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John Grigg
John Edward Poynder Grigg FRSL (15 April 1924 – 31 December 2001) was a British writer, historian and politician. He was the 2nd Baron Altrincham from 1955 until he disclaimed that title under the Peerage Act on the day it received Royal Assent in 1963.
Grigg edited the National and English Review (1954–1960) as his father had done. He was a liberal Tory but was defeated at the 1951 and 1955 general elections. In an article for the National and English Review in August 1957, Grigg argued that Queen Elizabeth II's court was too upper-class and British, and instead advocated a more "classless" and Commonwealth court. He also likened the Queen's voice to that of "a priggish schoolgirl". He was slapped across the face by a man in public, and was attacked by the majority of the press, with a minority, including the New Statesman and Ian Gilmour's The Spectator, agreeing with some of his ideas.
As a historian, his most notable work was an uncompleted four-volume biography of Prime Minister David Lloyd George; he had reached the end of the First World War in 1918 by the time of his death.
Born in Westminster, Grigg was the son of Edward Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham, and his wife, Joan, daughter of politician John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington. He was a Times journalist, Liberal, and later Conservative, MP, Governor of Kenya, and member of Winston Churchill's wartime government. His mother organised nursing and midwifery in Kenya.
From Eton, Grigg joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into his father's regiment, the Grenadier Guards, in 1943 during the Second World War (1939–1945). While in the British Army, Grigg served as an officer of the Guard at St James's Palace and Windsor Castle, Berkshire, and saw action as a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, part of the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade of the Guards Armoured Division, against the German Army in France and Belgium. Towards the end of the war, he became an intelligence officer.
After the war, Grigg read Modern History at New College, Oxford. While at Oxford University, he gained a reputation for academic excellence, winning the University Gladstone Memorial Prize in 1948. In the same year, after graduating with second-class honours, Grigg joined the National Review, which was owned and edited by his father.
A liberal Tory, and later a supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Grigg sought election to the House of Commons. He stood for election for the recently created Oldham West at the 1951 general election, but was defeated by the sitting member Leslie Hale. Grigg contested the seat again in the 1955 general election but was similarly unsuccessful. With his father's death in December 1955, Grigg inherited the title of Baron Altrincham, which seemingly ended any hope of his being able to stand again as a candidate. Nonetheless, Grigg refused to apply for a writ of summons to exercise his right to a seat in the House of Lords.
When Tony Benn (the Viscount Stansgate) succeeded in obtaining passage of the Peerage Act, Grigg was the second person (after Benn himself) to take advantage of the new law and disclaim his peerage. In 1997, he wrote that he was "entirely opposed to hereditary seats in Parliament" and added that in 1963 he "felt honour-bound to disclaim, though it was a bore to have to change my name again". Grigg never achieved his ambition of election to the House of Commons. In 1963, he was publicly rejected by the Conservatives and passed over for being chosen as Tory candidate for Morecambe and Lonsdale. In the 1990s Grigg told Ben Pimlott that this was because of his views on the Royal Family being viewed with disdain by the Tories. Grigg left the Conservative Party for the SDP in 1982.
John Grigg
John Edward Poynder Grigg FRSL (15 April 1924 – 31 December 2001) was a British writer, historian and politician. He was the 2nd Baron Altrincham from 1955 until he disclaimed that title under the Peerage Act on the day it received Royal Assent in 1963.
Grigg edited the National and English Review (1954–1960) as his father had done. He was a liberal Tory but was defeated at the 1951 and 1955 general elections. In an article for the National and English Review in August 1957, Grigg argued that Queen Elizabeth II's court was too upper-class and British, and instead advocated a more "classless" and Commonwealth court. He also likened the Queen's voice to that of "a priggish schoolgirl". He was slapped across the face by a man in public, and was attacked by the majority of the press, with a minority, including the New Statesman and Ian Gilmour's The Spectator, agreeing with some of his ideas.
As a historian, his most notable work was an uncompleted four-volume biography of Prime Minister David Lloyd George; he had reached the end of the First World War in 1918 by the time of his death.
Born in Westminster, Grigg was the son of Edward Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham, and his wife, Joan, daughter of politician John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington. He was a Times journalist, Liberal, and later Conservative, MP, Governor of Kenya, and member of Winston Churchill's wartime government. His mother organised nursing and midwifery in Kenya.
From Eton, Grigg joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into his father's regiment, the Grenadier Guards, in 1943 during the Second World War (1939–1945). While in the British Army, Grigg served as an officer of the Guard at St James's Palace and Windsor Castle, Berkshire, and saw action as a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, part of the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade of the Guards Armoured Division, against the German Army in France and Belgium. Towards the end of the war, he became an intelligence officer.
After the war, Grigg read Modern History at New College, Oxford. While at Oxford University, he gained a reputation for academic excellence, winning the University Gladstone Memorial Prize in 1948. In the same year, after graduating with second-class honours, Grigg joined the National Review, which was owned and edited by his father.
A liberal Tory, and later a supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Grigg sought election to the House of Commons. He stood for election for the recently created Oldham West at the 1951 general election, but was defeated by the sitting member Leslie Hale. Grigg contested the seat again in the 1955 general election but was similarly unsuccessful. With his father's death in December 1955, Grigg inherited the title of Baron Altrincham, which seemingly ended any hope of his being able to stand again as a candidate. Nonetheless, Grigg refused to apply for a writ of summons to exercise his right to a seat in the House of Lords.
When Tony Benn (the Viscount Stansgate) succeeded in obtaining passage of the Peerage Act, Grigg was the second person (after Benn himself) to take advantage of the new law and disclaim his peerage. In 1997, he wrote that he was "entirely opposed to hereditary seats in Parliament" and added that in 1963 he "felt honour-bound to disclaim, though it was a bore to have to change my name again". Grigg never achieved his ambition of election to the House of Commons. In 1963, he was publicly rejected by the Conservatives and passed over for being chosen as Tory candidate for Morecambe and Lonsdale. In the 1990s Grigg told Ben Pimlott that this was because of his views on the Royal Family being viewed with disdain by the Tories. Grigg left the Conservative Party for the SDP in 1982.