John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham

John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham, OBE, PC, DL (22 January 1911 – 7 March 1982) was a British Conservative politician.

The Viscount Blakenham
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
20 October 1963  28 July 1965
LeaderAlec Douglas-Home
Preceded byIain Macleod
Succeeded byEdward du Cann
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
In office
October 1963  October 1964
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterAlec Douglas-Home
LeaderThe Lord Carrington
Succeeded byThe Lord Champion
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
20 October 1963  18 October 1964
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterAlec Douglas-Home
Preceded byIain Macleod
Succeeded byDouglas Houghton
Minister of Labour
In office
27 July 1960  20 October 1963
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan
Preceded byEdward Heath
Succeeded byJoseph Godber
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office
6 January 1958  27 July 1960
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan
Preceded byDerick Heathcoat-Amory
Succeeded byChristopher Soames
Secretary of State for War
In office
18 October 1956  6 January 1958
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterSir Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan
Preceded byAnthony Head
Succeeded byChristopher Soames
Member of Parliament
In office
5 July 1945  5 December 1963
Preceded byWalter Ross-Taylor
Succeeded byKeith Stainton
ConstituencyWoodbridge (1945–1950)
Sudbury and Woodbridge (1950–1963)
Personal details
Born(1911-01-22)22 January 1911
Died7 March 1982(1982-03-07) (aged 71)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Hon. Nancy Pearson
(1908–1994)

Background and education

Blakenham was the third son of The Rt. Hon. Richard Hare, 4th Earl of Listowel, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, and The Hon. Freda Vanden-Bampde-Johnstone. His elder brother, The 5th Earl of Listowel, was a prominent Labour politician. He was educated at Eton.

Political career

Blakenham was an Alderman of London County Council between 1937 and 1952 and fought in the Second World War with the Suffolk Yeomanry in Italy and was awarded the Legion of Honour and appointed an OBE. He sat as Member of Parliament for Woodbridge between 1945 and 1950 and for Sudbury and Woodbridge between 1950 and 1963 and was vice-chairman of the Conservative Party between 1952 and 1955. He served under Sir Anthony Eden as Minister of State for the Colonies between 1955 and 1956 and under Eden and his successor, Harold Macmillan, as Secretary of State for War from 1956 to 1958.

He later held office under Macmillan as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1958 to 1960 and Minister of Labour between 1960 and 1963. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1955 and in 1963 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Blakenham, of Little Blakenham in the County of Suffolk.[1] Blakenham then served under Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 1963 to 1964 and was chairman of the Conservative Party between 1963 and 1965.[2]

Family

Lord Blakenham married the Hon. Nancy Pearson, daughter of Weetman Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, on 31 January 1934. They had three children:

In 1967, Joanna married American attorney and Harvard Law School professor Stephen Breyer; Breyer would be appointed a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1980 and a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1994.

Lord Blakenham died in March 1982, aged 71, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his only son, Michael. Lady Blakenham died in November 1994, aged 86.

Horticultural interests

In 1951 he purchased a wood close to his home, to make a woodland garden. Over the following years he created glades and paths through the bluebells and planted many rare plants, and became known as the Blakenham Woodland Garden.

Hare received the Victoria Medal of Honour from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1974.[2] In 1982 he became treasurer of the Society.

The Blakenham Woodland Garden was inherited by his son and is open to the public.[3] On his death the wood was made into a charitable trust. His son, Michael Blakenham, a lifelong environmentalist has increased the stock of unusual specimens and has bought many rare including unnamed trees and shrubs from auctions at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[4]

References

  1. "No. 43153". The London Gazette. 8 November 1963. p. 9127.
  2. Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003) "John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham" Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage 107th edition, 3 volumes, Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A., volume 1, page 391.
  3. "History of the Garden". Blakenham Woodland Garden. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  4. "The gardens today". Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
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