Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe

Frederick Richard Penn Curzon, 7th Earl Howe (born 29 January 1951) is a Conservative front bench member of the House of Lords, and is the party's Health spokesman in that house.

Political and professional career

Lord Howe was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, whence in 1973 he took a Masters degree in Mods and Greats and, according to his Who's Who entry, earned the Chancellor's Prize in Latin Verse.

After leaving University in 1973, he joined Barclays Bank and served in a number of managerial and senior managerial posts both overseas and in London. [http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&personID=21803]

After succeeding his second cousin as 7th Earl Howe, he left banking to concentrate on his Parliamentary activities and on running the family farm (Seagraves Farm Co Ltd) and estate in south Buckinghamshire.

In 1999 he was appointed Chairman of the London and Provincial Antique Dealers' Association (LAPADA), the country's largest trade association for the fine art and antiques trade.

Involved in many charitable commitments, Lord Howe is:
*President of the Abbeyfield Beaconsfield Society;
*Patron of the Chiltern Society;
*a Patron of DEMAND;
*Hereditary Governor of the King William IV Naval Foundation.
*a trustee of Milton's Cottage;
*President of the National Society for Epilepsy;
*a trustee of RAFT (Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust);
*a member of the Committee of Management of the RNLI;
*a trustee of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckingamshire;
*President of the South Buckinghamshire Association for the Disabled;
*Honorary Treasurer of the Trident Trust;

In 1991, Lord Howe became a Lord in Waiting (Government whip in the House of Lords) with responsibilities, successively, for transport, employment, defence and environment. Following the 1992 general election he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary (Lords) at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and in 1995 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, a post he relinquished at the 1997 general election.

Earlier that year, on 15 January, Lord Howe, in his capacity as Defence Minister, criticised Diana, Princess of Wales, who was his third cousin once removed, describing her as a "loose cannon" and ill-informed on the issue of anti-personnel landmines, after she had called for an international ban on the weapons [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/15/newsid_2530000/2530603.stm] . She had made comments — out of line with government policy — during a visit to Angola. Lord Howe's criticism, similar to that of many others, sought to underline that the Government was in fragile negogiations to move towards the eradication of landmines, and that comments from outside of those talks were not helpful.

He has been opposition spokesman for Health and Social Services in the House of Lords since 1997.

Since the House of Lords Act 1999, hereditary peers do not have the automatic right to sit in the Lords. However the Act provides for 92 hereditary peers to remain, and representatives from each faction in the House are elected under Standing Orders of the House. At the election in 1999, Lord Howe was the 6th most popular Conservative peer (Conservatives are by far the largest party grouping of hereditary peers).

Apart from his frontbench responsibilities, Lord Howe's special interests include penal affairs and agriculture. He is a member of the all-party groups on penal affairs, abuse investigations, pharmaceuticals, adoption, mental health and epilepsy.

Personal life: ancestry, lineage, and family

He was born on 29 January 1951 to Royal Navy Commander and film actor, George Curzon, grandson of the 3rd Earl Howe, and Jane Victoria Fergusson.

On March 26 1983, Earl Howe married Elizabeth Helen Stuart, elder daughter of Captain Burleigh Edward St Lawrence Stuart . He inherited the title upon the death of his second cousin, Edward Richard Assheton Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, on May 29 1984.

Both the 6th and present Earl Howe are great grandsons of Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, the 3rd Earl (1822-1900).

Earl Howe is great-great-grandson of Richard Curzon-Howe, the 1st Earl Howe of the second creation.

The Earl and Countess Howe have four children:
*Lady Anna Elizabeth Curzon
*Lady Flora Grace Curzon
*Lady Lucinda Rose Curzon
*Thomas Edward Penn Curzon, Viscount Curzon (October 22 1994-)

Thomas Edward Penn Curzon, as the heir apparent to his father, is entitled to use the courtesy title Viscount Curzon

References

Websites

* [http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/Contents/book/UK/FHP/Peerage/fhp-HOWE.asp Entry for Earl Howe] in [http://www.burkes-peerage.net/ Burke's Peerage]
* [http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&personID=21803 Profile for Earl Howe] on [http://www.conservatives.com conservatives.com]
* [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldreg/reg11.htm Page on House of Lords website containing a register of Earl Howe's interests] (as of June 14, 2005)
*" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/15/newsid_2530000/2530603.stm Princess Diana sparks landmines row] " - from the BBC on 15 January 1997

Books

"Who's Who"

External links

Lord Howe is associated with the following bodies:
* [http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk/ National Society for Epilepsy]
* [http://www.bucksmentalhealth.org.uk/south_bucks_association_for_the_disabled.html South Bucks Association For the Disabled]
* [http://www.chilternsociety.org.uk/ The Chiltern Society]
* [http://www.demand.org.uk/ DEMAND - Design and Manufacture for Disability]
* [http://www.rnli.org.uk/ Royal National Lifeboat Institution]
* [http://www.lapada.co.uk/ LAPADA - The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers]
* [http://www.tridenttrust.com/uk.htm The Trident Trust]
* [http://www.miltonscottage.org/ John Milton's Cottage]
* [http://www.school-portal.co.uk/Grouphomepage.asp?GroupId=32789 Sir William Borlase's Grammar School]
* [http://www.raft.ac.uk/ RAFT (Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust)]