Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham

The Right Honourable The Viscount Hailsham PC
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office 28 March 1928 – 4 June 1929
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Cave
Succeeded by	The Viscount Sankey
In office 7 June 1935 – 9 March 1938
Monarch	George V Edward VIII George VI
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by	The Viscount Sankey
Succeeded by	The Lord Maugham
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 5 November 1931 – 7 June 1935
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Marquess of Reading
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Londonderry
Secretary of State for War
In office 5 November 1931 – 7 June 1935
Preceded by	The Marquess of Crewe
Succeeded by	The Viscount Halifax
Lord President of the Council
In office 9 March 1938 – 31 October 1938
Prime Minister	Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by	The Viscount Halifax
Succeeded by	The Viscount Runciman of Doxford
Personal details
Born	28 February 1872
Died	16 August 1950 (Age 78)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Marjoribanks

Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham PC (28 February 1872–16 August 1950) was a British lawyer and Conservative politician.

Background

Born in London, Hogg was the son of the merchant and philanthropist Quintin Hogg, seventh son of Sir James Hogg, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Cheam School and Eton College, before studying sugar growing in the West Indies. After serving in the Boer War he was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1902, was appointed King's Counsel in 1917, and became a bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1920.^[1]

Political career

Hogg was appointed Attorney General by Andrew Bonar Law in October 1922. Though not an MP, Hogg was chosen for the position because Bonar Law found himself short of law officers after the Conservative-Liberal coalition collapsed as a result of the Carlton Club meeting. He was elected to the House of Commons unopposed the following month for St Marylebone in the general election. He received the customary knighthood and was sworn in the Privy Council in December 1922. Serving as Attorney General until Labour assumed office after the 1923 election, Hogg was reappointed to the post, with a seat in the Cabinet, when the Conservatives were returned to power in 1924.

As Attorney-General, Hogg guided the Trade Disputes Act of 1927 through the House of Commons after the general strike of 1926 which had ended with large-scale unemployment while those still employed were forced to accept longer hours, lower wages, and district wage agreements. The Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act made mass picketing and all sympathetic strikes illegal and directed that union members had to contract into any political levy. It also forbade civil service unions from affiliating with the Trades Union Congress.

In 1928, he became Lord Chancellor in Stanley Baldwin's government, and was created Baron Hailsham, of Hailsham in the County of Sussex, serving until the government's defeat in 1929 . In 1929, he was created Viscount Hailsham, of Hailsham in the County of Sussex. From 1931 to 1935 he served as Secretary of State for War. He again served as Lord Chancellor from 1935 to 1938, first under Baldwin, then under Neville Chamberlain. During his second term he was the last Lord High Steward to preside over the trial of a peer (26th Baron de Clifford) in the House of Lords. In 1938, ill-health led to his appointment as Lord President of the Council, a post with less onerous duties, but he had to retire from the government a few months later.^[1]

Marriage and children

Lord Hailsham married Elizabeth Marjoribanks (nee Brown), widow of Hon Archibald Marjoribanks, and daughter of James Trimble Brown of Tennessee, in 1905. They had two sons:^[2]

• Quintin McGarel Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham, later Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone (born 9 October 1907, died 12 October 2001), barrister, politician and Lord Chancellor who disclaimed the viscountcy and was later given a life peerage.
• Hon William Neil McGarel Hogg (born 1910, died 13 February 1995), diplomat.

References

1. Ramsden, John. "Hogg, Douglas McGarel, first Viscount Hailsham (1872–1950)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33925. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. The Peerage, entry for 1st Viscount Hailsham

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Hailsham