Richard Curzon, 4th Earl Howe

Richard George Penn Curzon, 4th Earl Howe, GCVO, TD, JP (28 April 1861 – 10 January 1929), styled Viscount Curzon between 1876 and 1900, was a British courtier and Conservative politician. He served as Treasurer of the Household between 1896 and 1900 and was Lord Chamberlain to Queen Alexandra between 1903 and 1925.

The Right Honourable The Earl Howe GCVO TD JP
"South Bucks". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1896.
Lord-in-Waiting Government Whip
In office 30 October 1900 – 1 October 1903
Monarch	Victoria Edward VII
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	The Earl of Clarendon
Succeeded by	The Earl of Erroll
Treasurer of the Household
In office 11 February 1896 – 30 October 1900
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded by	Marquess of Carmarthen
Succeeded by	Victor Cavendish
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 26 September 1900 – 10 January 1929 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	The 3rd Earl Howe
Succeeded by	The 5th Earl Howe
Member of Parliament for Wycombe
In office 18 December 1885 – 25 September 1900
Preceded by	Gerard Smith
Succeeded by	William Grenfell
Personal details
Born	28 April 1861
Died	10 January 1929 (aged 67)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	(1) Lady Georgiana Spencer Churchill (1860–1906) (2) Florence Davis (d. 1925) (3) Lorna Curzon (d. 1961)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

Background and education

Curzon was the eldest son of Richard Curzon-Howe, 3rd Earl Howe, and wife Isabella Maria Katherine Anson, daughter of Major-General The Hon. George Anson and wife The Hon. Isabella Elizabeth Annabella Weld-Forester.[1]

He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.

Political career

In 1885, Curzon was elected Member of Parliament for Wycombe.[1][2] He became a government member when he was appointed Treasurer of the Household under Lord Salisbury in 1896,[3] a post he held until 1900,[4] when he inherited his father's titles and gave up his seat in the House of Commons.[1][2] From 1900[4] to 1903[5] he served as Lord-in-waiting under Salisbury and then Arthur Balfour. In 1903 he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order[6] and appointed Lord Chamberlain to Queen Alexandra.[7][8] He served in that post until the Queen's death in 1925.[1]

Lord Howe was also a captain in the Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry, an honorary lieutenant-colonel in the 2nd Battalion of the Leicestershire Volunteer Regiment and a Justice of the Peace for Buckinghamshire.[1]

His brother-in-law, Lord Randolph Churchill, appointed him one of his two literary executors; in that capacity he gave his consent to Winston Churchill writing the biography of his father, although with some reluctance.

Family

Lord Howe married Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Spencer-Churchill (14 May 1860 – 9 February 1906), the fifth daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, and wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane, on 4 June 1883 at St George's, Hanover Square. Thus, he was Winston Churchill's uncle by marriage. They had one son, Francis. Lady Georgiana Curzon and Lady Chesham initiated in December 1899 the funding of a hospital to be sent to South Africa with the Imperial Yeomanry fighting in the Second Boer War. They raised more than £100,000, leading to the creation of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital, with a base hospital, a field hospital and bearer companies.[9]

After his first wife's death in 1906, Curzon married Florence, Dowager Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, in 1919. After her death in 1925, he married his first cousin once removed, Lorna Curzon. He died in January 1929, aged 67, and was succeeded by his only son, Francis. The Countess Howe died in February 1961.[1]

References

1. thepeerage.com Richard George Penn Curzon, 4th Earl Howe
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
3. "No. 26709". The London Gazette. 14 February 1896. p. 857.
4. "No. 27253". The London Gazette. 4 December 1900. p. 8211.
5. "No. 27609". The London Gazette. 27 October 1903. p. 6531.
6. "No. 27613". The London Gazette. 6 November 1903. p. 6851.
7. "No. 27602". The London Gazette. 2 October 1903. p. 6027.
8. Naval officers, Charles Benedict Davenport, Mary Theresa Scudder, 1919, p.106
9. "The War - The Prince of Wales and the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital". The Times (36088). London. 13 March 1900. p. 6.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl Howe