Sir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet

For other people named Charles Trevelyan, see Charles Trevelyan (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable Sir Charles Trevelyan, Bt PC
President of the Board of Education
In office 22 January 1924 – 3 November 1924
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Hon. E. F. L. Wood
Succeeded by	Lord Eustace Percy
President of the Board of Education
In office 7 June 1929 – 2 March 1931
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Lord Eustace Percy
Succeeded by	Hastings Lees-Smith
Personal details
Born	28 October 1870 (1870-10-28)
Died	24 January 1958 (1958-01-25)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Labour
Spouse(s)	Mary Bell

Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet PC (28 October 1870 – 24 January 1958), the Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, was a British Liberal, and later Labour, politician and landowner. He served as President of the Board of Education in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations of Ramsay MacDonald.

Background

Wallington Hall

Born into a liberal aristocratic family (see Trevelyan Baronets of Nettlecombe, 1662), Charles was the eldest son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Caroline, daughter of Robert Needham Philips MP.^[1] He was the grandson of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, the elder brother of R. C. Trevelyan and G. M. Trevelyan and the great-nephew of Lord Macaulay. He was the great-great grandson of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (1735-1828). Family legend traced their ancestry to Sir Trevillian, one of King Arthur's knights, who swam ashore on horseback when Lyonesse sank. The family kept three houses year round: Wallington Hall, which the family had owned since 1777, Welcombe House, and a town house in Knightsbridge. The family estates comprised more than 11,000 acres. After Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles Philips decided upon a political career. Beatrice Webb, his friend, described him as "a man who has every endowment - social position, wealth, intelligence, an independent outlook, good looks, good manners".^[2]

Political career

Trevelyan was first a Liberal and later a Labour MP. His eventual political achievements were uneven. As member of the landed gentry serving in the Labour Party, he was considered by some to be a walking anachronism. Despite this, his own privileges and gentlemanly pursuits always remained intact.^[3] Trevelyan was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Elland, Yorkshire, in a by-election in 1899. He served under H. H. Asquith as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education between 1908 and 1914. In the 1918 general election he lost his Elland seat running as an Independent Labour Party (ILP) candidate. At that time, the ILP was part of the Labour Party (it had in fact under its leader, Keir Hardie, been largely been responsible for the creation of the Labour Party).

He won Newcastle Central for Labour in 1922 and held it until 1931.^[4] He was a member of Ramsay Macdonald's Labour cabinets as President of the Board of Education between January and November 1924^[5] and between 1929 and 1931,^[6] when he resigned. In 1924 he was sworn of the Privy Council.^[7] In 1928 he succeeded his father as third Baronet.

In early 1939, following Stafford Cripps and with Aneurin Bevan among others, Trevelyan was briefly expelled from the Labour Party for persisting with support for a "popular front" (involving cooperation with the Liberal Party and Communist Party) against the National Government.^[8]

Apart from his political career Trevelyan was also Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland between 1930 and 1949.

Family

Trevelyan married Mary Katherine Bell, a younger half-sister of Gertrude Bell and the daughter of Sir Thomas Bell, 2nd Baronet. They had six children including his first born, Sir George Trevelyan, whom he disinherited. He passed Wallington Hall, which he had inherited in 1928, to the National Trust, the first such property to be owned by the Trust. He died in January 1958, aged 87.

References

1. ^ "Sir George Otto, Bart Trevelyan". Encyclopedia Britannica 1911, Volume 27. 1911. p. 255. http://ia311326.us.archive.org//load_djvu_applet.php?file=2/items/EncyclopaediaBritannica1911HQDJVU/Encyclopedia_Britannica_27_Tonalite_-_Vesuvius.djvu. Retrieved 24 July 2010. 
2. ^ A very British family: the Trevelyans and their world, Laura Trevelyan, London 2006, page 102
3. ^ A very British family: the Trevelyans and their world, Laura Trevelyan, London 2006, page 102
4. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Na H-Eileanan An Iar to Newport
5. ^ London Gazette: no. 32901. p. 771. 25 January 1924.
6. ^ London Gazette: no. 33505. p. 3857. 11 June 1929.
7. ^ London Gazette: no. 32901. p. 769. 25 January 1924.
8. ^ David Rubinstein The Labour Party and British Society: 1880-2005, 2005, Sussex Academic Press, p74. The reference is online here [1].

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Charles Trevelyan

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Thomas Wayman	Member of Parliament for Elland 1899–1918	Succeeded by George Taylor Ramsden
Preceded by Sir George Renwick, Bt	Member of Parliament for Newcastle Central 1922–1931	Succeeded by Arthur Denville
Political offices
Preceded by Thomas McKinnon Wood	Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education 1908–1914	Succeeded by Christopher Addison
Preceded by Hon. E. F. L. Wood	President of the Board of Education 1924	Succeeded by Lord Eustace Percy
Preceded by Lord Eustace Percy	President of the Board of Education 1929–1931	Succeeded by Hastings Lees-Smith
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Duke of Northumberland	Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland 1930–1949	Succeeded by The Viscount Allendale
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Otto Trevelyan	Baronet (of Wallington) 1928–1958	Succeeded by George Lowthian Trevelyan

Persondata
Name	Trevelyan, Charles Philips, 3rd Baronet
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 October 1870
Place of birth
Date of death	24 January 1958
Place of death