Peter Hennessy

Last updated

The Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield
FBA
Official portrait of Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield crop 2, 2019.jpg
Peter Hennessy in 2019
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
25 November 2010
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born (1947-03-28) 28 March 1947 (age 77)
Edmonton, London
NationalityBritish
Political partyNone (crossbencher)
Children2
Education
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge
OccupationHistorian and academic; formerly journalist
ProfessionAttlee Professor of Contemporary British History
Awards

Peter John Hennessy, Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, FBA (born 28 March 1947) is an English historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London. [1]

Contents

Early life

Hennessy was born in Edmonton, north London, son of William Gerald Hennessy and Edith, née Wood-Johnson. [2] He comes from a large Catholic family of Irish provenance. He was brought up in large houses requisitioned by the local council, first in Allandale Avenue and then in Lyndhurst Gardens, Finchley, north London. [3]

He attended the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, and on Sundays he went to St Mary Magdalene Church, where he was an altar boy. [3] (He was the subject of the first episode, first broadcast on 6 August 2007, of the BBC Radio 4 series The House I Grew Up In , in which he talked about his childhood. [3] )

Hennessy was educated at St Benedict's School, then a grammar school in Ealing, West London. After his father's job led the family to move to the Cotswolds, he attended Marling School, a grammar school in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He went on to study at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a BA in 1969 and a PhD in 1990. Hennessy was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at Harvard University from 1971 to 1972.

Career

Journalism

Hennessy was a journalist for the Times Higher Education Supplement from 1972 to 1974. From 1974 to 1982, he wrote leaders for The Times , for which he was also the Whitehall correspondent. He was The Financial Times ' lobby correspondent at Westminster in 1976. In June 1977, Hennessy accused Donald Beves of being the "fourth man" in the Cambridge Spy Ring (then-known participants were Philby, Burgess, and Maclean), but Geoffrey Grigson and others quickly leapt to the defense of Beves, considering him uninterested in politics. [4]

Hennessy wrote for The Economist in 1982. He was a regular presenter of Analysis on BBC Radio 4 from 1987 to 1992. On 17 November 2005, he made a trenchant appearance alongside Lord Wilson of Dinton before the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee on the publication of political memoirs.

In July and August 2013 he was the interviewer for BBC Radio 4's Reflections, [5] a series of four biographical interview programmes featuring Shirley Williams, Jack Straw, Norman Tebbit and Neil Kinnock. Hennessy continues to present the programme.

On 17 April 2022, he was interviewed by BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House . On the subject of the Metropolitan Police fines issued to Boris Johnson for lockdown breaches during the Partygate scandal, he said "I think we're in the most severe constitutional crisis involving a prime minister that I can remember." [6]

Academic career

Professor Hennessy giving a public lecture at LSE in 1989 Peter Hennessy.jpg
Professor Hennessy giving a public lecture at LSE in 1989

Hennessy co-founded the Institute of Contemporary British History in 1986. From 1992 to 2000, he was professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. From 1994 to 1997, he gave public lectures as Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, London. From 2001, he has been Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary, University of London.

His analysis of post-war Britain, Never Again: Britain 1945–1951, won the Duff Cooper Prize in 1992 and the NCR Book Award in 1993.

His study of Britain in the 1950s and the rise of Harold Macmillan, Having It So Good: Britain in the 1950s, won the 2007 Orwell Prize for political writing. [7]

Elevation to the peerage

Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield in 2018 Official portrait of Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield.jpg
Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield in 2018

On 5 October 2010 the House of Lords Appointments Commission said that Hennessy was to be a crossbench (non-political) peer. He was created a life peer on 8 November 2010, taking the title Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, of Nympsfield in the County of Gloucestershire. [8] He was introduced to the House of Lords on 25 November. [9]

"I'm terribly pleased and honoured", Hennessy said at hearing the news. "I hope I can help the House of Lords a bit on constitutional matters. I'll certainly give it my best shot." [10] In August 2014, Lord Hennessy was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum. [11]

Personal life

Hennessy is married with two daughters. [12] He lives in London with his wife Enid. [13] In September 2019, he stated in an interview that he had early-stage Parkinson's disease. [14]

On 7 May 2023, Hennessy was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs . [13]

Bibliography

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Booknotes interview with Hennessy on Whitehall, 26 November 1989, C-SPAN

Hennessy is the author of numerous articles and of the following books:

Coat of arms of Peter Hennessy
Coronet of a British Baron.svg
Hennessy of Nympsfield Escutcheon.png
Crest
A worker bee statant Or holding in the dexter foreclaws an open fountain pen bendwise sinister nib downwards Proper.
Escutcheon
Azure on a chevron engrailed between three closed books clasped Or a chevronel Gules.
Supporters
On either side a worker bee Or holding in the interior foreclaws an open fountain pen that on the dexter bendwise and on the sinister bendwise sinister nibs downwards Proper. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary of Teck</span> Queen of the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936

Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.

<i>Today</i> (BBC Radio 4) BBC Radio 4s long-running early morning news and current affairs programme

Today, colloquially known as the Today programme, is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00, it is produced by BBC News and is the highest-rated programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks. In-depth political interviews and reports are interspersed with regular news bulletins, as well as Thought for the Day. It has been voted the most influential news programme in Britain in setting the political agenda, with an average weekly listening audience around 6 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord President of the Council</span> United Kingdom official position

The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends and is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Privy Council, presenting business for the approval of the Sovereign. In the modern era, the incumbent is by convention always a member of one of the houses of Parliament, and the office is normally a Cabinet position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon</span> British photographer and filmmaker (1930–2017)

Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, and other major venues; more than 280 of his photographs are in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Lane Fox</span> British businesswoman (born 1973); member of the House of Lords

Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, is a British businesswoman, philanthropist and public servant. She co-founded Last Minute during the dotcom boom of the early 2000s and has subsequently served on public service digital projects. She sits on the boards of WeTransfer and Chanel, as well as being a trustee of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust. She previously served on the board of Channel 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington</span> British Conservative politician (1919–2018)

Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton,, was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secretary from 1979 to 1982, Chairman of the General Electric Company from 1983 to 1984, and Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. In Margaret Thatcher's first government, he played a major role in negotiating the Lancaster House Agreement that ended the conflict in Rhodesia and enabled the creation of Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swinging Sixties</span> Youth-driven cultural revolution centred in London in the 1960s

The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, music and fashion, and was symbolised by the city's "pop and fashion exports", such as the Beatles, as the multimedia leaders of the British Invasion of musical acts; the mod and psychedelic subcultures; Mary Quant's miniskirt designs; popular fashion models such as Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton; the iconic status of popular shopping areas such as London's King's Road, Kensington and Carnaby Street; the political activism of the anti-nuclear movement; and the sexual liberation movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth</span>

Richard Douglas Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth, FLSW is a retired bishop of the Church of England and former British Army officer. He was the Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006. From 2008 until 2012 he was the Gresham Professor of Divinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Manningham-Buller</span> Former Director General of MI5 (born 1948)

Elizabeth Lydia Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller, is a retired British intelligence officer. She worked as a teacher for three years before joining MI5, the British internal Security Service. She led the newly created Irish counter-terrorism section from 1992 and then became director in charge of surveillance and technical operations. She became Director General of MI5 in October 2002 and, in that capacity, led the Security Service's response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Following her retirement in April 2007, she became a crossbench life peer in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock</span> English philosopher and writer (1924–2019)

Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, was an English philosopher of morality, education, and mind, and a writer on existentialism. She is best known for chairing an inquiry whose report formed the basis of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. She served as Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1984 to 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Andrew (historian)</span> British historian (born 1941)

Christopher Maurice Andrew, is an Emeritus Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Cambridge with an interest in international relations and in particular the history of intelligence services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Watson, Baron Watson of Richmond</span> British politician

Alan John Watson, Baron Watson of Richmond is a UK-based broadcaster, Liberal Democrat politician and leadership communications consultant.

Sir Waldron Smithers was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Parliament for more than 30 years and an active anti-communist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indarjit Singh</span> British journalist and broadcaster (born 1932)

Indarjit Singh, Baron Singh of Wimbledon,, sometimes transliterated Inderjit Singh, is a British journalist and broadcaster, a prominent British Indian active in Sikh and interfaith activities, and a member of the House of Lords.

Jeremy Nicolas Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of Lullington, was a British barrister. He was the son of St John Hutchinson, KC, and his wife, Mary Barnes, and was descended from a regicide of Charles I, Colonel John Hutchinson of Owthorpe. Standing as a Labour candidate in the 1945 general election, he finally entered Parliament as a life peer in 1978, eventually voting with the Liberal Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy Scholarship</span> British university scholarship

Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scholarship program as a way to "offer exceptional students unique opportunities to broaden their intellectual and personal horizons, in ways that are more important than ever in an era defined by global interaction.". In 2007, 163 applications were received, of which 10 were ultimately selected, for an acceptance rate of 6.1%.

Richard Charles Vinen is a British historian and academic who holds a professorship at King's College London. Vinen is a specialist in 20th-century European history, particularly of Britain and France.

William James Gregory Keegan, CBE is a British journalist and a fiction and non-fiction author. He was economics editor of The Observer from 1977 to 2003, and continues to contribute to the paper as a columnist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Brotton</span> British historian

Jerry Brotton is a British historian. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London, a television and radio presenter and a curator.

References

  1. "Queen Mary College website biographical note on Peter Hennessy". School of History, Queen Mary, University of London. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  2. Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019, ed. Susan Morris, Debrett's Ltd, 2020, p. 2991
  3. 1 2 3 "The House I Grew Up In, featuring Peter Hennessy". The House I Grew Up In. 6 August 2007. BBC Radio 4.
  4. 'Who was the fourth man?' in The Times , issue 60032, dated Friday, 17 June 1977, p. 17.
  5. "Series 1, Reflections with Peter Hennessy - Episode guide - BBC Radio 4".
  6. "No 10 parties: PM's lockdown fine constitutional crisis, says historian". BBC News. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  7. Pauli, Michelle (25 April 2007). "Orwell prize winner is Having it So Good". The Guardian.
  8. "No. 59602". The London Gazette . 11 November 2010. p. 21747.
  9. "House of Lords Business".
  10. "Professor Hennessy joins the House of Lords". Queen Mary University of London. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  11. "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories". The Guardian. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  12. Crace, John (23 March 2004). "Peter Hennessy: Whitehall force". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Professor Peter Hennessy, historian". Desert Island Discs. 7 May 2023. BBC. Radio 4. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  14. Goodhart, David (7 September 2019). "Our sense of decency survived the war. It won't survive this". The Times. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  15. Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 2991.

Sources

Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield
Followed by