Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham

Lieutenant-Colonel The Right Honourable The Lord Stamfordham GCB, GCIE, GCVO, KCSI, KCMG, ISO, PC
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
In office 1895–1901
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Preceded by	Sir Henry Ponsonby
Succeeded by	Sir Francis Knollys
Private Secretary to the Sovereign
In office 1910–1931
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	The Lord Knollys
Succeeded by	Sir Clive Wigram
Personal details
Born	18 June 1849
Died	31 March 1931 (aged 81)
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Royal Military Academy

Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham GCB, GCIE, GCVO, KCSI, KCMG, ISO, PC (18 June 1849 – 31 March 1931) was a British Army officer and courtier. He was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria during the last few years of her reign, and to George V during most of his reign. He was the maternal grandfather of Lord Adeane, Private Secretary to Elizabeth II from 1953 to 1972.

Background and education

Bigge was the son of John Frederic Bigge (1814–1885) Vicar of Stamfordham, Northumberland and the grandson of Charles William Bigge (1773–1849) of Benton House, Little Benton, Newcastle on Tyne and Linden Hall, Longhorsley, Northumberland, High Sheriff of Northumberland and a prominent merchant and banker in Newcastle on Tyne. He was educated at Rossall School and the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1869.^[1]

Career

Bigge was appointed Private Secretary to Queen Victoria in 1895 and served until her death in January 1901. A couple of months later he was appointed Private Secretary to her grandson, the Duke of Cornwall and York (appointed Prince of Wales later the same year).^[2] He continued to serve as such on the Prince´s accession to the throne as King George V in 1910, serving until his own death in 1931.^[1] As Private Secretary to the sovereign he was sworn of the Privy Council in 1910^[3] and elevated to the peerage as Baron Stamfordham, of Stamfordham in the County of Northumberland, in 1911.^[4]

Bigge exerted considerable influence over King George, advising the King to change the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor; persuading the King to deny asylum to Tsar Nicholas II and his family, who were thus forced to remain in Russia and who were murdered by the Bolsheviks; and interpreting the King's response "Bugger Bognor" as assent to the renaming of Bognor as Bognor Regis.^[5]

Family

Bigge married Constance Neville (d. 1922) in 1881: they had a son and two daughters.^[1] Their only son, John Neville Bigge (b. 1887), was killed in action in 1915.^[1][6] A daughter, the Honourable Victoria Eugenie, married Captain Henry Robert Augustus Adeane. She was the mother of Michael Adeane, Baron Adeane, Private Secretary to Elizabeth II from 1953 to 1972.^[7]

Lord Stamfordham died, still in office, at St James's Palace on 31 March 1931, aged 81, when the barony became extinct.^[1]

Styles and Honours

Styles

• 1849–1871: Arthur Bigge Esq
• 1871–1880: Lt Arthur Bigge
• 1880–1884: Capt Arthur Bigge
• 1884–1885: Capt Arthur Bigge CB
• 1885–1887: Maj Arthur Bigge CB
• 1887–1893: Maj Arthur Bigge CB CMG
• 1893–1895: Lt Col Arthur Bigge CB CMG
• 1895–1901: Lt Col Sir Arthur Bigge KCB CMG
• 1901–1902: Lt Col Sir Arthur Bigge GCVO KCB CMG
• 1902–1903: Lt Col Sir Arthur Bigge GCVO KCB KCMG
• 1903–1906: Lt Col Sir Arthur Bigge GCVO KCB KCMG ISO
• 1906–1910: Lt Col Sir Arthur Bigge GCVO KCB KCSI KCMG ISO
• 1910–1911: Lt Col The Rt Ho.n Sir Arthur Bigge GCVO KCB KCSI KCMG ISO
• 1911–1916: Lt Col The Rt Hon. The Lord Stamfordham GCVO GCIE KCB KCSI KCMG ISO PC
• 1916–1931: Lt Col The Rt Hon. The Lord Stamfordham GCB GCVO GCIE KCSI KCMG ISO PC

British Honours

• KCB : Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB) – 1895
• GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) – 2 February 1901 – on the day of the funeral of Queen Victoria^[8]
• KCMG: Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) – 26 November 1901^[9]
• PC : Privy Counsellor – 11 June 1910^[3]

Foreign Honours

•  Czechoslovakia: Order of the White Lion

Popular Culture

In the 2003 TV drama The Lost Prince he was portrayed, clean shaven, by actor Bill Nighy

References

1. William M. Kuhn. "Bigge, Arthur John, Baron Stamfordham (1849–1931)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31883. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. The London Gazette: no. 27290. p. 1499. 1 March 1901. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
3. The London Gazette: no. 28384. pp. 4164–4165. 14 June 1910. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
4. The London Gazette: no. 28512. p. 5168. 11 July 1911.
5. Antonia Fraser, ed. (2000). The House of Windsor. A royal history of England. University of California Press. p. 36. ISBN 0-520-22803-0.
6. "Heir to Barony killed". The Argus (Melbourne). 26 May 1915. p. 9. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
7. thepeerage.com Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham
8. The London Gazette: no. 27285. p. 1145. 15 February 1901. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
9. The London Gazette: no. 27380. p. 8087. 26 November 1901.