Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough

Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough, GBE (14 March 1861–22 September 1949) was born into a noble family, but left school with only £5 to his name.Citation
title =Former Cowpuncher Who Came to US With £5 in Youth and Made a Fortune Dies
newspaper =New York Times
pages =
year =1949
date =1949-09-23
url = ] He became a cowboy, self-made industrialist, award-winning yachtsman, British peer and Conservative Party politician, founder of the Military Massage Service and the Cambridgeshire Battalion of The Suffolk Regiment, and treasurer of the League of Nations Union.

Family

Paget was the youngest son of Lord Alfred Paget (the fifth son of the 1st Marquess of Anglesey) and was educated at Harrow and Cambridge. On 12 November 1895, he married the American heiress, Pauline Whitney and they had two daughters: Olive Cecilia (1899-1974, married three times and later the owner of Leeds Castle) and Dorothy Wyndham (1905-1960, died unmarried).

Early career & election to Parliament

After leaving Harrow with almost no money in 1879, Paget briefly worked for the Midland Railway in Derby. In 1881, he became a cattle rancher in Le Mars, Iowa, where he became friends with Theodore Roosevelt.cite web
last =
first =
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coauthors =
title =Edith Starr Miller
work =
publisher =Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
date =1871-2007
url =http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/miller_e/miller_e.html
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ] He later settled in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he became a real estate salesman. He subsequently moved to New York City, living in what is now the Lubin House, Syracuse University's alumni centre. [cite web
title =Lubin House History
work =
publisher =Suracuse University
date =
url =http://lubinhouse.syr.edu/information/history.html
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ] Whilst in New York Paget became a founder member of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Almeric Hugh Paget
work =
publisher =The Whitney Research Group
date =1999
url =http://www.whitneygen.org/archives/biography/williamc.html
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ] In 1901 he returned to England, citing his wife's poor health as the reason. The family initially settled in Brandon Park House, Suffolk, [cite book
title =Tree & History Trail, Brandon Park
publisher =Suffolk County Council
date =1999
location =Ipswich
pages =
url =http://www.brandon-heritage.co.uk/brandon_park.html
doi =
id =
isbn = ] later moving to Hatfield.

Paget was a highly successful yachtsman, winning the first prize in the open handicap race from Cannes to Monte Carlo in 1902, and winning the Czar's prize at Cowes Week in 1909. On his return to England from the US, he was appointed Rear-Commodore of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. The Belvidere Cup was named by Paget in 1913, in honour of a boat owned by his father which had competed for the cup the first time it was contested in 1845. [cite web
title =History of the Belvidere Cup
work =
publisher =Royal Thames Yacht Club
date =2007
url =http://royalthames.co.uk/pages/posts/belvidere-cup-at-rvd-saturday-24th-march250.php
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ]

In 1906, Paget contested the Cambridge constituency, losing to Stanley Buckmaster. In January 1910 he narrowly won the seat by a majority of 687, holding the seat until his resignation in 1917.

World War I

In August 1914 Paget founded the Almeric Paget Massage Corps (renamed the Almeric Paget Military Massage Corps in December 1916, and the Military Massage Service in 1919).cite web
last =
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title =Focus on Women in Uniform: The Almeric Paget Military Massage Corps
work =
publisher =Family Records Service
date =2007
url =http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/focuson/womeninuniform/almeric_paget_intro.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ] Initially 50 masseuses were recruited, rapidly rising to over 100.

In November 1914 Paget founded the Massage and Electrical Outpatient Clinic, in premises at 55 Portland Place, London, loaned by Lady Alexander Paget. For the duration of World War I the clinic treated an average of 200 wounded officers and soldiers per day.

In addition to the Massage Corps, following the outbreak of war Paget sponsored the formation of a Cambridgeshire Battalion formed of volunteers. Comprising approximately 1350 volunteers, the Battalion formed part of The Suffolk Regiment and was popularly known as the Cambs Suffolks. [cite web
last =Curme
first =Phil
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The Cambs Suffolks: The Early Days
work =
publisher =Walking the Battlefields
date =2007-08-10
url =http://www.curme.co.uk/1914.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ] The Battalion was initially posted within the UK, transferring to France in 1916; 970 members died during World War I including 190 on the First day on the Somme. [cite web
last =Curme
first =Phil
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The 11th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
work =
publisher =Walking the Battlefields
date =2007-08-10
url =http://www.curme.co.uk/faq.htm#FAQ
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ]

Ennoblement and later career

In 1918, Paget was created Baron Queenborough, of Queenborough, County Kent. On 19 July 1921, he married conspiracy theorist and anti-Mormon agitator Edith Starr Miller, author of Common Sense in the Kitchen and Occult Theocrasy and they had three daughters: Hon. Audrey Elizabeth (1922-1991, aviatrix), Hon. Enid Louise (b. 1923) and Hon. Cicilie Carol (b. 1928). In 1920 he was appointed Treasurer of the League of Nations Union, an office he held for sixteen years.cite book
last =Sencourt
first =Robert
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Heirs of Tradition: Tributes of a New Zealander
publisher =Caroll & Nicholson
date =1949
location =London
pages =307
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ] He resigned in 1936 in protest at the League's recognition and admission of the Soviet Union.

Paget was made a GBE in 1926.

Lord Queenborough served as President of the Chihuahua and Pacific Railroad, Chairman of Caxton Electrical and Chairman of Siemens Bros & Co. He was also Governor of Guy's Hospital, President of Miller General Hospital at Greenwich, member of the Council of the Zoological Society of London and President of the Royal Society of St George. [cite book
last =Pine
first =Leslie Gilbert
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The new extinct peerage, 1884-1971: containing extinct, abeyant, dormant & suspended peerages with genealogies and arms
publisher =Heraldry Today
date =1972
location =London
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

In later years he was a keen supporter of Francisco Franco and Adolf Hitler ["It has been wisely said that, upon examination, few things prove wholly bad, and in view of the vital and urgent need for a better understanding between ourselves and Germany this work, which reveals so much that is sound and constructive and worthy of praise, should serve as a timely and excellent antidote to the over numerous publications designed solely to vilify and distort and denigrate the policy and achievements of the remarkable man who, after fifteen years of bitter struggle, became the leader of eighty millions of Germans." cite book
last =Paget
first =Almeric H, Lord Queenborough
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =This is Germany
publisher =Seely Service & Co Ltd
date =1939
location =London
pages =288
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ] and a fanatical anti-Bolshevik campaigner; in a 1935 article he described a perceived plot between the Freemasons and the Communists to take over Europe. [cite journal
last =Paget
first =Almeric H, Lord Queenborough
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =World Plan in Action
journal =English Review
volume =
issue =
pages =
date =1935-08
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ] Despite his fascist sympathies he was appointed President of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations between 1928-29 and again in 1940-41. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Sir Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st and last Baron Queenborough
work =
publisher =ThePeerage.com
date =2004-06-04
url =http://www.thepeerage.com/p873.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-08-21 ]

Lord Queenborough died in 1949 and without male heirs, his title became extinct.

References