Monday 29 July 2019

1926: Rt. Hon. William George Arthur Ormsby Gore (later Lord Harlech)

William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech.jpg
Updated November 2020

The 4th Baron Harlech was a Conservative politician: another President during this period who didn't have an obvious connection with either geography or education.

He obviously had influence in other areas, and could perhaps 'speak up' for geography at a time when this was needed (which is pretty much always it seems...)

He was a Conservative politician, and during his political career, held the office of Secretary of State for the Colonies (making him another GA President with a colonial background) and also an MP.

He served in Egypt during World War 1, and worked as a liaison officer in Palestine.

In 1936 he was appointed colonial secretary, a post he resigned two years later because of his elevation to the peerage (on the death of his father, the 3rd Baron Harlech) and because of his outspoken criticism of Nazi Germany.

He promoted educational policies in keeping with the needs of the region. He also championed scientific research to aid in solving the medical and agricultural problems afflicting the underdeveloped portions of the British Empire. 
In line with his interest in and commitment to education, he served as prochancellor of the University of Wales from 1945 to 1957.

He seems to have made some very reasonable choices during his Political career.

I perhaps need to start keeping count of the various Presidents who were MPs and establish the general political leaning of GA Presidents. I wonder also whether that has changed over the years...

His Presidential Address was on the theme of 'The Economic Geography of the British Empire'.
It was mentioned by the previous President: Linton Myres in his 'Wayside Geography' piece in the same issue of the journal as the Address was published.




He starts by setting out the size of the Empire at the time, which in this time of Brexit puts our current status on the world stage into even sharper relief.



There was little that I could find about his further involvement with the GA on reading through all the journals at the time. He wrote about various parts of the country with respect to the Ancient Monuments that could be found there, so could perhaps be described as a geographer that way.

I am unsure as to which stories relate specifically to him, as he had other family members.

References

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ormsby-Gore,_4th_Baron_Harlech
Source of image.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-George-Arthur-Ormsby-Gore-4th-Baron-Harlech

Papers (which may have further information on his time at the GA)
https://archives.library.wales/index.php/papers-of-william-george-arthur-ormsby-gore

https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1392688

I edited this page to include the fact that he was the President of the GA, as usual.

Gore, W. G. A. Ormsby. “THE ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.” The Geographical Teacher, vol. 13, no. 4, 1926, pp. 268–275. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40556127.

If you know anything further about this President, and what he did during his time in office let me know. This is one of the briefest entries on the blog so far.

For example, was this him?
He looks similar and of the right age.

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