Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway

2nd Baron Aberconway, politician and horticulturist (1879–1953)

The Right HonourableThe Lord AberconwayCBE


Member of Parliament for Bosworth
In office 3 December 1910 – 26 October 1922
Preceded by	Charles McLaren
Succeeded by	Guy Paget
Member of Parliament for West Staffordshire
In office 12 January 1906 – 15 January 1910
Preceded by	Sir Alexander Henderson
Succeeded by	George Lloyd

Personal details
Born	Henry Duncan McLaren (1879-04-16)16 April 1879 Richmond upon Thames, England
Died	23 May 1953(1953-05-23) (aged 74) Bodnant Garden, Wales
Spouse	Christabel Mary Melville Macnaghten
Parent(s)	Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway Laura Elizabeth Pochin

Henry Duncan McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway, CBE (16 April 1879 – 23 May 1953) was a British politician, horticulturalist and industrialist. He was the son of Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway and Laura Pochin.

Education

Born in Richmond upon Thames, he was educated at Eton and obtained a Master of Arts from Balliol College, Oxford. In 1903 he became a barrister of Lincoln's Inn.

Career

In 1906 he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for West Staffordshire as a Liberal, and was Private Under-Secretary to the President of the Board of Trade, David Lloyd George, until 1908. In 1910, he stood for his father's old seat of Bosworth and replaced him. He left politics in 1922, and succeeded his father to the Barony in 1934.

McLaren was an industrialist, and chaired companies from both sides of the family, including John Brown & Company and the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company. In 1915 he was the founding chairman of the Design and Industries Association. Around the end of his political career, in 1920, he had Aberconway House built as a residence in Mayfair. He would also inherit the family estate (originally his maternal grandfather's) in Conwy, North Wales, where he extensively developed and added to the Bodnant Garden. He was an avid horticulturalist and took interest in the breeding of rhododendrons and magnolias. He sponsored several botanical collectors, including George Forrest, and Rhododendron aberconwayi is named in his honour. He died at Bodnant, aged 74, and was buried at the mausoleum called "The Poem" within Bodnant Garden, the traditional burial place of the Lords Aberconway.

Family

He married Christabel Mary Melville Macnaghten (1890–1974), the daughter of Sir Melville Macnaghten, and had five children:

Elizabeth Mary McLaren (31 May 1911 – 4 December 1991), married and had issue, including Sir Kenneth Carlisle
Charles McLaren, 3rd Baron Aberconway (1913–2003)
S/Ldr. John Francis McLaren (1919–1953)
Dame Anne McLaren (1927–2007), a biologist and Fellow of the Royal Society, married researcher Donald Michie and had issue, including Susan Michie and Jonathan Michie
Christopher Melville McLaren (b. 15 April 1934), married and has issue

The standard author abbreviation Aberc. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

References

Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
thePeerage.com

DIA web site
Ray Desmond (25 February 1994). Dictionary Of British And Irish Botanists And Horticulturists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. CRC Press. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-85066-843-8.
International Plant Names Index. Aberc.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry McLaren

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded bySir Alexander Henderson, Bt	Member of Parliament for West Staffordshire 1906–January 1910	Succeeded byGeorge Lloyd
Preceded byCharles McLaren	Member of Parliament for Bosworth December 1910–1922	Succeeded byGuy Paget
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded byCharles McLaren	Baron Aberconway 1934–1953	Succeeded byCharles McLaren

Categories: