The Asquiths were originally a middle-class family from the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were members of the Congregational church, whose family name derived from the village of Askwith. The first prominent member of the family was H. H. Asquith, who was prime minister from 1908 to 1916. In 1925, Asquith was raised to the peerage as Earl of Oxford and Asquith. His great-grandson Raymond is the present Earl.
All of H. H. Asquith's seven children achieved some prominence in national affairs. By his first wife Helen Kelsall Melland (d. 1891), he had four sons and one daughter. All of the sons volunteered for the Front early in the war. The eldest son, Raymond, a barrister and poet, was killed in action in 1916. The second son, Herbert, was a poet who married Lady Cynthia Charteris, a writer and anthologist. The third son, Arthur, became a Brigadier. The fourth son, Cyril (1890–1954), became a Law Lord. The daughter, Violet (1887–1969) became a Liberal politician herself.
By his second wife, the former Margot Tennant, Asquith had two more children. His daughter Elizabeth (1897–1945) was a writer who married a Romanian prince, becoming Princess Antoine Bibesco. His youngest son Anthony (1902–1968) became a well-known film director.
Living descendants are omitted unless they are notable and/or have a separate Wikipedia entry.
Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, was a British politician, leader of the Liberal Party for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976.
Raymond Herbert Asquith was an English barrister and eldest son of British prime minister H. H. Asquith. A distinguished Oxford scholar, he was a member of the fashionable group of intellectuals known as the Coterie, which included, Lady Diana Manners, Patrick Shaw-Stewart, Charles Lister, Hugo "Ego" Charteris, Julian Grenfell and Edward Horner. The Coterie were notable for their unconventional lifestyles and lavish hospitality. Like several of them, Asquith was killed in action in the First World War during his father's term in office.
Earl of Oxford and Asquith is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the Liberal politician H. H. Asquith. He was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1905 to 1908, Leader of the Liberal Party from 1908 to 1926 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. Asquith was made Viscount Asquith, of Morley in the West Riding of the County of York, at the same time, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This title is used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom.
Julian Edward George Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, was a British colonial administrator and hereditary peer.
Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith was an English writer and socialite, known for her ghost stories and diaries. She also wrote novels, edited a number of anthologies, wrote for children and covered the British Royal family.
Mark Raymond Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham-Carter was an English publisher and politician. A member of the Bonham-Carter family, he was created a life peer in 1986.
Sir Maurice Bonham-Carter was an English Liberal politician. He was H. H. Asquith's Principal Private Secretary during Asquith's time as prime minister from 1910 to 1916 and later served in other government posts. He played cricket for Oxford University Cricket Club in the early 20th century. The actress Helena Bonham Carter is his granddaughter.
Helen Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury,, known until her marriage as Violet Asquith, was a British politician and diarist. She was the daughter of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916, and she was known as Lady Violet, a courtesy title, after her father's elevation to the peerage as Earl of Oxford and Asquith in 1925. Later she became active in Liberal politics herself, and was a leading opponent of appeasement. She stood for Parliament and became a life peer.
Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury is a British Liberal Democrat politician, and member of the House of Lords.
Raymond Henry Bonham Carter was a British banker and a member of the prominent Bonham Carter family.
Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith,, is a British former diplomat and hereditary peer, styled Viscount Asquith until he succeeded to his father's peerage titles on 16 January 2011. The earldom of Oxford and Asquith was created for his paternal great-grandfather, H. H. Asquith, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
John Bonham-Carter was a British politician and barrister.
William George Hervey Jolliffe, 4th Baron Hylton, was a British peer and soldier.
Raymond Hervey Jolliffe, 5th Baron Hylton, ARICS, DL, is a British peer and landowner. He was one of 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, sitting as a crossbencher. He was the longest-serving Crossbench member of the House of Lords at the time of his retirement.
The Bonham-Carter family is a British family that has included several prominent people active in various spheres in the United Kingdom.
Laura Miranda Grimond, Baroness Grimond was a British Liberal Party politician, and the wife of party leader Jo Grimond.
Sir John Francis Fortescue Horner, was a British barrister. His family had lived at Mells Manor for generations and many have memorials in St Andrew's Church, Mells. He and his family became associated with The Souls, a social group which included many of the most distinguished English politicians and intellectuals of the Victorian era.
Katharine Frances Asquith was an English landowner and patron of the arts. During the First World War, she served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. She was the wife of Raymond Asquith and the daughter-in-law of wartime prime minister H. H. Asquith.