Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich GCMG DSO PC (22 February 1890-1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British diplomat, Cabinet member, and author. The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George Prince Regent (later George The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO) is a Military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries awarded for Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
The only son of fashionable society doctor Sir Alfred Cooper and Lady Agnes Duff (sister of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife), he was the youngest of four children and enjoyed a typical gentleman's upbringing of country estates, London society, Eton College, and New College, Oxford. Sir Alfred Cooper ( 1838 - 3 March, 1908) was a fashionable English surgeon and clubman of the late 19th century whose clients included Alexander William George Duff 1st Duke of Fife, KG, KT, GCVO, VD, PC (10 November 1849&ndash12 January 1912 styled Viscount Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British Independent school for boys founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the He had royal blood, being a descendant of King William IV by his mistress Dorothy Jordan. William IV (William Henry 21 August 1765 &ndash 20 June 1837 was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until Dorothy Jordan ( November 21, 1761 – July 5, 1816) was a British actress, Courtesan and the mistress and famous
At Oxford, his Eton friendship with John Manners won him entree into a famous and fashionable circle of young aristocrats and intellectuals known as The Coterie, including Patrick Shaw-Stewart, Raymond Asquith (son of the Prime Minister), Sir Denis Anson, Edward Horner and most famously Lady Diana Manners, the "Lady Di" of her day. For other uses see Coterie The Coterie comprised a fashionable and famous set of English Aristocrats and Intellectuals Patrick Shaw-Stewart ( 17 August, 1888 - 30 December, 1917) was a brilliant Eton College and Oxford scholar of the Edwardian Raymond Asquith ( November 6, 1878 – September 15, 1916) was an English Barrister and eldest son and heir of British Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Cooper Viscountess Norwich ( August 29, 1893 &ndash June 16, 1986) was a British socialite and actress He cultivated a reputation for eloquence and fast living and although he had established a reputation as a poet, he earned an even better reputation for gambling, womanizing, and drinking in his studied emulation of the life of Charles James Fox. The Right Honourable Charles James Fox ( 24 January 1749 &ndash 13 September 1806) was a prominent British Whig
Following Oxford, he entered into the Foreign Service and, owing to the national importance of his work at the cipher desk, he was excluded from military service until 1917, when he joined the Grenadier Guards. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS is the most senior Regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, and as such is the most senior regiment of infantry He served with distinction as a lieutenant in the campaigns of 1918, winning a DSO for conspicuous gallantry. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO) is a Military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries awarded for Almost all of his closest friends, including Shaw-Stewart, Horner, Asquith and John Manners were killed in the war, drawing him closer to Lady Diana Manners, whom he married in 1919. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common An extremely popular social figure hailed for her beauty and eccentricities, she was one of several daughters born to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland; her biological father, however, was believed to be Harry Cust, known as one of the handsomest men of his day. Henry John Brinsley Manners 8th Duke of Rutland KG ( April 16 1852 &ndash May 8 1925) was the son of John Manners 7th Duke See Margaret Lindsay (1726 - 1782 for the wife of Allan Ramsay, and Margaret Lindsay for the film actress also of this name Henry ( Harry) John Cockayne-Cust (October 10 1861 – March 2 1917 was an English journalist and poet and a Member of Parliament for the
The Coopers' marriage was fraught with infidelities, notably Duff's affairs with the Franco-American Singer sewing-machine heiress Daisy Fellowes, the French novelist Louise Leveque de Vilmorin, the writer Susan Mary Alsop (then an American diplomat's wife, by whom he had an illegitimate son, William Patten Jr. Daisy Fellowes (née Marguerite Séverine Philippine Decazes de Glücksbierg, ( April 29, 1890 - December 13, 1962) was a celebrated Louise Levêque de Vilmorin ( 4 April 1902 - 26 December 1969) was a French woman of letters novelist poet journalist ),[1][2] and the Anglo-Irish socialite and fashion model Maxime de La Falaise, although Lady Diana reportedly did not mind, explaining to their son that 'They were the flowers, but I was the tree'. [3]
Returning to the Foreign Service, he became principal private secretary to two ministers and played a significant role in the Egyptian and Turkish crises of the early 1920s before winning a seat in Parliament as a Conservative for Oldham in 1924. Oldham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham, in the historic county of Lancashire and the modern county of Greater Manchester He gave one of the most acclaimed maiden speeches of the century and became known as a stalwart supporter of Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, and a friend of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill. Stanley Baldwin 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867 &ndash 14 December 1947 was a British Conservative politician statesman and major The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 He became Financial Secretary to the War Office in January 1928 before losing his seat in the 1929 election when the Conservative Party lost power. Financial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the Financial Secretary of the War Office department The 1929 UK general election was held on 30 May 1929 and resulted in a Hung parliament. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom.
Turning to literature, he produced Talleyrand, a short biography that was published in 1932 to critical praise. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord 1st Sovereign Prince of Beneventum (2 February 1754 17 May 1838 the Prince of Diplomats, was a French In 1931 a a by-election for the constituency of Westminster St George's saw the Empire Free Trade Crusade party threatening the Conservative position at a time when satisfaction with Baldwin's leadership was at a low. The Westminster St George's by-election 1931 was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 March 1931 for the British House of Commons constituency Westminster St George's, originally named St George's Hanover Square, was a parliamentary constituency in Central London. The Empire Free Trade Crusade was a Political party in the United Kingdom. When the original Conservative candidate stepped down Duff Cooper agreed to contest the election in what was regarded as a referendum on Baldwin's leadership. He won the seat with a majority of 5,710. [4], thus returning to Parliament and serving until 1945.
Returning to ministerial office as Financial Secretary to the War Office in 1931, then as Financial Secretary to the Treasury in 1934, he was elevated to the Cabinet as War Secretary in 1935 and promoted to First Lord of the Admiralty in 1937. Financial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the Financial Secretary of the War Office department Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a junior Ministerial post in the UK Treasury. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy. He completed a biography of Douglas Haig during this period. Field Marshal Douglas Haig 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, The most public critic of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy inside the Cabinet, he famously resigned in 1938 over the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler in an act that MP Vyvyan Adams described as "the first step in the road back to national sanity". Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 &ndash 9 November 1940 was a British Conservative Politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately He later took a prominent role in the famous Norway Debate of 1940 which led to Chamberlain's downfall. The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, was a famous debate in the British House of Commons that took place on May 7 and May 8
He subsequently entered the Cabinet as Minister of Information under Winston Churchill but after a controversial appointment as Resident Cabinet Minster in Singapore in 1941, he did not play a major role in the direction of the war until appointed the British Government's liaison to the Free French in 1943. The Minister of Information is a British government position that was created briefly during the First World War and again during the Second World Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 He subsequently became the British ambassador to France in 1944 and was a great success in Paris. He left office in 1947, was knighted, and devoted himself primarily to literature until his death in 1954 at the age of 63. He produced during this period the classic autobiography Old Men Forget and was eventually created Viscount Norwich in 1952 in recognition of his political and literary career. Old Men Forget is a 1953 Autobiography by Duff Cooper, Viscount Norwich detailing his Victorian childhood Edwardian youth A viscount ( VAI-count is a member of the European Nobility whose comital title ranks usually as in the British peerage, above a His wife refused to be called Lady Norwich, claiming that it sounded too much like "porridge" and promptly took out a newspaper advertisement declaring that she would retain her previous style of Lady Diana Cooper.
Duff Cooper's only legitimate child, John Julius Cooper (born in 1929), became well known as a writer and television host and his granddaughter Artemis Cooper has published several books, including A Durable Fire: The Letters of Duff and Diana Cooper, 1913-50. John Julius Cooper 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO (born 15 September 1929) is an English historian travel writer and television personality The Hon Alice Clare Antonia Opportune Cooper Beevor (born 22 April 1953) is a British writer known as Artemis Cooper Another granddaughter is screenwriter Allegra Huston, the only child of John Julius Cooper and Enrica Soma Huston (then married to the American film director John Huston). John Marcellus Huston ( August 5 1906 &ndash August 28 1987) was an American Film director and Actor.
Duff Cooper was the subject of a biography by John Charmley and a British literary award, the Duff Cooper Prize was established in his name. John Charmley (born 1955 is a British diplomatic historian The Duff Cooper Prize is a prize which goes to the best work of History, Biography, or Political science published in English or French
References
- ^ Vanity Fair, February 2006
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/08/nduff08.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/08/ixhome.html
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2008/06/04/ftjohn104.xml
- ^ Peele, Gillian "St George's and the Empire Crusade" in Cook, Chris and Ramsden, John (Eds) By-elections in British politics (UCL Press, 1997)
Offices held
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William John Tout Edward Grigg |
Member of Parliament for Oldham 2-seat constituency (with William Martin Wiggins) 1924–1929 |
Succeeded by James Wilson Gordon Lang |
| Preceded by Sir Worthington Laming Wothington-Evans |
Member of Parliament for Westminster St George's 1931–1945 |
Succeeded by Arthur Jared Palmer Howard |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Leslie Hore-Belisha |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1934–1935 |
Succeeded by William Morrison |
| Preceded by The Viscount Halifax |
Secretary of State for War 1935–1937 |
Succeeded by Leslie Hore-Belisha |
| Preceded by Sir Samuel Hoare |
First Lord of the Admiralty 1937–1938 |
Succeeded by The Earl Stanhope |
| Preceded by Sir John Reith |
Minister of Information 1940–1941 |
Succeeded by Brendan Bracken |
| Preceded by The Lord Hankey |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1941–1943 |
Succeeded by Ernest Brown |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by None due to German occupation during World War II |
British Ambassador to France 1944–1948 |
Succeeded by Sir Oliver Harvey |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Viscount Norwich 1952–1954 |
Succeeded by John Julius Cooper |
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic