Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley

The Right Honourable The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley GCVO KCMG MC PC


Minister of Defence
In office 20 December 1955 – 18 October 1956
Prime Minister	Anthony Eden
Preceded by	Selwyn Lloyd
Succeeded by	Anthony Head
Personal details
Born	Walter Turner Monckton

Walter Turner Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, GCVO, KCMG, MC, PC (17 January 1891 – 9 January 1965) was a British politician.

Monckton was born in the small village of Plaxtol in northern Kent. He was the eldest child of paper manufacturer Frank William Monckton (1861–1924), and his wife, Dora Constance (d. 1915). He was head boy of his preparatory school, The Knoll, at Woburn Sands in Buckinghamshire, and attended Harrow School from 1904 to 1910. He chose to enter Balliol College, Oxford as a commoner (despite winning in 1910 an Exhibition to Hertford College, Oxford) and obtained a third in classical moderations (1912) and a second in history (1914). He was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1913. He played cricket for Harrow against Eton in the famous Fowler's match in 1910. Whilst at Oxford, he played a first-class match for the combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricket team in 1911.

A lawyer, Monckton served as advisor to Edward VIII during the abdication crisis, having been Attorney General to the Duchy of Cornwall since 1932. He was Recorder of Hythe from 1930-37.