George Wyndham

For other people named George Wyndham, see George Wyndham (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable George Wyndham PC
George Wyndham in the early 1900's.
Under-Secretary of State for War
In office 10 October 1898 – 13 November 1900
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	Hon. St John Brodrick
Succeeded by	The Lord Raglan
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office 9 November 1900 – 12 March 1905
Monarch	Victoria Edward VII
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	Gerald Balfour
Succeeded by	Walter Long
Personal details
Born	29 August 1863 (1863-08-29)
Died	8 June 1913 (1913-06-09)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Lady Sibell Lumley (1855-1929)

George Wyndham PC (29 August 1863 – 8 June 1913) was a British Conservative politician, man of letters, noted for his elegance, and one of The Souls.

Background and education

Wyndham was the son of the Honourable Percy Wyndham, younger son of George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield, and he was a direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham. His mother was Madline, daughter of Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet, and Pamela, daughter of Irish revolutionary Lord Edward Fitzgerald, whom Wyndham greatly resembled physically. Wyndham was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Political career

Wyndham was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dover in 1889, and held the seat until his death. In 1898 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War under Lord Salisbury, which he remained until 1900. He was closely involved in Irish affairs at two points. Having been private secretary to Arthur Balfour during the years around 1890 when Balfour was Chief Secretary for Ireland, Wyndham was himself made Chief Secretary by Salisbury in 1900. He brought forward a devolution scheme to deal with the Home Rule question coordinated with the Irish Reform Association.

Wyndham furthered the 1902 Land Conference and also successfully saw the significant 1903 Irish Land Act into law. This change in the law ushered in the most radical change in history in Ireland's land ownership. Before it, Ireland's land was largely owned by landlords; within years of the Acts, most of the land was owned by their former tenants, who had been subvented in their purchases by government subsidies. This could without exaggeration be called the most radical change in Irish life in history. He resigned along with the rest of the Unionist government in December 1905.

Wyndham was the leader of the "die-hard" opponents in the House of Commons of the Parliament Bill that became Parliament Act 1911.

Family

Wyndham married Sibell, Countess Grosvenor, daughter of Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough, in 1887, after the death of her first husband Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the 1st Duke of Westminster. She was Wyndham's senior by eight years. Towards the end of his life the couple settled at Clouds House in Wiltshire, designed for his father Percy Wyndham by the Arts and Crafts movement architect, Philip Webb (1886). Wyndham died in June 1913, aged 49. Lady Sibell died in February 1929, aged 73. There has been speculation over the years that Wyndham was the natural father of Anthony Eden, who was Prime Minister from 1955-7. Eden's mother, Sybil, Lady Eden, was evidently close to Wyndham, to whom Eden bore a striking resemblance.

Works

• The Poems of Shakespeare (1898) editor
• Ronsard & La Pleiade, with Selections From Their Poetry and Some Translations in the Original Meters (1906)
• Sir Walter Scott (1908)
• The Springs of Romance in the Literature of Europe (1910) address, University of Edinburgh October, 1910
• Essays in Romantic Literature (1919) edited by Charles Whibley

References

• Letters of George Wyndham, 1877-1913 (1915) Guy Percy Wyndham
• Life and Letters of George Wyndham (1924) Guy Percy Wyndham and J. W. Mackail
• In Dublin Castle 1899-1903 chapter from the 1928 memoirs of TM Healy.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Wyndham

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Alexander Dickson	Member of Parliament for Dover 1889–1913	Succeeded by Viscount Duncannon
Political offices
Preceded by St John Brodrick	Under-Secretary of State for War 1898–1900	Succeeded by The Lord Raglan
Preceded by Gerald Balfour	Chief Secretary for Ireland 1900–1905	Succeeded by Walter Long
Academic offices
Preceded by The Earl of Rosebery	Rector of the University of Glasgow 1902–1905	Succeeded by H. H. Asquith
Preceded by Richard Haldane	Rector of the University of Edinburgh 1908–1911	Succeeded by The Earl of Minto