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J. C. C. Davidson
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{{Short description|British civil servant and Conservative Party politician}} {{Other people|John Davidson}} {{EngvarB|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] | name = The Viscount Davidson | honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCVO|CH|CB|PC}} | image = Viscount Davidson.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | order1 = [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] | term_start1 = 25 May 1923 | term_end1 = 22 January 1924 | monarch1 = [[George V]] | primeminister1 = [[Stanley Baldwin]] | predecessor1 = [[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]] | successor1 = [[Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood|Josiah Wedgwood]] | term_start2 = 10 November 1931 | term_end2 = 28 May 1937 | monarch2 = [[George V]] <br> [[Edward VIII]] <br> [[George VI]] | primeminister2 = [[Ramsay MacDonald]] <br> [[Stanley Baldwin]] | predecessor2 = [[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian|The Marquess of Lothian]] | successor2 = [[Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton|The Earl Winterton]] | birth_date = 23 February 1889 | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1970|12|11|1889|2|23|df=yes}} | death_place = | nationality = British | party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] | alma_mater = [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]] | spouse = [[Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson|Hon. Frances Dickinson]] (1894β1985) | children = 4, including [[Andrew Davidson, 2nd Viscount Davidson|Andrew]] }} '''John Colin Campbell Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCVO|CH|CB|PC}} (23 February 1889 β 11 December 1970<ref>{{Rayment-hc|h|2|date=March 2012}}</ref>), known before his elevation to the peerage as '''J. C. C. Davidson''', was a British civil servant and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician, best known for his close alliance with [[Stanley Baldwin]]. Initially a civil servant, Davidson was private secretary to [[Bonar Law]] between 1915 and 1920. After entering parliament in 1920, he served under Baldwin as [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] between 1923 and 1924 and as [[Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty]] between 1924 and 1926. From 1926 to 1930 he was Chairman of the Conservative Party. He was once again Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1931 and 1937, firstly under [[Ramsay MacDonald]] and from 1935 onwards under Baldwin. On Baldwin's retirement in 1937, Davidson left the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and was ennobled as [[Viscount Davidson]]. Despite being only 48, he never took any further active part in politics. His wife [[Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson|Frances, Viscountess Davidson]], succeeded him as MP for [[Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)|Hemel Hempstead]]. Lord Davidson died in London in 1970. ==Background and education== Davidson was born at [[Aberdeen]], the younger child and only son of Sir James Mackenzie Davidson, a physician and pioneer of X-rays, by Georgina Barbara Watt Henderson, daughter of William Henderson, of Aberdeen. His grandfather John Davidson had accumulated a large fortune in [[Argentina]], of which Davidson inherited a half. He was educated at Fretherne House preparatory school, [[Westminster School|Westminster]] and [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]], and was [[called to the Bar]], [[Middle Temple]], in 1913.<ref name="dnb">William, E. T.; Nicholls, C. S. (editors). ''The Dictionary of National Biography, 1961β1970''. Oxford University Press, 1981.</ref> ==Civil service career, 1910β1920== After leaving Cambridge in 1910, Davidson joined the Colonial Office, where he became unpaid private secretary to [[Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe|Lord Crewe]], the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]]. He continued in this post when [[Lewis Harcourt]] succeeded Crewe as Colonial secretary at the end of 1910. Davidson was anxious to serve in the [[First World War]], but Harcourt considered him so valuable that he managed to convince him to stay at the Colonial Office. In 1915 [[Bonar Law]] replaced Harcourt as head of the Colonial Office, and was urged to retain Davidson as private secretary. They became close friends and Law came to rely as heavily on Davidson as Harcourt had done.<ref name="dnb"/> In December 1916 Bonar Law was appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]] and insisted on taking Davidson with him as private secretary. Davidson managed to persuade Bonar Law to employ [[Stanley Baldwin]] as his [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]], a move that would have far-reaching consequences for Davidson himself and for the nation's history. Baldwin had up until then been an obscure back-bench MP, but his appointment as PPS to Bonar Law was his first move on the ladder of promotion. Davidson and Baldwin developed a close friendship which lasted until Baldwin's death in 1947. In 1918 he was responsible for the final draft of the "[[Coalition Coupon|coupon]]" endorsing parliamentary candidates in the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|general election]] as representatives of the coalition government. In 1919 he was appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (CB).<ref name="dnb"/> ==Political career, 1920β1937== Davidson entered parliament unopposed for [[Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)|Hemel Hempstead]] in 1920 by-election<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32122 |date=12 November 1920 |page=10974 }}</ref> and became [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to Bonar Law, then Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. The latter resigned on the grounds of ill health in May 1921, when Davidson became PPS to Stanley Baldwin, who by then had become [[President of the Board of Trade]].<ref name="dnb"/> The following year he urged Bonar Law to return and accept the leadership of the Conservative Party if the party voted against continuing the [[United Kingdom coalition government (1916β1922)|coalition government]] headed by [[David Lloyd George]]. Despite the wishes of the party leadership, a majority of MP's voted against continuing the coalition at the [[Carlton Club meeting, 19 October 1922|Carlton Club meeting in October 1922]]. [[Austen Chamberlain]] resigned as party leader and was succeeded by [[Bonar Law]]. Shortly afterwards Bonar Law was asked to form a government and once again appointed Davidson as his Parliamentary Private Secretary and unofficial unpaid private secretary.<ref name="dnb"/> Bonar Law resigned in May 1923 after his health collapsed. Davidson was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] in the short [[1923 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours|resignation honours list]] which was issued that same month.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32827 |date=25 May 1923 |page=3739 }}</ref> Stanley Baldwin was chosen to succeed Bonar Law as Prime Minister over the claims of [[Lord Curzon]]. In his biography of Davidson in the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', [[Robert Blake, Baron Blake|Robert Blake]] writes that Davidson's role in the appointment of Baldwin remains a puzzle. [[Lord Stamfordham]], [[George V]]'s private secretary, sounded out Davidson on Bonar Law's wishes for his successor. Bonar Law, now gravely ill, asked not to be involved, but it was apparent that he favoured Baldwin although he could not overlook the claims of party grandee, Curzon. In 1954, a memorandum was found in the [[Royal Archives]] that had obviously been dictated by Davidson and clearly argued for the claims of Baldwin over Curzon. The note had been handed over to Stamfordham by [[Ronald Waterhouse (private secretary)|Sir Ronald Waterhouse]], another of Bonar Law's secretaries, at the same time as his official resignation as Prime Minister. Stamfordham had noted on the memorandum that it "practically expressed the views of Mr. Bonar Law". According to Blake, there was nothing in the memorandum to substantiate that claim. Davidson subsequently said that he had dictated the note after being asked by Stamfordham about the opinion of back-bench MP's. However, Blake argued, "In any case, the result [Baldwin as Bonar Law's successor] was affected only marginally. The King's decision was firmly based on his own good sense and the powerful arguments of [[Arthur Balfour|Balfour]] against the choice of a [[peerage|peer]] as prime minister".<ref name="dnb"/> Following the appointment of Baldwin as prime minister, Davidson entered the government as [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]],<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32828 |date=29 May 1923 |page=3741 }}</ref> and effectively continued as the prime minister's private secretary. However, he lost his seat in parliament at the [[1923 United Kingdom general election|general election of December 1923]], but regained it already in the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|general election in October the following year]]. Baldwin once again formed an administration after the brief first-ever [[Labour Government 1924|1924 Labour government]], and made Davidson [[Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty]]. In this post he was forced to deal with cuts in naval expenditure proposed by the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Winston Churchill]], especially regarding the construction of new cruisers. He served as deputy chief civil commissioner during the [[general strike of 1926]], with responsibility for publicity. He also managed the short-lived ''[[British Gazette]]'' during the strike and arranged for the broadcasting of official bulletins.<ref name="dnb"/> In 1926 Davidson left the government to take up the post of [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]], which he remained until 1930. He was primarily charged with raising cash for the party and cleaning up the honours system, which had fallen into disrepute following informal cash-for-honours system instigated by Lloyd George in 1918. He was also the driving force behind the establishment of [[Ashridge Business School|Ashridge]] in memory of Bonar Law.<ref name="dnb"/> In 1928 he was sworn of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]].<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33354 |date=7 February 1928 |page=831 }}</ref> According to Blake, Davidson "left a lasting imprint on the organization of the party, including the creation of the Research Department, and many of the changes attributed to his successor, [[Neville Chamberlain]], were in fact his". However, Davidson came under criticism after the defeat at the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]] and resigned in 1930.<ref name="dnb"/> In November 1931 Davidson was once again appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the National Government headed by [[Ramsay MacDonald]].<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33771 |date=13 November 1931 |page=7311 }}</ref> He was chairman of the Indian States inquiry committee and travelled to [[India]] in 1932 and was made a member of the joint select committee whose proposals resulted in the [[Government of India Act 1935]]. He declined the [[Governor of Bombay|governorship of Bombay]]. He invited Joachim von Ribbentrop to meet with Stanley Baldwin for the first time in Westminster to discuss Hitler's ideas about equality in armaments.<ref>{{cite book | last=Ribbentrop | first=Joachim von | title=The Ribbentrop memoirs | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London | year=1954 | oclc=922196089 | page=36}}</ref> He remained Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Baldwin became Prime Minister for the third time in 1935, although he was never a member of the cabinet.<ref name="dnb"/> The latter year he was also made a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] (GCVO). He stepped down from the government and the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] after [[Neville Chamberlain]] became Prime Minister in May 1937.<ref name="dnb"/> The following June he was elevated to the peerage as '''Viscount Davidson''', of Little Gaddesden in the County of Hertford.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34410 |date=22 June 1937 |page=4010 }}</ref> He was succeeded as MP by his wife, [[Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson|Frances, Viscountess Davidson]] (see below).<ref name="dnb"/> ==Later career, 1937β1970== Despite being only 48 at the time of his elevation to the peerage, Davidson took no further active part in political life. He remained involved with Ashridge and his business affairs. During the [[Second World War]] he was with the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]] between 1940 and 1941 and made an official tour of South America in 1942. This was followed in 1943 with his foundation of Canning House, an important centre for Latin American culture and education. Blake writes of Davidson: "A man of much charm and geniality, bespectacled and ruddy complexioned, Davidson could be very tough. He was essentially one who operated behind the scenes rather than on the front of the stage. A streak of Scottish puritanism put him emphatically on the side of the 'respectable'. He had no sympathy with the buccaneers β [[Lloyd George]], [[Churchill]], [[F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead|Birkenhead]], [[Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook|Beaverbrook]]. He was deeply devoted to Baldwin who owed a great debt to his advice, companionship, and support."<ref name="dnb"/> ==Marriage and children== Davidson married [[Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson|Frances Joan "Mimi" Dickinson]], daughter of [[Willoughby Dickinson, 1st Baron Dickinson|Sir Willoughby Dickinson]], later Lord Dickinson of Painswick, in 1919. They had two sons and two daughters:<ref>Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003</ref> * [[The Honourable|Hon]] Margaret Joan Davidson (24 June 1922 β 11 May 2008) * Hon Jean Elizabeth Davidson (19 June 1924 β 15 August 2020), married the Hon Charles Strutt, son of [[Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh]]. They had three children, the youngest of whom is [[Baron Rayleigh|John Gerald Strutt, 6th Baron Rayleigh]] and the eldest is [[Anne Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington]]. * [[John Andrew Davidson, 2nd Viscount Davidson]] (22 December 1928 β 22 July 2012) * [[Viscount Davidson|Malcolm William Mackenzie Davidson, 3rd Viscount Davidson]] (28 August 1934 β 27 September 2019) Lady Davidson remained MP for Hemel Hempstead until 1959, and was created a [[life peer]] as Baroness Northchurch in 1963. Lord and Lady Davidson thereby became one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right.<ref name="dnb"/> ==Death== Lord Davidson died in London in December 1970, at the age of 81. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest son [[Andrew Davidson, 2nd Viscount Davidson|Andrew]], who also became a Conservative government minister. Andrew died in 2012 and the title passed to his brother Malcolm who became the 3rd Viscount. Viscountess Davidson died in November 1985, aged 91. ==In popular culture== Davidson was featured prominently in [[Jack Thorne]]'s 2023 play ''[[When Winston Went to War with the Wireless]]'', played by Ravin J Ganatra.<ref>{{cite web |title=Donmar Warehouse reveals complete cast for "When Winston Went to War with the Wireless" |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/donmar-warehouse-reveals-complete-cast-for-when-winston-went-to-war-with-the-wireless_58814/ |website=[[WhatsOnStage.com]] |access-date=25 August 2023 |date=24 April 2023}}</ref> ==Arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image = Davidson Achievement.png |escutcheon = Argent on a fess Sable between in chief two pheons Azure and in base a boar's head erased of the second a portcullis chained Or. |crest = A lion passant Gules charged on the shoulder with a pheon Or and holding in the dexter paw a torch inflamed Proper. |supporters = On the dexter side a horse Argent charged on the shoulder with a rose Gules barbed and seeded Proper and on the sinister side a horse Sable charged on the shoulder with a martlet Or. |motto = Lux Ex Tenebris <ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1949}}</ref>}} == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-davidson-1 | J. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson }} * [http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw137956/John-Colin-Campbell-Davidson-1st-Viscount-Davidson Portrait of J. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson, at the National Portrait Gallery.] * [https://archives.parliament.uk/collections/getrecord/GB61_DAV Parliamentary Archives, Papers of John Campbell Davidson MP, 1889β1970] {{S-start}} {{S-par|uk}} {{Succession box | title = Member of Parliament for [[Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)|Hemel Hempstead]] | years = [[1920 Hemel Hempstead by-election|1920]]β[[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]] | before = [[Gustavus Talbot]] | after = [[John Freeman Dunn]] }} {{Succession box | title = Member of Parliament for [[Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)|Hemel Hempstead]] | years = [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]β[[1937 Hemel Hempstead by-election|1937]] | before = [[John Freeman Dunn]] | after = [[Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson|The Viscountess Davidson]] }} {{S-off}} {{Succession box | title=[[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] | before=[[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]] | after=[[Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood|Josiah Wedgwood]] | years=1923β1924 }} {{s-bef|before=[[Charles Ammon]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty]]|years=1924β1926 }} {{s-aft|after=[[Cuthbert Headlam]]}} {{Succession box | title=[[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] | before=[[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian|The Marquess of Lothian]] | after=[[Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton|The Earl Winterton]] | years=1931β1937 }} {{S-ppo}} {{Succession box | title = [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]] | years = 1926β1930 | before = [[Stanley Jackson (cricketer)|Stanley Jackson]] | after = [[Neville Chamberlain]] }} {{S-reg|uk}} {{s-new|creation }} {{s-ttl | title=[[Viscount Davidson]] | years=1937β1970}} {{s-aft | after=[[Andrew Davidson, 2nd Viscount Davidson|Andrew Davidson]]}} {{S-end}} {{Chairman of the Conservative Party}}{{PPSs to the Prime Minister|state=autocollapse}}{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, J. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount}} [[Category:1889 births]] [[Category:1970 deaths]] [[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]] [[Category:Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister]] [[Category:Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster]] [[Category:Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers]] [[Category:UK MPs 1918β1922]] [[Category:UK MPs 1922β1923]] [[Category:UK MPs 1924β1929]] [[Category:UK MPs 1929β1931]] [[Category:UK MPs 1931β1935]] [[Category:UK MPs 1935β1945]] [[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]] [[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]] [[Category:Spouses of life peers]] [[Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge]] [[Category:Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK)]] [[Category:Viscounts created by George VI]]
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