Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher
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Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, GCVO, KCB, PC, DL (30 June 1852 – 22 January 1930) was a historian and Liberal politician in the United Kingdom.
Brett was the son of William Baliol Brett, 1st Viscount Esher and Eugénie Mayer (1814–1904).[1] Eugénie was possibly the illegitimate daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and Fanny Meyer,[citation needed] though other sources suggest that her father was one Louis Mayer.[1]. Born in London, Brett was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Eton he was a pupil of William Johnson Cory, with whom he later carried on a correspondence from the age of sixteen until the latter's death. Perhaps inspired by his mentor he carried on a series of chaste pederastic friendships with adolescent boys over the course of his life.[citation needed]
He began his political career in 1880, as MP for Penryn and Falmouth. However, five years later, he elected to withdraw from public politics, after losing an election at Plymouth, in favour of a behind the scenes role. In 1895, he became Permanent Secretary to the Office of Works. Upon his father's death on 24 May 1899, he succeeded him as Viscount Esher.
In 1901, Lord Esher became deputy governor (and later governor) of Windsor Castle, and remained close to the royal family until his death. During this period, he helped edit Queen Victoria's papers, publishing a work called Correspondence of Queen Victoria (1907). Behind the scenes, he influenced many of the pre-World War I reforms carried out by the Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Herbert Henry Asquith, and was a supporter of the British–French Entente Cordiale. He was a member of Lord Elgin's South African War Commission, which investigated Britain's near-failure in the Boer War, and chaired the War Office Reconstitution Committee, which recommended radical reform of the British Army. He was offered many public offices, including the Viceroyalty of India and the Secretaryship for War, but declined, accepting instead an appointment to the Privy Council in 1922.
He was Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle 1901 to 1928, when he became Constable and Governor, an office he held until his death in 1930.
Lord Esher was also a historian; besides the aforementioned work, he also published works on King Edward VII and Lord Kitchener. Together with Liberal M. P. Lewis ("Loulou") Harcourt he established the London Museum, which opened its doors on March 5, 1912.[2]
Lord Esher's younger daughter, Sylvia, became the last Ranee of Sarawak on May 24, 1917, following the proclamation of her husband Charles Vyner Brooke as Rajah. His second son, Maurice Vyner Baliol Brett, married the famous musical theatre actress Zena Dare.
[edit] References
- Lees-Milne, James (1986). The Enigmatic Edwardian: The Life of Reginald, 2nd Viscount Esher. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
[edit] External links
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Thomas Cole David James Jenkins |
Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth with David James Jenkins 1880–1885 |
Succeeded by David James Jenkins |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by William Brett |
Viscount Esher 1899–1930 |
Succeeded by Oliver Brett |
