Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory

Derick Heathcoat-Amory was born in London on 26 December 1899, the son of Sir Ian Heathcoat-Amory, 2nd Baronet (see Heathcoat-Amory baronets) and Alexandra Georgina (OBE; who d. 1942), eldest daughter of Vice-Admiral Henry Seymour CB (brother of Francis, 5th Marquess of Hertford GCB).

He was educated at Ludgrove School[2] followed by Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, receiving an MA degree.[3]

His great-nephews include the Rt Hon David Heathcoat-Amory and Sir Ian Heathcoat-Amory, 6th and present baronet.[4] A great-aunt was the sculptor Princess Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Countess von Gleichen.

Heathcoat-Amory was elected a Devon County Councillor in 1932 and worked in textile manufacturing and banking. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 11th (Devon) Army Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Army) on 31 July 1920, promoted to lieutenant in the regiment (by then the 96th (Royal Devonshire Yeomanry) Field Brigade) on 31 July 1922 and promoted to captain on 1 September 1926.[5][6][7] He was promoted to major on 1 October 1935.[8] During the Second World War, he was wounded and captured during Operation Market-Garden. He retired on 1 September 1948 with the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel.[4][9]

He was elected Member of Parliament for Tiverton in 1945 (a constituency previously held by his grandfather Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Baronet).[10] When the Conservatives came to power under Winston Churchill in 1951 he was appointed Minister of Pensions. In September 1953 he was appointed Minister of State for Trade. He joined Churchill's Cabinet in July 1954 succeeding Sir Thomas Dugdale as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (continuing his responsibilities as Minister of State for Trade). In October 1954 these ministries merged under Heathcoat-Amory's leadership. The Hon. Gwilym Lloyd George later Viscount Tenby had previously been charged with Food ministerial affairs. He remained in this post until being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1958, by Harold Macmillan, an office he held until 1960. A highlight of Amory's chancellorship was the raising of the Bank Rate to 6% in June 1960, in an effort to cool the economy after the election the previous autumn.[11]

He stood down from the House of Commons in 1960 and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Amory, of Tiverton in the County of Devon, on 1 September of that year.[12] From 1965 to 1970, he was Governor (Company Chairman) of the Hudson's Bay Company, North America's oldest company (established by English royal charter in 1670). Viscount Amory was sworn of the Privy Council in 1953, appointed GCMG in 1961 and KG in 1968.[13] He also received the degree of Hon. LLD (Exon) in 1959, before serving as Chancellor of Exeter University from 1972 to 1981.

Heathcoat-Amory was an accomplished sailor, who had his yacht brought up the Thames to take him away after making Budget speeches when Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Civil Service Sailing Association continues to award the annual Heathcoat Amory Trophy (donated by Viscount Amory) for outstanding sailing achievements by its members.

In 1972, Lord Amory succeeded his brother in the family baronetcy; he died unmarried in January 1981, aged 81. The viscountcy became extinct upon his death and his younger brother succeeded him as Sir William Heathcoat-Amory, 5th Baronet, DSO.

• – KG
• – Bt
• – GCMG
• – TD

• Heathcoat-Amory baronets
• Viscount

• Dell, Edmund. The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945-90 (HarperCollins, 1997) pp 242–57, covers his term as Chancellor.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Derick Heathcoat-Amory
• Burke's Peerage