th Earl. The "De La Warr" in both the pavilion's name and the earl's name is pronounced "Delaware" (as in the American state).[1]
[edit] Notes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Earl of Lucan |
Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords 1929–1930 |
Succeeded by The Lord Marley |
| Preceded by The Earl of Plymouth |
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies 1936–1937 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava |
| Preceded by Viscount Halifax |
Lord Privy Seal 1937–1938 |
Succeeded by Sir John Anderson |
| Preceded by The Earl Stanhope |
President of the Board of Education 1938–1940 |
Succeeded by Herwald Ramsbotham |
| Preceded by Herwald Ramsbotham |
First Commissioner of Works 1940 |
Succeeded by The Lord Tryon |
| Preceded by Ness Edwards |
Postmaster General 1951–1955 |
Succeeded by Charles Hill |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by Gilbert Sackville |
Earl De La Warr 1915–1976 |
Succeeded by William Sackville |
