This is not so much about Westminster wit as about Westminster characters.
In a post earlier this year, I asked if readers could name the three hereditary peers who sit in the House of Commons. Given the quality of our readership, the answer was provided very quickly by several people. I thought I would therefore pose a more difficult question.
Which peer once addressed the House of Lords as ‘My Dears’?
Francis Wheen refers to the incident when mentioning the peer in his wonderfully entertaining biography of Labour MP Tom Driberg. The peer spoke for Driberg in the 1951 general election. I did wonder if the story was apocryphal. However, reference to the event appears in the recently published diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles. He recorded having lunch one day with a number of people, including Quintin Hogg, newly appointed Under Secretary for Air. “Hogg said that xxx, ….. had recently thrown the House of Lords into consternation by addressing their Lordships as ‘My Dears’.” I won’t mention the date recorded in the diary, since that would make it too easy for anyone who has a copy of the book. It will be interesting to see if anyone can provide an answer as quickly as respondents to the earlier question. I would add the unhelpful clue that the peer (who died in the 1970s) was not particularly well-known.
As an aside, I did wonder what would happen today if a peer addressed the House as ‘My Dears’ rather than ‘My Lords’. I suppose if several peers were trying to intervene in a debate at the same time, all saying ‘My Lords’, someone rising and exclaiming ‘My Dears’ might gain the attention of the House!
Lord Faringdon, I believe is the answer to your question.
I won’t spoil the fun for anyone attempting to answer to this one, but it can be found via Google. I’ll offer a further hint that the name of the peer is similar to (but not the same as) that of a London train station.
I too cheated, and found the answer using Google.
The thing is that it’s been done, you’d have to go one better. How about standing up and singing the first verse of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ by the Rolling Stones? That would get their attention!
Don’t worry, I am joking! 🙂
Well I had a bit of a gander myself on the internet and think I have the right answer. I’m not that clued up on London train stations (having only just moved here) so that clue wasn’t much help to me (!) but I think I have it 🙂
Was it Lord Faringdon?
So we were all right!
Do we win something? (Other than the warm glow of getting the correct answer?):)
Clearly too easy. It was indeed the 2nd Baron Faringdon. Now for the supplementary. In what year did he cause such consternation?
Dear Lord Norton,
Thank you so much for posting this nugget. I was hoping it might come out on the blog.
Howridiculous.
Given Quintin Hogg’s appointment as Under Secretary for Air in 1945, was that the same year of Lord Faringdon’s game?
Michael: Well done – excellent piece of detective work. Lascelles had lunch with Hogg in April 1945.
I’m pleased, as by pure chance I’ve managed to get Sir Alan Lascelle’s diaries and it’s on my reading list.
I can recommend the Lascelles diaries. They are very readable and provide fascinating insights. The principal coverage is of his period serving King George VI but his reflections on Edward VIII are extremely interesting.
Lord Norton, in another life where I were also a peer I reckon we’d be having long and fascinating conversations in the Lord’s Bar!
Given that I am teetotal, I would probably have to be in another life as well!