| The Right Honourable The Viscount Harcourt PC |
|
|---|---|
| Lord Harcourt by Harry Furniss. | |
| First Commissioner of Works | |
| In office 10 December 1905 – 3 November 1910 |
|
| Monarch | Edward VII George V |
| Prime Minister | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | The Lord Windsor |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Beauchamp |
| In office 25 May 1915 – 10 December 1916 |
|
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | The Lord Emmott |
| Succeeded by | Sir Alfred Mond, Bt |
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
| In office 3 November 1910 – 25 May 1915 |
|
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Crewe |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Bonar Law |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 January 1863 Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire |
| Died | 24 February 1922 Brook Street, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ethel Burns (d. 7 January 1961); 4 children |
Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt PC (31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922) was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet office of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. His nickname was "Loulou".
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Harcourt was born in Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire, the only surviving son of politician Sir William Vernon Harcourt and his first wife Maria Theresa Lister. He never knew his mother who died only a day after giving birth to him. His only sibling, Julian Harcourt, had died the previous year. He was educated at Eton.
Harcourt was private secretary to his father when the latter served as Home Secretary from 1880 to 1885. He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Rossendale, Lancashire, from 1904 to 1916 and served as First Commissioner of Works in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's 1905 ministry (included in the cabinet in 1907) and in H. H. Asquith's cabinet between 1908 and 1910 and again between 1915 and 1916. In this role he authorised the placement in Kensington Gardens of the Peter Pan statue, sculpted by George Frampton, erected on 1 May 1912. Between 1910 and 1915 he was Secretary of State for the Colonies under Asquith. Harcourt received an honorary DCL degree from Oxford University, and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, in 1917.[1]
Harcourt acted as a trustee for the British Museum, Wallace Collection, the London Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery, which now contains his portrait.
Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state in southern Nigeria, is named after him. When the port was established in 1912, there was much controversy about the name it should receive. In August 1913, the Governor–General of Nigeria, Sir Frederick Lugard wrote to Harcourt, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, "in the absence of any convenient local name, I would respectfully ask your permission to call this Port Harcourt", to which the Secretary of State replied, "It gives me pleasure to accede to your suggestion that my name should be associated with the new Port."
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery served as Liberal Prime Minister from 1894-1895 (after William Ewart Gladstone's fourth term and before Lord Salisbury's third). His main rival was Harcourt's father William. Loulou's attempts to have his father appointed were so fervent that many Liberal politicians criticized him. He helped to wreck Rosebery's administration, wrongly believing that his father would then succeed to the premiership. However, the Liberal Party was instead thrown into opposition for 10 years, and Harcourt was despised by Rosebery for the remainder of his life.
Harcourt's diaries contain a report that one of Queen Victoria's chaplains, Reverend Norman Macleod, made a deathbed confession repenting of his action in presiding over Queen Victoria's marriage to her servant, John Brown. Little credence is given to this report, in view of the many years which would have passed from the time of the "marriage" until Harcourt recorded it.[2][3]
Harcourt was known as a sexual predator attracted to both sexes. He attempted to rape Dorothy Brett, the daughter of Lord Esher, and followed this by an attempt to seduce his son. Dorothy Brett wrote of him that "it is so tiresome that Loulou is such an old roué. He is as bad with boys as with girls ... he is simply a sex maniac. It isn't that he is in love. It is just ungovernable Sex desire for both sexes". His behaviour was known and tolerated in certain private quarters, however, after attempting to seduce a 12-year-old boy (Edward James, who grew up to become a great collector of surrealist and other contemporary art), the boy's mother began making the matter public. Harcourt committed suicide at his London home in Brook Street on 24 February 1922, aged 59.[4]
On 1 July 1899, Harcourt married Mary Ethel, daughter of Anglo-American banker Walter Hayes Burns and his wife Mary Lyman (née Morgan), a sister of J.P. Morgan.
Lady Harcourt, Viscountess Harcourt was named a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1918. She died 7 January 1961.
The couple had four children:
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir William Mather |
Member of Parliament for Rossendale 1904 – 1916 |
Succeeded by Sir John Henry Maden |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Windsor |
First Commissioner of Works 1905 – 1910 |
Succeeded by The Earl Beauchamp |
| Preceded by The Earl of Crewe |
Secretary of State for the Colonies 1910 – 1915 |
Succeeded by Andrew Bonar Law |
| Preceded by The Lord Emmott |
First Commissioner of Works 1915 – 1916 |
Succeeded by Sir Alfred Mond, Bt |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Harcourt 1917–1922 |
Succeeded by William Edward Harcourt |