View source for Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet

{{Short description|British politician (1879–1960)}}
{{lead too short|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Kennet
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=|GBE|DSO|DSC1|PC}}
| image               = Lord Kennet.jpg
| office1             = [[Secretary of State for Health|Minister of Health]]
| term_start1         = 5 November 1931
| term_end1           = 7 June 1935
| primeminister1 = [[Ramsay MacDonald]]
| predecessor1        = [[Neville Chamberlain]]
| successor1          = [[Sir Kingsley Wood]]
| office2             = [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]]
| term_start2         = 21 April 1921
| term_end2           = 19 October 1922
| primeminister2 = [[David Lloyd George]]
| predecessor2        = [[Stanley Baldwin]]
| successor2          = [[John Hills (politician)|John Hills]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1879|03|20|df=yes}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1960|07|11|1879|03|20|df=yes}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Kathleen Scott]]|1922|1947|end=died}}
| children            = [[Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet]]
| relatives           = [[Sir George Young, 4th Baronet]], brother<br>[[Geoffrey Winthrop Young]], brother
}}
'''Edward Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet''' (20 March 1879 – 11 July 1960) was a British politician and writer.
==Family and early life==
Young was the youngest son of [[Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet]] (see [[Young baronets of Formosa Place (1813)|Young baronets]]), a noted classicist and charity commissioner.<ref>Williams, B. (1937) entry on Young, Sir George, ''Dictionary of National Biography, 1922–30'', London: Oxford University Press, pp.926–8.</ref> Sir George's paternal great-grandmother was Emily Baring of the [[Baring family|eponymous merchant banking dynasty]].<ref>Hall, S.M. (2006), ''Before Leonard: The Early Suitors of Virginia Woolf'', London: Peter Owen, p.244,</ref> Hilton's mother, formerly Alice Eacy Kennedy, was of [[Dublin]] [[Irish Protestants|Irish Protestant]] background and had previously lived in [[India]] as Lady Lawrence, wife of Sir Alexander Lawrence, Bt, nephew to the [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]], [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|Lord Lawrence]]. Widowed when Sir Alexander died in a bridge collapse, Alice returned to England, marrying Sir George in 1871.<ref>Williams (1937), p.928.</ref> Hilton was the youngest of three sons and one daughter (who died aged 14) born to the couple. The oldest brother, also George, would become a diplomat and Ottoman scholar. The next brother, [[Geoffrey Winthrop Young]], became a noted educator and mountaineer. Their childhood was spent at the family's Thames-side 'Formosa' estate, at [[Cookham]], Berkshire. On visits to their London house near Sloane Square, Hilton would often play in Kensington Gardens with the children of Sir George's friend, Sir [[Leslie Stephen]].<ref>Young, E.H. (c.1959), ''In and Out'', unpublished autobiography, Cambridge University Library, Manuscripts Department, Kennet Papers (KP 82/1), p. 22.</ref> In this way, he commenced a close friendship with his contemporary [[Thoby Stephen]], and became acquainted with Thoby's siblings, [[Vanessa Bell|Vanessa]], [[Virginia Woolf|Virginia]], and [[Adrian Stephen|Adrian]].
At his preparatory school, [[Northaw Place]], in 1892 Young took pity on nine-year-old [[Clement Attlee]] on the latter's first day at school, offering the newcomer jam from his own pot.<ref>Harris, K. (1982), ''Attlee'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p.8.</ref> His secondary schooling commenced at [[Marlborough College|Marlborough]] but incessant bullying saw him transferred to [[Eton College|Eton]] where he joined the army stream which emphasised science rather than the classics. After two terms studying chemistry at [[University College London]], he went up to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in October 1897, graduating in 1900 with a 'first' in natural sciences and having achieved the office of [[list of presidents of the Cambridge Union|president]] of the [[Cambridge Union Society|Union Society]].<ref>{{acad|id=YN897EH|name=Young, Edward Hilton}}</ref><ref name=DNB>Young, W. (1971), entry on Young, Edward Hilton, ''Dictionary of National Biography, 1951–1960'', London: Oxford University Press, p.1088.</ref>
==Early career==
Post-Cambridge he read for the Bar and was called by the [[Inner Temple]] in 1904. However, after receiving few briefs and suffering a nervous breakdown, he transferred to financial journalism. In 1908 he was appointed assistant editor of ''[[The Economist]]'', resigning in 1910 to become city editor of ''[[The Morning Post]]''.<ref name=DNB/> His 1912 work ''Foreign Companies and Other Corporations'' combined his legal and financial knowledge to examine the status of companies created in one national jurisdiction which operate in other jurisdictions.<ref>Young, E.H. (1912), ''Foreign Companies and Other Corporations'', London: Cambridge University Press.</ref>
At Cambridge, through [[Thoby Stephen]], he became acquainted with key members of what would become known as the ‘[[Bloomsbury group]]’. He attended the group's early gatherings at [[Gordon Square]] and [[Fitzroy Square]], and became attracted to [[Virginia Woolf|Virginia Stephen]], to whom he proposed on a punt on the [[River Cam|Cam]] in May 1909, only to be rejected.<ref>Bell, Q. (1976), ''Virginia Woolf: a Biography'' (Vol. 1), London: Triad/Granada, p.144.</ref> Another Cambridge friendship, made through his brother Geoffrey, was with [[G. M. Trevelyan]] and in Spring 1906 he accompanied the historian during a retracement of the route of [[Garibaldi]]'s retreat which became the basis for Trevelyan's Garibaldi trilogy.<ref>Trevelyan, G.M. (1949), ''An Autobiography and Other Essays'', London: Longmans, Green, p.31.</ref> The second work in the trilogy—''Garibaldi and the Thousand''—was dedicated to the Young brothers and contained 15 photographs taken by Hilton.<ref>Trevelyan, G.M. (1909), ''Garibaldi and the Thousand'', London: Longmans, Green, List of plates, pp.xiii–xv.</ref>
==First World War==
Enlisting in the [[Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve]] on 22 August 1914 and commissioned in September,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28894| date=8 September 1914|page=7092}}</ref> he served in a wide variety of theatres and actions in the [[First World War]], including the [[Grand Fleet]] at [[Scapa Flow]].<ref>Young, E.H. (1920), ''By Sea and Land'', London: Jack.</ref>
He served on [[HMS Cyclops (F31)|HMS ''Cyclops'']] then {{HMS|Iron Duke|1912|6}} from September 1914. That autumn he wrote to his brother that it was “really rather wonderful” to be serving on [[Admiral Jellicoe]]'s flagship. In a letter in October he mentioned a sailors’ entertainment for “the admiral’s” benefit including some sailors dancing the [[can-can]]. However, by February 1915 he was chafing at the “inoccupation” of the Grand Fleet, in the absence of any major sea battle.<ref>Wilson, Trevor (1986, reprinted 2010), ''The Myriad Faces of War'', London: Faber & Faber, {{ISBN|0-7456-0093-X}} pp.75-6</ref>
A literary consequence of his war service was ''A Muse at Sea'', a compilation of his poems initially published in the ''Ducal Weekly'' (the ''Iron Duke'''s newspaper), and also in the ''Morning Post'', the ''[[Cornhill Magazine]]'' and the ''[[The Nation and Athenaeum|Nation]]''.<ref>Young, E.H. (1919), ''A Muse at Sea'', London: Sidgwick & Jackson.</ref> He also rendered other types of service to his friends [[Lytton Strachey]] and [[Clive Bell]] during the War. In 1908 he had bought a thatched cottage for weekend use, The Lacket,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rgjYCQAAQBAJ Holroyd, M. (1995), ''Lytton Strachey''], London: Vintage, ch.XI.</ref> at [[Lockeridge]] near Marlborough.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1033806|desc=The Lacket|access-date=27 November 2020}}</ref> During 1914–15 he rented the cottage to Strachey who drafted the first two chapters of his ''[[Eminent Victorians]]'' there.<ref>Bell to Young, 6 June 1916, Cambridge University Library, Manuscripts Department, Kennet Papers (KP 5/2).</ref>
While on active service on ''Iron Duke'', in February 1915 he was elected unopposed as a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] MP at a [[1915 Norwich by-election|by-election]] for the seat of [[Norwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich]].
In April 1915 he received a letter from Vanessa Bell, in response to his request for a letter making no mention of the war, telling him of the doings of the Bloomsbury Set, including [[Bertrand Russell|“Bertie” Russell]], Lytton Strachey and [[Ottoline Morrell]].<ref>Wilson, Trevor (1986, reprinted 2010), ''The Myriad Faces of War'', London: Faber & Faber, {{ISBN|0-7456-0093-X}} p.165,</ref> In May 1915, while still serving on HMS ''Iron Duke'', the first edition of his ''System of National Finance'' appeared.<ref>Young, E.H. (1915), ''The System of National Finance'', London: Smith, Elder (1st ed.) 2nd and 3rd editions, John Murray, 1924, 1936.</ref> Through further editions in 1924 and 1936, it remained the standard work on Westminster's budgetary processes until well into the 1950s.<ref>Burrows, G. and B. Syme, (2000), Zero-base budgeting: origins and pioneers, ''Abacus'', 36(2): 226–41.</ref>
In September 1915 he took part [[Ernest Troubridge|Admiral Troubridge]]'s mission to the [[Danube]], whose aim was to stop the Austro-Hungarians sending supplies via the [[Black Sea]] to [[Gallipoli Campaign|Gallipoli]] (in the absence of a direct land link, as [[Bulgaria]] did not [[Bulgaria during World War I|join the Central Powers]] until October). The following month he heard his first shot fired in anger when an Austrian sentry fired a rifle at his ship.<ref>Wilson, Trevor (1986, reprinted 2010), ''The Myriad Faces of War'', London: Faber & Faber, {{ISBN|0-7456-0093-X}} pp.75-6</ref>
Later in the war Young served on Harwich light cruisers, naval siege guns at [[Flanders]], the [[Zeebrugge Raid]] in which, commanding a rear gun on {{HMS|Vindictive|1897|6}}, he was severely wounded, necessitating the amputation of his right arm, and, finally, in the [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|Russian campaign]], commanding an armoured train on the line south of [[Arkhangelsk|Archangel]].<ref>Young, E.H. (1920), ''By Sea and Land'', London: Jack.</ref>
His war service brought the awards of the [[Distinguished Service Order]], [[Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Cross]] and [[Medal bar|Bar]], French [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]], and the Serbian Silver Medal.<ref>Young, W. (1971), p.1088.</ref> He recounted his war experiences in his 1920 memoir, ''By Sea and Land''.<ref>Young, E.H. (1920), ''By Sea and Land'', London: Jack.</ref>
==Post-war career==
Post-war he started his rise up the political ladder in February 1919 when he was appointed [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to [[H.A.L. Fisher]], President of the Board of Education.<ref>''The Times'', 20 July 1960, p.15, col. a.</ref> In April 1921 he was promoted to [[Secretary to the Treasury|Financial Secretary to the Treasury]]. In this capacity he was the link between the government and the '[[Geddes Axe]]', the committee of business experts established by Lloyd George in the aftermath of the First World War to undertake a fundamental review of government expenditure in the hope of identifying major savings.<ref>Burrows, G. and Cobbin. P. (2009), Controlling government expenditure by external review: the 1921–2 "Geddes Axe", ''Accounting History'', 14: 199–220.</ref>
In March 1922 Young married sculptor [[Kathleen Scott]], née Bruce, widow of Captain [[Robert Falcon Scott]].<ref>Young, L. (1995), ''A Great Task of Happiness: The Life of Kathleen Scott'', London: Macmillan, p.207.</ref> With the marriage he became stepfather to Kathleen's son, the future naturalist and yachtsman, [[Peter Markham Scott|Peter Scott]]. In August 1923 Kathleen, aged 45, gave birth to their son [[Wayland Young]], who became a writer and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politician.<ref>''ibid''., p.214.</ref>
Through Cambridge and Bloomsbury, Young had a long-standing friendship with [[E.M. Forster]]. Suffering writer's block while working on ''[[A Passage to India]]'', the novelist was Young's guest at The Lacket in early May 1922. Shortly afterwards he wrote to Young declaring, "an unfinished novel’s before me now, and sometimes I work at it with distaste and despair…You certainly have done more than any individual I know to help me by direct remarks. Your knowledge of the business of creating seemed to me profounder than that possessed by so-called artists."<ref>Forster to Young, 10 May 1922, Cambridge University Library, Manuscripts Department, Kennet Papers (KP 28/10).</ref> These comments suggest that Young gave Forster significant advice and encouragement at a crucial stage on work on the latter's eventual masterpiece.
Out of office with the advent of Bonar Law's Conservative administration (following the [[Carlton Club meeting]] in October 1922), he became [[Chief Whip]] for the [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1922)|Lloyd George Liberals]] and a [[Privy Counsellor]]. Speaking at the [[Gresham's School]] prize-giving on 13 July 1923, Young "...recommended the boys to go in for great risks and dangerous deeds. Let them have adventure, and the madder the adventure, the better."<ref>''[[The Times]]'', 16 July 1923; Issue 43394; pg. 9; col E</ref>  He lost his Norwich seat at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1923|December 1923 General Election]]. Although he won the seat back at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1924|October 1924 General Election]], he devoted the rest of the 1920s to furthering his business interests.
In the City of London, Young became editor of the ''[[Financial News (1884–1945)|Financial News]]'', 1926–29, when he introduced an Arts page which was continued by the ''[[Financial Times]]'' when they were merged in 1946. He also joined the boards of the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]], [[English Electric]], and [[Hudson's Bay Company]]. For Westminster he became a peripatetic financial- and political-troubleshooter, undertaking inter alia financial missions to Poland (1922–3)<ref>Young, E.H. (1924) ''Report on Financial Conditions in Poland'', London: Waterlow.</ref> and Iraq (1925,<ref>Young, E.H., and R.V. Vernon (1925) ''Report of the Financial Mission Appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Enquire into the Financial Position and Prospects of the Government of Iraq, 1925'' (Young-Vernon Report), London: HMSO, (Cmd 2438).</ref> 1930<ref>''Special Report by His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Council of the League of Nation on the Progress of Iraq During the Period 1920–1931'' (Report to League of Nations), Colonial No. 58, London: HMSO, 1931.</ref>) intended to stabilise the financial positions of these countries, the former recreated and he latter newly created after World War I. The 1930 Iraq mission saw him recommend the establishment of an Iraq Currency Board to issue a national currency, the [[dinar]], to replace [[Indian rupee]]s issued as temporary currency when British forces displaced the Ottomans from the former [[Mesopotamia]] during the First World War. The Iraqi government accepted Young's recommendations in relation to the nation's currency and he became the inaugural chairman of the Iraq Currency Board on 11 June 1931.<ref>Iraq Currency Board, ''Report of the Iraq Currency Board for the Period Ended 31 March 1933'', London: Waterlow.</ref> He also chaired the 1925–6 Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance (at which his friend [[Maynard Keynes]] was a key witness)<ref>''Report of the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance'', Vols I-VI (1926), London: HMSO.</ref> and the 1927–8 East African Commission on Closer Union.<ref>''Report of the Commission on Closer Union of the Dependencies in Eastern and Central Africa'', Parliamentary Reports 1928-9, Vol, V, p. 6 (Cmmd 3324).</ref>
Young joined the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in 1926 during his term as MP for [[Norwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich]]. He served as a delegate to the Assembly of the [[League of Nations]], 1926 and 1927. In 1927 he was appointed [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]] (GBE). He became MP for [[Sevenoaks (UK Parliament constituency)|Sevenoaks]] in 1929 and served as [[Minister for Export Credits]] from 1929 and [[Secretary of State for Health|Minister of Health]] between 1931 and 1935. The health portfolio also included responsibility for housing, including [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] and rehousing. Key items of legislation to which he contributed in this period were: the [[Town and Country Planning Act 1932]] (which applied to all 'developable' land), the [[Housing Act 1935]] (which laid down standards of accommodation)<ref>Young, W. (1971), p.1089.</ref> and the [[Restriction of Ribbon Development Act 1935]] (which sought to consolidate urban development and restrict ribbon sprawl along major highways).<ref>Sheail, J. (1979), The Restriction of Ribbon Development Act: The character and perception of land-use control in inter-war Britain, ''Regional Studies'', 13: 6, 501–12.</ref> He retired from politics in July 1935 and was created [[Baron Kennet]].
==After politics==
Away from politics, he could now resume his life in business. By 1940, Lord Kennet was either chairman or a director of eight listed companies, which apart from the Southern Railway and timber merchants, Denny, Mott and Dickson Ltd, were engaged in the financial services and property sectors.<ref>''Directory of Directors'' (1940), London: Thomas Skinner.</ref> In May 1940 he resumed his former role as chairman of the Iraq Currency Board when Leo Amery, who had replaced him as chairman in 1932, resigned on becoming a member of the wartime government.<ref>Iraq Currency Board (1941), ''Report of the Iraq Currency Board for the Period Ending 31 March 1941'', London: Waterlow</ref> His political and financial experience made him a natural choice to chair the Capital Issues Committee during 1937–59. Responsible for advising the Chancellor of the Exchequer "on applications to issue capital for any purpose anywhere", this committee was particularly important during World War II when it had to approve all issues of shares and securities with face values exceeding £10,000.<ref>Burrows, G. and Syme, B. (2000), p.233.</ref>
Although he never regretted his support for the two World Wars fought - as he saw it - to resist German aggression, after the Second World War he became a pacifist, feeling that nuclear weapons meant that the cost of any future war outweighed any possible benefit.<ref>Wilson, Trevor (1986, reprinted 2010), ''The Myriad Faces of War'', London: Faber & Faber, {{ISBN|0-7456-0093-X}} p.852</ref>
He died at the Lacket on 11 July 1960 and was succeeded to the Kennet peerage by his son Wayland.
==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Kennet Achievement.png
|escutcheon = Per fesse Sable and Argent: in chief two lions rampant-guardant, and in base an anchor erect with a cable, all counterchanged.
|crest = A demi-unicorn couped Ermine, armed, maned, and hoofed Or, gorged with a naval crown Azure supporting an anchor erect Sable.
|motto = In College Domus (A House on a Hill)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage |date=2000}}</ref>}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==See also==
* [[Young Baronets|Young baronets of Formosa Place (1813)]]
==External links==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-edward-young | Hilton Young }}
* {{NPG name|name= Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Norwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich]]
| with = [[George Roberts (British politician)|George Roberts]]
| years = [[1915 Norwich by-election|1915]]–[[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]]
| before = [[George Roberts (British politician)|George Roberts]] and <br />[[Frederick Low (British politician)|Sir Frederick Low]]
| after = [[Dorothy Jewson]] and <br />[[Walter Smith (British politician)|Walter Smith]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Norwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich]]
| with = [[J. Griffyth Fairfax]]
| years = [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]–[[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929]]
| before = [[Dorothy Jewson]] and <br />[[Walter Smith (British politician)|Walter Smith]]
| after = [[Walter Smith (British politician)|Walter Smith]] and <br />[[Geoffrey Shakespeare]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Sevenoaks (UK Parliament constituency)|Sevenoaks]]
| years = [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929]]–[[1935 Sevenoaks by-election|1935]]
| before = [[Walter Styles]]
| after = [[Sir Charles Ponsonby, 1st Baronet|Charles Ponsonby]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
|title= [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]]
|before= [[Stanley Baldwin]]
|after= [[John Hills (politician)|John Hills]]
|years=1921–1922
}}
{{succession box
|title=[[Secretary of State for Health|Minister of Health]]
|before=[[Neville Chamberlain]]
|after=[[Kingsley Wood|Sir Kingsley Wood]]
|years=1931–1935
}}
{{s-media}}
{{succession box|title=Editor of the ''[[Financial News (1884-1945)|Financial News]]''|before=[[Laming Worthington-Evans]]|after=[[Oscar Hobson]]|years=1925–1929}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Baron Kennet]]
| years = 1935–1960
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet|Wayland Young]] }}
{{s-end}}
{{Secretary of State for Health}}
{{Royal Statistical Society presidents}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennet, Edward Hilton, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Cambridge Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Barons Kennet|1]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1918–1922|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1922–1923|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–1929|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1929–1931|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets|Young, Hilton]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:Barons created by George V]]