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Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Hailes
GBE CH PC
Governor-General of the
West Indies Federation
In office
3 January 1958 – 31 May 1962
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterGrantley Herbert Adams
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
In office
30 October 1951 – 30 December 1955
Prime Minister
DeputyHerbert Butcher (1951–1953)
Harry Mackeson (1951–1952)
Edward Heath (1952–1955)
Preceded byWilliam Whiteley
Succeeded byEdward Heath
Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Commons
In office
4 July 1948 – 26 October 1951
DeputyCedric Drewe (1948–1951)
Harry Mackeson (1950–1951)
LeaderWinston Churchill
Preceded byJames Stuart
Succeeded byHerbert Bowden
Opposition Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Commons
In office
July 1945 – 4 July 1948
LeaderWinston Churchill
Preceded byGeorge Mathers
Succeeded byCedric Drewe
Member of Parliament
for Beckenham
In office
23 February 1950 – 15 February 1957
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byPhilip Goodhart
Member of Parliament
for East Toxteth
In office
5 February 1931 – 23 February 1950
Preceded byHenry Mond
Succeeded byReginald Bevins
Personal details
Born
Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn

(1901-04-02)2 April 1901
Died5 November 1974(1974-11-05) (aged 73)
Political partyConservative
SpouseDiana
ParentSir Archibald Buchan-Hepburn & Edith Karslake
EducationHarrow School
Alma materTrinity College

Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes, GBE, CH, PC (2 April 1901 – 5 November 1974)[1] was a British Conservative politician and the only Governor-General of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962.

Background and education

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Buchan-Hepburn was the youngest son of Sir Archibald Buchan-Hepburn, 4th Baronet (see Buchan-Hepburn baronets) and his wife Edith Agnes (née Karslake). He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2]

Political career

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Buchan-Hepburn was a personal secretary to Winston Churchill and a London County Councillor. Having stood unsuccessfully for election as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Wolverhampton East at the 1929 general election,[3] he became MP for the East Toxteth division of Liverpool following a by-election in February 1931.[1][4] In November 1939, he was appointed a Parliamentary Whip for the Conservative Party and a Lord of the Treasury.[5] In July 1940, almost a year into the Second World War, he received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery.[6][7]

Returning to politics in 1945, Buchan-Hepburn became Deputy Whip and then, in 1948, Chief Whip. He was elected MP for the newly created Beckenham constituency in Kent[8] after his East Toxteth constituency was abolished by boundary changes before the 1950 general election. From 1951 to 1955, he was Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. In 1957, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Hailes of Prestonkirk in the County of East Lothian.[9] Lord Hailes was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in September 1957.[10]

When, in 1958, the West Indies Federation was formed in response to complaints against British colonialism in the Caribbean, Lord Hailes was appointed the Federation's first Governor-General and relocated to Port of Spain on the island of Trinidad. Four years later, the new state was dissolved and he returned to England, where he served as Chairman of the Historic Buildings Council (a predecessor of English Heritage, formally known as the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England).

In the 1962 Birthday Honours Lord Hailes was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour.[11]

Personal life

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Buchan-Hepburn married Diana Mary, daughter of Brigadier-General the Hon. Charles Lambton and war widow of Major William Hedworth Williamson, in 1945. They had no children. He was step-father to Diana's son, Sir Nicholas Frederick Hedworth Williamson, 11th Baronet.

Buchan-Hepburn died in November 1974, aged 73, whence his barony became extinct.[2]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
  2. ^ a b thepeerage.com Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn, 1st and last Baron Hailes
  3. ^ Craig, op. cit. page, page 281
  4. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 173. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  5. ^ The Edinburgh Gazette, 28 November 1939, Issue 15658, p. 951
  6. ^ The London Gazette, 27 August 1940, Supplement 34934, p. 5273
  7. ^ The London Gazette 9 December 1941, Supplement 35377, p. 7044
  8. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
  9. ^ "No. 41003". The London Gazette. 15 February 1957. p. 1044.
  10. ^ "No. 41187". The London Gazette. 27 September 1957. p. 5636.
  11. ^ "No. 42683". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1962. p. 4331.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Liverpool East Toxteth
1931–1950 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Beckenham
1950–1957 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
1951–1955 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Conservative Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons
1945–1948 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
1948–1955 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Hailes
1957–1974 		Extinct
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