David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles
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| The Right Honourable The Viscount Eccles KCVO CH PC |
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| In office 1970 – 1973 |
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| Preceded by | Harold Lever (Paymaster General) Jennie Lee (Minister for the Arts) |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Macmillan (Paymaster General) Norman St John-Stevas (Minister for the Arts) |
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Minister of Education
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| In office 1959 – 1962 |
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President of the Board of Trade
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| In office 1957 – 1959 |
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Minister of Education
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| In office 1954 – 1957 |
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Minister of Works
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| In office 1951 – 1954 |
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| In office 1943 – 1962 |
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| Preceded by | Victor Cazalet |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Awdry |
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| Born | September 18, 1904 |
| Died | February 24, 1999 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | The Hon. Sybil Dawson (1929-1977) Mary, Viscountess Eccles (1984-death) |
| Children | The Hon. Selina Eccles The Hon. Simon Eccles The Hon. John Eccles; later 2nd Viscount Eccles |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Politician and Businessman |
| Religion | Church of England |
David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles and 1st Baron Eccles KCVO CH PC (September 18, 1904–February 24, 1999) was a British Conservative politician.
Eccles was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. He worked with the Central Mining Corporation in London and Johannesberg. During the Second World War he worked for the Ministry of Economic Warfare from 1939 to 1940 and for the Ministry of Production from 1942 to 1943 and was Economic Adviser to the British ambassadors at Lisbon and Madrid from 1940 to 1942.
Eccles was elected Member of Parliament for Chippenham in a wartime by-election in 1943, a seat he held until 1962. He served in the Conservative administrations of Churchill, Eden and Macmillan respectively as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954 (in which position, he helped organise the 1953 Coronation), as Minister of Education from 1954 to 1957 and again from 1959 to 1962 and as President of the Board of Trade from 1957 to 1959. Eccles was also President of the Board of Trade in January 1957.[1]
In 1962 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Eccles, of Chute in the County of Wiltshire, and in 1964 he was created Viscount Eccles, of Chute in the County of Wiltshire. Lord Eccles returned to the government in 1970 when Edward Heath appointed him Paymaster-General and Minister for the Arts, a post he held until 1973. As Minister for the Arts he clashed with the Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain Arnold Goodman over the funding of controversial plays and exhibitions and introduced mandatory admission charges at public museums and galleries. Lord Eccles was made a Doctor of Science (DSc) in 1966 by Loughborough University.[2]
Eccles married, firstly, the Hon. Sybil Frances Dawson (1904–1977), daughter of Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn, on October 1, 1929. They had three children:
- The Hon. Selina Eccles, m. George Petty-FitzMaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne; became The Marchioness of Lansdowne
- The Hon. Simon Dawson Eccles
- The Hon. John Dawson Eccles; later 2nd Viscount Eccles (born on April 20, 1931)
Widowed, he married again, this time to the book collector and philanthropist Mary Morley Crapo Hyde (1912-2003) on September 26, 1984. He died at age 94 at home of natural causes.
[edit] Styles and Honours
- Mr David Eccles (1904-1951)
- The Rt. Hon. David Eccles MP (1951-1953)
- The Rt. Hon. Sir David Eccles KCVO MP (1953-1962)
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord Eccles KCVO PC (1962-1964)
- The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Eccles KCVO PC (1964-1984)
- The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Eccles KCVO CH PC (1984-1999)
[edit] References
- Mary, Viscountess Eccles: obituary, The Independent, September 5, 2003
- (1945) The Times House of Commons 1945.
- (1950) The Times House of Commons 1950.
- (1955) The Times House of Commons 1955.
- ^ List of Presidents/Secretaries of State (2007), Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, London, UK, viewed 8 May 2008, http://www.berr.gov.uk/about/about-berr/history/presidents-secretaries/page13935.html
- ^ Honorary Graduates and University Medallists since 1966 (2008), Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK, viewed 29 April 2008, http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/degree_days/hon_grads_66to79.html
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by Victor Cazalet |
Member of Parliament for Chippenham 1943–1962 |
Succeeded by Daniel Awdry |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New creation |
Viscount Eccles 1962–1999 |
Succeeded by John Eccles |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Harold Lever |
Paymaster General 1970–1973 |
Succeeded by Maurice Macmillan |
| Preceded by Jennie Lee |
Minister for the Arts 1970–1973 |
Succeeded by Norman St John-Stevas |
