| The Right HonourableThe Viscount BlakenhamOBE PC DL | |
|---|---|
 Hare in 1949 | |
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 20 October 1963 – 28 July 1965 | |
| Leader | Alec Douglas-Home |
| Preceded by | Iain Macleod |
| Succeeded by | Edward du Cann |
| Deputy Leader of the House of Lords | |
| In office October 1963 – October 1964 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
| Leader | The Lord Carrington |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Champion |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| In office 20 October 1963 – 18 October 1964 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
| Preceded by | Iain Macleod |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Houghton |
| Minister of Labour | |
| In office 27 July 1960 – 20 October 1963 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
| Preceded by | Edward Heath |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Godber |
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |
| In office 6 January 1958 – 27 July 1960 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
| Preceded by | Derick Heathcoat-Amory |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Soames |
| Secretary of State for War | |
| In office 18 October 1956 – 6 January 1958 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Sir Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan |
| Preceded by | Antony Head |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Soames |
| Member of Parliament for Sudbury and Woodbridge Woodbridge (1945–1950) | |
| In office 5 July 1945 – 5 December 1963 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Ross-Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Keith Stainton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1911-01-22)22 January 1911 |
| Died | 7 March 1982(1982-03-07) (aged 71) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Hon. Nancy Pearson (1908–1994) |
John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham, OBE, PC, DL (22 January 1911 – 7 March 1982) was a British Conservative politician.
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. 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.
Family
Lord Blakenham married the Hon. Nancy Pearson, daughter of Weetman Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray, on 31 January 1934. They had three children:
- Hon. Mary Anne Hare (b. 9 April 1936)
- Michael John Hare, 2nd Viscount Blakenham (25 January 1938 – 8 January 2018)
- Hon. Joanna Freda Hare (b. 27 July 1942)
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. In 1982 he became treasurer of the Society.
The Blakenham Woodland Garden was inherited by his son and is open to the public. 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.
References
- "No. 43153". The London Gazette. 8 November 1963. p. 9127.
- ^ 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.
- "History of the Garden". Blakenham Woodland Garden. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- "The gardens today". Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
External links
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byWalter Ross-Taylor | Member of Parliament for Woodbridge 1945–1950 |
Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Sudbury and Woodbridge 1950–1963 |
Succeeded byKeith Stainton |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byAntony Head | Secretary of State for War 1956–1958 |
Succeeded byChristopher Soames |
| Preceded byDerick Heathcoat Amory | Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1958–1960 |
Succeeded byChristopher Soames |
| Preceded byEdward Heath | Minister of Labour 1960–1963 |
Succeeded byJoseph Godber |
| Preceded byIain Macleod | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1963–1964 |
Succeeded byDouglas Houghton |
| Preceded byunknown | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 1963–1964 |
Succeeded byThe Lord Champion |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded byIain Macleod | Chairman of the Conservative Party 1963–1965 |
Succeeded byEdward du Cann |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Blakenham 1963–1982 |
Succeeded byMichael Hare |
- 1911 births
- 1982 deaths
- Secretaries of state for war (UK)
- Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1945–1950
- UK MPs 1950–1951
- UK MPs 1951–1955
- UK MPs 1955–1959
- UK MPs 1959–1964
- UK MPs who were granted peerages
- People educated at Eton College
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British recipients of the Legion of Honour
- Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom
- Members of London County Council
- Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Younger sons of earls
- Suffolk Yeomanry officers
- Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK)
- People from Mid Suffolk District
- Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957
- Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964
- Viscounts created by Elizabeth II
- Hare family