The Right Honourable The Lord Moyne DSO PC |
|
---|---|
Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, c. 1942/1943
|
|
Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
In office 8 February 1941 – 22 February 1942 |
|
Monarch | George VI |
Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | The Lord Lloyd |
Succeeded by | Viscount Cranborne |
Leader of the House of Lords | |
In office 8 February 1941 – 22 February 1942 |
|
Monarch | George VI |
Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | The Lord Lloyd |
Succeeded by | Viscount Cranborne |
Personal details | |
Born |
Walter Edward Guinness 29 March 1880 Dublin, Ireland |
Died |
6 November 1944 (aged 64) Cairo, Egypt |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Lady Evelyn Erskine (1883-1939) |
Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, DSO & Bar, PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944) was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assassinated by the Jewish terrorist group Lehi. The assassination of Lord Moyne sent shock waves through Palestine and the rest of the world.
Walter Guinness was born in Dublin, Ireland, the third son of the 1st Earl of Iveagh. His family homes were at Farmleigh near Dublin, and at Elveden in Suffolk. At Eton, Guinness was elected head of 'Pop', the club for prefects, and was appointed Captain of Boats.
On 24 June 1903, he married Lady Evelyn Hilda Stuart Erskine (1883–1939), third daughter of Shipley Gordon Stuart Erskine, 14th Earl of Buchan. The Earls of Buchan were an ancient family in the Scottish nobility. They had three children, Bryan (d.1992), Murtogh (d.2002) and Grania (d.1994)
Guinness joined the yeomanry regiment The Loyal Suffolk Hussars as a second lieutenant on 15 November 1899, and volunteered for service in the Second Boer War, commissioned as a lieutenant in the 44th (Suffolk) company of the 12th Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry on 7 February 1900. The company left for South Africa in February 1900, and during the service he was promoted to the honorary rank of captain in the army. According to Wilson, "they had a devil-may-care ethos and distaste for military discipline ... they made lightning raids on Afrikaner positions; they skirmished ahead of advancing columns." At the end of May 1900, led by Major-General Hamilton, they assaulted the ridge at Doornkop, though Guinness was wounded immediately after the battle in mopping-up at Witpoortjie. For his war effort, he was Mentioned in Despatches and was entitled to the Queen's South Africa Medal with four clasps. Following the war, he was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant in the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry (the Duke of York´s Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars) on 12 March 1902, and promoted to the substantive rank of captain the following month (5 April 1902).