Rowland Hodge

Sir Rowland Frederick William Hodge, 1st Baronet (September 1859 – 21 September 1950) was an English shipbuilder.

Hodge was born in Sunderland, the son of John Rowland Hodge and Emily (née Davis). He entered the shipbuilding industry and later founded his own company, the Northumberland Shipbuilding Company, of which he was managing director for more than twenty years. He was also chairman of Eltringhams Ltd, another shipbuilder.

He was created a Baronet in the 1921 New Year Honours for his company's services during the First World War,[1][2] despite a conviction in 1918 for "food hoarding". The Hodges were fined £600 and £100 costs for hoarding over a tonne in food. The BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast on 24 September 2008, in which model Jodie Kidd traced her ancestors (Hodge was her great-grandfather), suggested that he may have bought his honour from David Lloyd George, part of the scandal that led to the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.

The programme reported that the archives of Parliament contain letters to Lloyd George, from Winston Churchill complaining of having been offered a bribe of £5,000, and from King George V complaining of the honour having been granted.

Hodge married Vera, Countess Cathcart, but at the age of 74 she sued him for divorce. This was refused due to lack of evidence. The Countess previously was denied entry to the United States because of "moral turpitude". She was banished to Ellis Island for having had an affair with the Earl of Craven, with whom she was planning to elope to Deauville.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 32178. p. 2. 31 December 1920.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 32271. p. 2471. 29 March 1921.

References