George Cave, 1st Viscount Cave

The Right Honourable The Viscount Cave GCMG KC PC
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office 6 November 1924 – 28 March 1928
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Haldane
Succeeded by	The Lord Hailsham
In office 24 October 1922 – 22 January 1924
Prime Minister	Andrew Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Birkenhead
Succeeded by	The Viscount Haldane
Home Secretary
In office 11 December 1916 – 14 January 1919
Prime Minister	David Lloyd George
Preceded by	Herbert Samuel
Succeeded by	Edward Shortt
Personal details
Born	23 February 1856 (2011-11-19T14:38:54) London
Died	29 March 1928(1928-03-29) (aged 72) St Anne's, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Anne Mathews, Countess Cave of Richmond (d. 1938)
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford

George Cave, 1st Viscount Cave GCMG, KC, PC (23 February 1856 – 29 March 1928) was a British lawyer and Conservative politician. He was Home Secretary under David Lloyd George from 1916 to 1919 and served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1922 to 1924 and again from 1924 to 1928.

Background and education

Cave was born in London, the son of Thomas Cave, Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Jasper Shallcrass. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, London and St John's College, Oxford. After being called to the bar in 1880, he practised as a barrister for a number of years, being made King's Counsel and recorder of Guildford in 1904.

Political career

In 1906 he was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the Kingston Division of Surrey, and was appointed a member of the Royal Commission on Land Purchase in 1908. Having served as standing Counsel to the University of Oxford for two years as well as Attorney General to the Prince of Wales, in 1915 Cave was appointed Solicitor General and knighted. The following year, he was made Home Secretary in Lloyd George's coalition government, a post he held for three years.

In 1918, Sir George Cave was ennobled as Viscount Cave, of Richmond in the County of Surrey. The following year, he became a Lord of Appeal, and chaired a number of commissions, including the Southern Rhodesian commission and the Munitions Enquiry Tribunal. In 1922, he became Lord Chancellor in Bonar Law's government, and again served in this capacity in Baldwin's first administration. Having been appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1921, he was also elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 1925, defeating former Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith.

Family

Lord Cave married Anne Estella Sarah Penfold Mathews, daughter of William Withey Mathews and sister of Sir Lloyd Mathews, in 1885. The marriage was childless. Cave died in March 1928, aged 72, at St Ann's, Burnham, Somerset, and was buried at Berrow in the same county. On the day of his death his resignation as Lord Chancellor had been accepted and it had been announced that he would be created an earl, and so his widow was created Countess Cave of Richmond. Having had no children, the viscountcy became extinct on Lord Cave's death, as did the earldom when his widow died in 1938.

References

• www.thepeerage.com

External links

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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Thomas Skewes-Cox	Member of Parliament for Kingston 1906–1918	Succeeded by John Gordon Drummond Campbell
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir F.E. Smith	Solicitor General 1915–1916	Succeeded by Sir Gordon Hewart
Political offices
Preceded by Herbert Samuel	Home Secretary 1916–1919	Succeeded by Edward Shortt
Preceded by The Viscount Birkenhead	Lord Chancellor 1922–1924	Succeeded by The Viscount Haldane
Preceded by The Viscount Haldane	Lord Chancellor 1924–1928	Succeeded by The Lord Hailsham
Academic offices
Preceded by Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1925-1928	Succeeded by Viscount Grey of Fallodon
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Cave 1918–1928	Extinct

Persondata
Name	Cave, George
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 February 1856
Place of birth	London
Date of death	29 March 1928
Place of death	St Anne's, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset