Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

|name = The Viscount Amory

|honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|GCMG|TD|PC|DL}} {{postnominals|size=100%|country=CAN|OD}}

|image = Derick Heathcoat-Amory.png

|office = Chancellor of the Exchequer

|term_start = 6 January 1958

|term_end = 27 July 1960

|primeminister = Harold Macmillan

|predecessor = Peter Thorneycroft

|successor = Selwyn Lloyd

|office1 = Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

|term_start1 = 28 July 1954

|term_end1 = 6 January 1958

|primeminister1 = Winston Churchill
Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan

|predecessor1 = Thomas Dugdale

|successor1 = John Hare

|office2 = Minister of State for Trade

|term_start2 = 3 September 1953

|term_end2 = 28 July 1954

|primeminister2 = Winston Churchill

|predecessor2 = Office Created

|successor2 = Derek Walker-Smith

|office3 = Minister of Pensions

|term_start3 = 5 November 1951

|term_end3 = 3 September 1953

|primeminister3 = Winston Churchill

|predecessor3 = George Isaacs

|successor3 = Osbert Peake

|constituency_MP4 = Tiverton

|term_start4 = 5 July 1945

|term_end4 = 1 September 1960

|predecessor4 = Gilbert Acland-Troyte

|successor4 = Robin Maxwell-Hyslop

|birth_date = {{birth date|1899|12|26|df=y}}

|birth_place = London, England

|death_date = {{death date and age|1981|01|20|1899|12|26|df=y}}

|death_place = Chevithorne, Devon, England

|party = Conservative Party

|alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford

| module = {{Infobox military person | embed=yes

|nickname=

|allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}}

|branch= {{army|United Kingdom}}

|serviceyears= 1920–1948

|rank= Lieutenant-Colonel

|unit=

|commands=

|battles=Second World War

|awards=

|relations=

}}

Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|m|ər|i}} {{respell|AY|mər|ee}};G.M. Miller, BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 5. 26 December 1899 – 20 January 1981) was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords.

He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1958 and 1960, and later as Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1972 until his death in 1981.

Background and education

Derick Heathcoat-Amory was born in London on 26 December 1899, the son of Sir Ian Heathcoat-Amory, 2nd Baronet (see Heathcoat-Amory baronets) and Alexandra Georgina (OBE; who d. 1942), eldest daughter of Vice-Admiral Henry Seymour CB (brother of Francis, 5th Marquess of Hertford GCB).{{cite ODNB|title = Amory, Derick Heathcoat, first Viscount Amory (1899–1981), industrialist and politician|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/30760|last = Ramsden|first = John|authorlink = John Ramsden (historian)|date = 2004}}

He was educated at Ludgrove School{{cite book |last1=Barber |first1=Richard |title=The Story of Ludgrove |date=2004 |publisher=Guidon Publishing |location=Oxford |isbn=0-9543617-2-5 |page=189}} followed by Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, receiving an MA degree.The Complete Peerage Volume XIV, page 830

His great-nephews include the Rt Hon David Heathcoat-Amory and Sir Ian Heathcoat-Amory, 6th and present baronet.[http://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com] A great-aunt was the sculptor Princess Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Countess von Gleichen.

Career

Heathcoat-Amory was elected a Devon County Councillor in 1932 and worked in textile manufacturing and banking. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 11th (Devon) Army Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Army) on 31 July 1920, promoted to lieutenant in the regiment (by then the 96th (Royal Devonshire Yeomanry) Field Brigade) on 31 July 1922 and promoted to captain on 1 September 1926.{{London Gazette|issue=32023 |supp=y|page=8561|date=17 August 1920}}{{London Gazette|issue=32750|page=6843|date=26 September 1922}}{{London Gazette|issue=33228|page=8103|date=10 December 1926}} He was promoted to major on 1 October 1935.{{London Gazette|issue=34207|page=6378|date=11 October 1935}} During the Second World War, he was wounded and captured during Operation Market-Garden. He retired on 1 September 1948 with the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel.{{London Gazette|issue=39151 |supp=y|page=910|date=16 February 1951}}

He was elected Member of Parliament for Tiverton in 1945 (a constituency previously held by his grandfather Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Baronet).{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Tcommons2.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Tipperary South to Tyrone West |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715143848/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Tcommons2.htm |archive-date=15 July 2018 }} When the Conservatives came to power under Winston Churchill in 1951 he was appointed Minister of Pensions. In September 1953 he was appointed Minister of State for Trade. He joined Churchill's Cabinet in July 1954 succeeding Sir Thomas Dugdale as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (continuing his responsibilities as Minister of State for Trade). In October 1954 these ministries merged under Heathcoat-Amory's leadership. The Hon. Gwilym Lloyd George later Viscount Tenby had previously been charged with Food ministerial affairs. He remained in this post until being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1958, by Harold Macmillan, an office he held until 1960. A highlight of Amory's chancellorship was the raising of the Bank Rate to 6% in June 1960, in an effort to cool the economy after the election the previous autumn.Dell 1997, p256

He stood down from the House of Commons in 1960 and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Amory, of Tiverton in the County of Devon, on 1 September of that year.{{London Gazette |issue=42133 |date=2 September 1960 |page=6019 }} From 1965 to 1970, he was Governor (Company Chairman) of the Hudson's Bay Company, North America's oldest company (established by English royal charter in 1670). Viscount Amory was sworn of the Privy Council in 1953, and appointed GCMG in 1961 and KG in 1968.{{London Gazette |issue=44571 |date=23 April 1968 |page=4645 }} He also received the degree of Hon. LLD (Exon) in 1959, before serving as Chancellor of Exeter University from 1972 to 1981.

Personal life

Heathcoat-Amory was an accomplished sailor, who had his yacht brought up the Thames to take him away after making Budget speeches when Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Civil Service Sailing Association continues to award the annual Heathcoat Amory Trophy (donated by Viscount Amory) for outstanding sailing achievements by its members.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

In 1972, Lord Amory succeeded his brother in the family baronetcy; he died unmarried at his home in Chevithorne on 20 January 1981, aged 81. The viscountcy became extinct upon his death and his younger brother succeeded him as Sir William Heathcoat-Amory, 5th Baronet, DSO.

Arms

{{Infobox COA wide

| name = Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory, KG, GCMG, TD, PC, DL, OD

| image = File:Coat of Arms of Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory, KG, GCMG, TD, PC, DL, OD.png

| imagesize = 250px

| coronet = A Viscount's Coronet

| bannerimage =

| badgeimage =

| notes =

| crest = 1st Out of the battlements of a tower Or a talbot's head Azure charged with two annulets fesswise fretted Or (Amory); 2nd on a mount Vert between two roses growing therefrom Gules barbed seeded slipped and leaved proper a pomme charged with a cross Or (Heathcoat). (not displayed at left)

| torse =

| helm =

| escutcheon = Quarterly 1st and 4th Argent two bars Gules on a bend engrailed cottised Sable two annulets Argent (Amory); 2nd and 3rd Vert on each of three piles issuant two in chief and one in base Or a pomme charged with a cross Or (Heathcoat).

| supporters = Two weaver birds proper membered Or the dexter gorged with a chain pendant therefrom a portcullis Or, the sinister gorged with a chord pendant therefrom a purse also Or. (not displayed at left)

| compartment =

| motto = AMORE NON VI (not displayed at left)

| orders =

| other_elements =

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| previous_versions =

}}