Altrincham, Edward William Macleary Grigg, Baron

Person

Altrincham, Edward William Macleary Grigg, Baron

1879-1955

Sir Edward William Macleay Grigg, First Lord Altrincham (1879-1955) was the only son of Elizabeth and Henry Bidewell Grigg, C.I.E., I.C.S. He first attended Winchester and then New College, Oxford. Upon leaving Oxford in 1902 he became secretary to G.E. Buckle, Editor of the Times. He held this position for about a year (1903-1904) and then served as Assistant Editor of The Outlook during 1905 and 1906.

For two years he travelled extensively and in 1908 returned to the Times where he quickly became Colonial Editor. In 1913 he left the Times to become joint editor, with Philip Kerr, of The Round Table and used this position to influence policy. He remained on the editorial board of The Round Table throughtout his life.

In 1914 he entered the army in the Second Battalion of the Grenadier Guards and joined the British Expeditionary Force in 1915 where he soon received command of a company. In 1919 he was appointed military secretary on the staff of the Prince of Wales and accompanied the Prince on a number of tours in 1919 and 1920. He ended his military career in early 1921.For his services to his country he received the M.C. and D.S.O. and was created a C.M.G. and a C.V.O., becoming K.C.V.O. in 1920. He was also honoured by foreign governments becoming a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold II and an officer of the Legion of Honour.

After leaving the army he became private secretary to Prime Minister Lloyd George where he served as adviser and confidant to the prime minister on imperial and foreign affairs. He stayed with Lloyd George until the fall of the Coalition Government and in the ensuing election was elected a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Oldham.

In 1923 Sir Edward married the Honourable Joan Dickson-Poynder and they had three children, two sons and a daughter.

Sir Edward resigned as a member of Parliament in 1925 to become Govenor of Kenya. During his governorship, he managed to achieve a number of positive measures including the Native Lands Trust Ordinance which made tribal lands secure. Suffering from amoebic dysentery, he and Lady Grigg left Kenya in 1930.

For the rest of his life he remained active politically and in 1933 a by-election at Altincham returned him to the Commons as the National Conservative candidate where he sat for Altrincham until raised to the peerage in 1945.

He continued to speak on behalf of the African colonies and in 1948 became editor of the National Review which merged, two years later, with The English Review Magazine to become the National and English Review with Lord Altrincham as editor until 1954. His book Kenya's Opportunity was published Decenber 1, 1955, one day after his death.

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