Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway

Henry Duncan McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway CBE (16 April, 1879 – 23 May, 1953), was a British politician, horticulturalist and industrialist. He was the son of Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway and Laura Pochin.

Education

Born in Richmond upon Thames, he was educated at Eton and obtained a MA from Balliol College, Oxford. In 1903 he became a barrister of Lincoln's Inn.

Career

In 1906 he was elected MP for West Staffordshire as a Liberal, and was Private Under-Secretary to the President of the Board of Trade, David Lloyd George, until 1908. In 1910, he stood for his father's old seat of Bosworth and replaced him. He left politics in 1922, and succeeded his father in the Barony in 1934.

McLaren was also a notable industrialist, and chaired companies from both sides of the family, including John Brown & Company. Around the end of his political career, in 1920, he had Aberconway House built as a residence in Mayfair. He would also inherit the family estate (originally his maternal grandfather's) in Bodnant, where he extensively developed and added to the Bodnant Garden. He was an avid horticulturalist and took interest in the breeding of rhododendrons and magnolias. He sponsored several botanical collectors, including George Forrest, and "Rhododendron aberconwayi" is named in his honor. He died in Hiraethog aged 74.

Family

He married Christabel Mary Melville MacNaghten (1890–1974) and had five children:
* Hon. Elizabeth Mary McLaren (31 May 1911 – 4 December 1991), married and had issue
* Charles McLaren, 3rd Baron Aberconway (1913–2003)
* S/Ldr. Hon. John Francis McLaren (1919–1953)
* Dr. Hon. Anne McLaren (1927–2007)
* Hon. Christopher Melville McLaren (b. 15 April 1934), married and has issue

References

*Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p2333.htm#i23328 thePeerage.com]