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Humphrey Atkins

The Right Honourable
The Lord Colnbrook
KCMG PC
Atkins in 1963
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
(Government spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
In office
11 September 1981 – 7 April 1982
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byIan Gilmour
Succeeded byBaroness Young
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
4 May 1979 – 11 September 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byRoy Mason
Succeeded byJim Prior
Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Commons
In office
4 March 1974 – 4 May 1979
LeaderEdward Heath
Margaret Thatcher
Preceded byBob Mellish
Succeeded byMichael Cocks
Government Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office
2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byFrancis Pym
Succeeded byBob Mellish
Government Deputy Chief Whip
Treasurer of the Household
In office
18 June 1970 – 2 December 1973
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byCharles Morris
Succeeded byBernard Weatherill
Member of Parliament
for Spelthorne
In office
18 June 1970 – 18 May 1987
Preceded byBeresford Craddock
Succeeded byDavid Wilshire
Member of Parliament
for Merton and Morden
In office
26 May 1955 – 29 May 1970
Preceded byRobert Ryder
Succeeded byJanet Fookes
Personal details
Born(1922-08-12)12 August 1922
Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England[1]
Died4 October 1996(1996-10-04) (aged 74)
Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseMargaret Spencer-Nairn
Children4
RelativesAnna Keay (granddaughter)[2] John Keay (son-in-law)

Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins, Baron Colnbrook, KCMG, PC (12 August 1922 – 4 October 1996) was a British politician and a member of the Conservative Party. He served for 32 years as a Member of Parliament (MP), and served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1982.[3]

Early life

Atkins was born on 12 August 1922, in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, son of Captain Edward Davis Atkins and Violet Mary (née Preston).[4] His family spent his first few years in Kenya, returning to England after his father died from being attacked by a rhinoceros.[4] Atkins was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and served in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1948.[4]

In 1944, Atkins married Margaret Spencer-Nairn.[4] They had four children, three daughters and one son.[1] He worked for Nairn's, his wife's family's linoleum business in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, then became a director of a financial advertising agency.[4]

Political career

Atkins contested the constituency of West Lothian in 1951, and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Merton and Morden in 1955.[5] He became MP for Spelthorne in 1970.[6]

Atkins was the Conservative Chief Whip from 1973 to 1979, and served as a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1981. In September 1981, he was appointed as Lord Privy Seal, which was a role as the chief government spokesman in the House of Commons for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. This role was necessary because the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, sat in the House of Lords. He resigned in April 1982, along with Lord Carrington, over the Falklands invasion.[7]

Atkins was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 1983 Dissolution Honours.[8] He left the House of Commons in 1987 and was created a life peer on 16 October as Baron Colnbrook, of Waltham St Lawrence in the Royal County of Berkshire.[1][9]

Death

Atkins died from cancer on 4 October 1996, aged 74, at home in Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Froggatt, Richard. "Humphrey Atkins (1922–1996): Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1979–1981". Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Ulster History Circle. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ The Telegraph website, Anna Keay on India, motherhood and the Duke of Monmouth, article by Hermione Lister Kaye dated June 13, 2014
  3. ^ Cosgrave, Patrick (7 October 1996). "Obituaries : Lord Colnbrook". The Independent. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Roth, Andrew (2004). "Atkins, Humphrey Edward Gregory, Baron Colnbrook (1922–1996), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63353. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ UK Parliament website, Merton and Morden
  6. ^ UK Parliament website, Spelthorne
  7. ^ CAIN website, Atkins, Humphrey Edward Gregory
  8. ^ "No. 49424". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 July 1983. p. 9700.
  9. ^ "No. 51097". The London Gazette. 21 October 1987. p. 12971.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Merton and Morden
1955–1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Spelthorne
1970–1987 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of the Household
1970–1973 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
1973–1979 		Succeeded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
1973–1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1979–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Privy Seal
1981–1982 		Succeeded by
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