William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel

William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, GCMG, PC (28 September 1906 – 12 March 1997), styled Viscount Ennismore between 1924 and 1931, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Labour politician. He was the last Secretary of State for India as well as the last Governor-General of Ghana.


The Earl of Listowel

GCMG PC
Governor-General of Ghana
In office
13 November 1957  1 July 1960
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded byKobina Arku Korsah
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Other ministerial offices
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
In office
22 November 1950  26 October 1951
Serving with George-Brown
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Minister of State for the Colonies
In office
4 January 1948  28 February 1950
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byJohn Dugdale
Secretary of State for Burma
In office
14 August 1947  4 January 1948
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Secretary of State for India and Burma
In office
17 April 1947  14 August 1947
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byThe Lord Pethick-Lawrence
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Himself (Burma)
Minister of Information
In office
26 February 1946  31 March 1946
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byEdward Williams
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Postmaster-General
In office
19 October 1945  17 April 1947
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byHarry Crookshank
Succeeded byWilfred Paling
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
In office
31 October 1944  23 May 1945
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byThe Earl of Munster
Succeeded byThe Earl of Scarbrough
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
16 November 1931  12 March 1997
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 4th Earl of Listowel
Succeeded byThe 6th Earl of Listowel
Personal details
Born(1906-09-28)28 September 1906
Died12 March 1997(1997-03-12) (aged 90)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)1 Judith de Marffy-Mantuana
(2) Stephanie Wise
(3) Pamela Day
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Magdalene College, Cambridge
King's College London (PhD)

Background and education

Lord Listowel was the eldest son of Richard Hare, 4th Earl of Listowel, and Freda, daughter of Francis Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baron Derwent. John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham, a Conservative Cabinet minister, was his younger brother.[1] He was educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, Magdalene College, Cambridge and King's College London (PhD, 1932).

Political career

Listowel served as a lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps. He entered the House of Lords on the death of his father in November 1931, by right of the United Kingdom peerage of Baron Hare, and made his maiden speech in March of the following year.[2] He was a Labour Party whip in the Lords from 1941 to 1944 and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma from 1944 to 1945.

When Labour came to power in 1945 under Clement Attlee, Listowel was appointed Postmaster-General, a post he held until April 1947, and was briefly Minister of Information between February and March 1946, when the office was abolished.

In April 1947 he entered the cabinet as Secretary of State for India and Burma. Prime Minister Clement Attlee, however, made all the government's major decisions regarding India.[3] After India gained independence in August 1947, his cabinet title became Secretary of State for Burma, working from the Burma Office, but in January 1948 this too was abolished, when Burma also gained independence, and Listowel then left the cabinet. He continued to serve under Attlee as Minister of State for Colonial Affairs from 1948 to 1950 and as Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1950 to 1951. In 1957 he was appointed Governor-General of Ghana, a post he held until 1960, when Ghana became a Republic. He was later Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords between 1965 and 1976. He remained an active member of the House of Lords, speaking for the last time in July 1995, aged 88.[2]

Apart from his career in national politics, Lord Listowel was a member of the London County Council for East Lewisham between 1937 and 1946, and for Battersea North between 1952 and 1957. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1946[4] and a GCMG in 1957.[5]

Family

Lord Listowel married three times:

  • firstly, to Judith, daughter of Raoul de Marffy-Mantuana, in 1933. They had one daughter, Deirdre, who married firstly John Norton, 7th Baron Grantley and then after his death Ian Curteis; Lord and Lady Listowel were divorced in 1945.
  • secondly, to Stephanie Sandra Yvonne, daughter of Sam Wise, in 1958. They had one daughter; they were divorced in 1963.
  • thirdly, to Pamela (née Day) in 1963. They had two sons and one daughter. Pamela, Countess Listowel, lives in Hampstead.[6]

Death

Lord Listowel died in March 1997, aged 90, and was succeeded by his elder son from his third marriage, Francis.[1]

References

  1. "William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  2. "hansard.millbanksystem.com Mr William Hare". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  3. Kenneth Harris, Attlee (1982) pp 362, 378.
  4. "No. 37598". The London Gazette. 13 June 1946. p. 2755.
  5. "No. 41203". The London Gazette. 15 October 1957. p. 6003.
  6. "Countess says 'mega basements' are tearing neighbourhood apart". The Daily Telegraph.
Political offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Munster
Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma
1944–1945
Succeeded by
The Earl of Scarbrough
Preceded by
Harry Crookshank
Postmaster-General
1945–1947
Succeeded by
Wilfred Paling
Preceded by
Edward Williams
Minister of Information
1946
Succeeded by
Office abolished
Preceded by
The Lord Pethick-Lawrence
Secretary of State for India and Burma
April–August 1947
Succeeded by
Office abolished
Preceded by
New office
Secretary of State for Burma
August 1947 – January 1948
Succeeded by
Office abolished
Preceded by
New office
Minister of State for Colonial Affairs
1948–1950
Succeeded by
John Dugdale
Preceded by
George Brown
Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

1950–1951
Succeeded by
Arthur Champion
Government offices
Preceded by
Charles Noble Arden-Clarke
Governor-General of Ghana
1957–1960
Succeeded by
Office abolished and replaced
by the President of Ghana
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Lord Balfour of Inchrye
Senior Privy Counsellor
1988–1997
With: The Lord Shawcross
Succeeded by
The Lord Shawcross
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Richard Granville Hare
Earl of Listowel
1931–1997
Succeeded by
Francis Michael Hare
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Richard Granville Hare
Baron Hare
1931–1997
Succeeded by
Francis Michael Hare
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