The Earl of Kilmorey | |
---|---|
Minister of State for Trade | |
In office 14 April 1992 –6 July 1995 | |
Prime Minister | John Major |
Preceded by | Tim Sainsbury |
Succeeded by | Anthony Nelson |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Northern Ireland | |
In office 3 September 1985 –15 April 1992 | |
Prime Minister | Thatcher;Major |
Preceded by | Chris Patten |
Succeeded by | None |
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Environment | |
In office 1984–1985 | |
Sec. of State | Patrick Jenkin |
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
In office 1983–1984 | |
Sec. of State | James Prior |
Member of Parliament for North Wiltshire (Chippenham 1979–1983) | |
In office 3 May 1979 –8 April 1997 | |
Preceded by | Daniel Awdry |
Succeeded by | James Gray |
Personal details | |
Born | 29 January 1942 |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Sigrid Thiessen-Gairdner (m. 1965) |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | The 5th Earl of Kilmorey Helen Bridget Faudel-Phillips |
Alma mater | Eton College |
Richard Francis Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey, PC (born 29 January 1942), usually known as Sir Richard Needham, is a British Conservative politician. A Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997, he served as Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland between 1985 and 1992 and as Minister of State for Trade between 1992 and 1995. From January 1961 until April 1977, he was entitled to use the courtesy title Viscount Newry and Mourne.
Needham is the eldest of the three sons of the 5th Earl of Kilmorey by his marriage to Helen Bridget Faudel-Phillips, a daughter of Sir Lionel Faudel-Phillips, 3rd and last Baronet. He was educated at Eton. [1] When his father succeeded as the 5th Earl of Kilmorey in January 1961, Needham became entitled to use the courtesy title Viscount Newry and Mourne, or Lord Newry. In April 1977 he succeeded his father and became the 6th Earl. [1]
Needham was a member of the Somerset County Council between 1967 and 1974.[ citation needed ] In 1974, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament for the safe Labour seat of Pontefract and Castleford in the February general election, and was then also defeated at the more marginal Gravesend in October. He succeeded his father to the earldom in 1977. This is an Irish peerage and did not bar him from sitting in the House of Commons. At the 1979 general election, he was returned as Member of Parliament for Chippenham in Wiltshire. He was one of the "Wiltshire Wets", Conservative MPs from the county who expressed concern at the perceived loss of jobs resulting from the "monetarist" policies of Margaret Thatcher;[ citation needed ] in 1990 he called Thatcher "a cow" in a leaked telephone conversation with his wife. [2] His constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, when he was returned to the House of Commons for the new North Wiltshire constituency. He held the seat until he retired from Parliament at the 1997 general election.[ citation needed ]
Needham was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Prior, between 1983 and 1984, and to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Patrick Jenkin, between 1984 and 1985. He served under Thatcher and later John Major as an Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland between 1985 and 1992 and under Major as Minister of State for Trade between 1992 and 1995,[ citation needed ] and was instrumental in transforming Northern Ireland's economic base and the UK's export strategy under Michael Heseltine. He was the longest serving British government Northern Ireland minister.[ citation needed ]
Lord Kilmorey has written three books: Honourable Member and Battling for Peace: Northern Ireland's Longest-Serving British Minister (1999); an account of his years in Northern Ireland and his contribution to peace.[ citation needed ] and One Man Two Worlds (2021) a memoir of his life in politics and business
Lord Kilmorey holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Ulster. A founder member of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, he was appointed a member of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, by the Emperor of Japan.He was appointed the Order of San Carlos by Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia for his work on the Peace Process in Colombia. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1994 and knighted in 1997. [3]
Needham married Sigrid Thiessen-Gairdner, daughter of Ernst Thiessen, in 1965. They have three children:
Although Needham inherited the Earldom of Kilmorey and Viscountcy of Newry and Mourne on the death of his father in 1977, he did not petition the House of Lords to formally claim succession until October 2012. According to his biography he opted not to use the title as he did not inherit any money with it. [4] The Needham estate, known as Mourne Park, is near Kilkeel in County Down in Northern Ireland but the title and estate were separated when the fifth Earl inherited the title but opted to live in England. The Needham estate or Mourne Park is now owned by the Anley family, descendants of the 4th Earl of Kilmorey. [5] The house was badly damaged by fire on 18 May 2013. [6]
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw,, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as de facto Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1988. He was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1991.
The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisions of Peerages in the United Kingdom. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. As of 2016, there were 135 titles in the Peerage of Ireland extant: two dukedoms, ten marquessates, 43 earldoms, 28 viscountcies, and 52 baronies. However, these titles have no official recognition in Ireland, with Article 40.2 of the Constitution of Ireland forbidding the state conferring titles of nobility and stating that an Irish citizen may not accept titles of nobility or honour except with the prior approval of the Irish government.
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland, roughly equivalent to the role of a Secretary of State, such as the similar role of Secretary of State for Scotland. Usually it was the Chief Secretary, rather than the Lord Lieutenant, who sat in the British Cabinet. The Chief Secretary was ex officio President of the Local Government Board for Ireland from its creation in 1872.
The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898
Earl of Radnor, of the County of Radnor, is a title which has been created twice. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. The earldom was created for a second time in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1765 for William Bouverie, 2nd Viscount Folkestone.
Earl Peel is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Peel family descends from Robert Peel, eldest son of a wealthy cotton merchant. The family lands, known as Drayton Manor, in the County of Stafford would become more commonly known in modern-day as an amusement park. The family seat is Elmire House, near Ripon, North Yorkshire.
Earl of Kilmorey is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1822 for Francis Needham, 12th Viscount Kilmorey, a General in the British Army and former Member of Parliament for Newry. He was made Viscount Newry and Mourne, in the County of Down, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland.
Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. In 1749, he was given the additional title of Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby, in the County of Leicester, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which entitled him to a seat in the British House of Lords. The titles Viscount Duncannon, of the fort of Duncannon in the County of Wexford, and Baron Bessborough, of Bessborough, Piltown, in the County of Kilkenny, had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1723 and 1721 respectively for Lord Bessborough's father William Ponsonby, who had earlier represented County Kilkenny in the Irish House of Commons.
Earl of Ranfurly, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, a title in the Peerage of Ireland, was created in 1831 for Thomas Knox, 2nd Viscount Northland. He had earlier represented County Tyrone in the House of Commons, and had already been created Baron Ranfurly, of Ramphorlie in the County of Renfrew, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1826. Knox was the eldest son of Thomas Knox, who represented Dungannon in the Irish House of Commons. He was created Baron Welles, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1781, and Viscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1791. Both titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Northland also sat in the British House of Lords as one of the 28 original Irish representative peers.
Newry and Mourne District Council was a local council in Northern Ireland. It merged with Down District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.
Robert Needham, 2nd Viscount Kilmorey was an English Royalist and supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War.
Francis Needham, 1st Earl of Kilmorey, known as Francis Needham until 1818 and as The Viscount Kilmorey from 1818 to 1822, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Member of Parliament.
Francis Jack Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey, known as Viscount Newry from 1822 to 1832, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Member of Parliament.
Francis Jack Needham, Viscount Newry, was an Anglo-Irish Member of Parliament.
Francis Charles Needham, 3rd Earl of Kilmorey, styled Viscount Newry from 1851 to 1880, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.
Captain Francis Charles Adelbert Henry Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey, styled Viscount Newry until 1915, was a Royal Navy officer and Anglo-Irish peer.
Francis Jack Richard Patrick Needham, 5th Earl of Kilmorey, known as Patrick Needham and after 1961 as Patrick Kilmorey, was an Irish peer.
Isaac Corry FRS, PC (I), PC was an Irish and British Member of Parliament and lawyer.
Robert Needham, 1st Viscount Kilmorey was an English politician and a peer in the peerage of Ireland.
Francis Needham may refer to: