Christopher Soames

The Right Honourable
The Lord Soames
GCMG GCVO CH CBE PC
The Right Honourable The Lord Soames GCMG GCVO CH CBE PC
	Soames in 1966
Governor of Southern Rhodesia
	In office; 11 December 1979 – 18 April 1980
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Humphrey Gibbs (1969); Josiah Zion Gumede[nb 1];
Succeeded by	Canaan Banana[nb 2]
Vice-President of the European Commission
	In office; 6 January 1973 – 5 January 1977
President	François-Xavier Ortoli
European Commissioner for External Relations
	In office; 6 January 1973 – 5 January 1977
President	François-Xavier Ortoli
Preceded by	Jean-François Deniau
Succeeded by	Wilhelm Haferkamp
Her Majesty's Ambassador to France
	In office; September 1968 – 27 October 1972
Preceded by	Patrick Reilly
Succeeded by	Edward Tomkins
Prime Minister
Ministerial offices
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council
	In office; 5 May 1979 – 14 September 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	The Lord Peart (Lords); Michael Foot (Council);
Succeeded by	The Baroness Young (Lords); Francis Pym (Council);
Shadow Foreign Secretary
	In office; 11 November 1965 – 13 April 1966
Leader	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Reginald Maudling
Succeeded by	Alec Douglas-Home
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	In office; 27 July 1960 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan; Alec Douglas-Home;
Preceded by	John Hare
Succeeded by	Fred Peart
Secretary of State for War
	In office; 6 January 1958 – 27 July 1960
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	John Hare
Succeeded by	John Profumo
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty
	In office; 9 January 1957 – 6 January 1958
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	George Ward
Succeeded by	Robert Allan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Air
	In office; 6 April 1955 – 9 January 1957
Prime Minister	Anthony Eden
Preceded by	George Ward
Succeeded by	Ian Orr-Ewing
Preceded by
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
	Lord Temporal
	Life peerage; 19 April 1978 – 16 September 1987
Member of Parliament; for Bedford
	In office; 23 February 1950 – 10 March 1966
Preceded by	Thomas Skeffington-Lodge
Succeeded by	Brian Parkyn
Personal details
Born	Arthur Christopher John Soames; 12 October 1920; Penn, Buckinghamshire, England
Died	16 September 1987 (aged 66); Odiham, Hampshire, England
Resting place	St Martin's Church, Bladon
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Mary Churchill (m. 1947)
Children	5, including Nicholas, Emma and Rupert
Parent	Arthur Granville Soames (father)
Relatives	Winston Churchill (father‑in‑law)
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Royal Military College, Sandhurst
	n.b.1 ^ as President of Zimbabwe Rhodesia; n.b.2 ^ as President of Zimbabwe;

Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE, PC (12 October 1920 – 16 September 1987) was a British Conservative politician who served as a European Commissioner and the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedford from 1950 to 1966. He held several government posts and attained Cabinet rank.

Early life and education

Soames was born in Penn, Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Captain Arthur Granville Soames (the brother of Olave Baden-Powell, World Chief Guide, both descendants of a brewing family who had joined the landed gentry) by his marriage to Hope Mary Woodbine Parish. His parents divorced while he was a boy, and his mother married her second husband Charles Rhys (later 8th Baron Dynevor), by whom she had further children including Richard Rhys, 9th Baron Dynevor.

Soames was educated at West Downs School, Eton College, and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.^[1] He obtained a commission as an officer in the Coldstream Guards just before World War II broke out. During the war, he served in France, Italy, and North Africa and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for his actions at the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942.^[2]

Political career

After military service during the Second World War, Soames served as the Assistant Military Attaché in Paris. He was the Conservative MP for Bedford from 1950 to 1966 and served under Anthony Eden as Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1955 to 1957 and under Harold Macmillan as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1957 to 1958. In the 1955 Birthday Honours, he was invested as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).^[3]

In 1958 he was sworn of the Privy Council. He served under Macmillan as Secretary of State for War (outside the Cabinet) from 1958 to 1960 and then in the cabinets of Macmillan and his successor Alec Douglas-Home as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from July 1960 to 1964. Home had promised to promote him to Foreign Secretary if the Conservatives won the 1964 general election, but they did not.^[4]

Between 1965 and 1966, Soames was Shadow Foreign Secretary under Edward Heath. He lost his seat in Parliament in the 1966 election. In 1968 Harold Wilson appointed him Ambassador to France,^[5] where he served until 1972.^[6] During his tenure as ambassador, he was involved in the February 1969 "Soames affair", following a private meeting between Soames and French president Charles de Gaulle, the latter offering bilateral talks concerning a partnership for Britain in a larger and looser European union, the talks not involving other members. The British government eventually refused the offer, and that for a time strained Franco-British relations. He was then a Vice-President of the European Commission from 1973 to 1976.^[7] He was considered as a potential challenger to Edward Heath in the 1975 Conservative Party leadership election. The eventual winner Margaret Thatcher would have withdrawn if he had stood.^[8] He was created a life peer on 19 April 1978 as Baron Soames, of Fletching in the County of East Sussex.^[9]

He served as the interim governor of Southern Rhodesia from 1979 to 1980, charged with administering the terms of the Lancaster House Agreement and overseeing its governmental transition into Zimbabwe. From 1979 to 1981, he was Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords under Margaret Thatcher, concurrent with his duties in Southern Rhodesia.^[10]

Outside politics

Soames served as president of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1973, was a non-executive director of N.M. Rothschild and Sons Ltd 1977–79, and a director of the Nat West Bank 1978–79.^[11]

Family

Lord Soames married Mary Churchill, the youngest child of Winston and Clementine Churchill, on 11 February 1947. They had five children:

Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching (b. 12 February 1948), Member of House of Lords, former Conservative MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence;^[12]
Emma Mary Soames (b. 6 September 1949), editor of Saga magazine;
Jeremy Bernard Soames (b. 25 May 1952);
Charlotte Clementine Soames, Countess Peel (b. 17 July 1954), married to William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel, former Lord Chamberlain;
Rupert Christopher Soames (b. 18 May 1959).^{[citation needed]}

Death

Lord Soames died from pancreatitis aged 66. His ashes were buried within the Churchill plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.^{[citation needed]}

Honours

In date order:

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) – 1942^[11]
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (Civil division) – 1955^[11]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) – 1972^[13]
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) – 1972^[14]
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) – 1972^[1]
Robert Schuman Prize – 1976^[11]
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) – 1980^[15]

Arms

Coat of arms of Christopher Soames
	Crest In front of a rising sun Proper upon a lure Gules feathered Argent fesswise a falcon belled Or. Escutcheon Gules a chevron Or between in chief two mallets erect of the second and in base two wings conjoined in lure Argent. Motto Vilius Virtutibus Aurum^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b "The Papers of Baron Soames". Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
^ "Britain's Man for Rhodesia". The New York Times. 13 December 1979. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
^ "No. 40497". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 1955. p. 3269.
^ Jago 2015, p. 401.
^ "No. 44723". The London Gazette. 26 November 1968. p. 12676.
^ "No. 45876". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 1973. p. 480.
^ "A.Ch.J. (Christopher) Soames". europa-nu.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
^ Campbell 2010, pp. 318–319.
^ "No. 47519". The London Gazette. 24 April 1978. p. 4731.
^ Renwick, Robin (17 September 2015) [2004]. "Soames, (Arthur) Christopher John, Baron Soames (1920–1987), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39861. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mosley 1982, p. 1435.
^ "Lord Soames of Fletching". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
^ "No. 45713". The London Gazette. 27 June 1972. p. 7689.
^ "No. 45554". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1972. p. 4.
^ "No. 48212". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1980. p. 5.
^ Debrett's Peerage. 1985.^{[incomplete short citation]}

Bibliography

Campbell, John (2010). Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown. London: Vintage. ISBN 978-1-84595-091-0. OCLC 489636152.
Jago, Michael (2015). Rab Butler: The Best Prime Minister We Never Had?. London: Biteback. ISBN 978-1-84954-920-2.
Mosley, Nicholas, ed. (1982). Debrett's Handbook 1982: Distinguished People in British Life. London: Debrett's Peerage Limited. ISBN 978-0-905649-38-2.
Sanderson, Claire (2011). Perfide Albion ? L'affaire Soames et les arcanes de la diplomatie britannique (in French). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonn. ISBN 978-2-85944-665-9.

External links

[janus-1] "The Papers of Baron Soames". Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2014.

[2] "Britain's Man for Rhodesia". The New York Times. 13 December 1979. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.

[3] "No. 40497". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 1955. p. 3269.

[FOOTNOTEJago2015401-4] Jago 2015, p. 401.

[5] "No. 44723". The London Gazette. 26 November 1968. p. 12676.

[6] "No. 45876". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 1973. p. 480.

[7] "A.Ch.J. (Christopher) Soames". europa-nu.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2021.

[FOOTNOTECampbell2010318–319-8] Campbell 2010, pp. 318–319.

[9] "No. 47519". The London Gazette. 24 April 1978. p. 4731.

[ODNB-10] Renwick, Robin (17 September 2015) [2004]. "Soames, (Arthur) Christopher John, Baron Soames (1920–1987), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39861. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[FOOTNOTEMosley19821435-11] Mosley 1982, p. 1435.

[12] "Lord Soames of Fletching". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 October 2022.

[13] "No. 45713". The London Gazette. 27 June 1972. p. 7689.

[14] "No. 45554". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1972. p. 4.

[15] "No. 48212". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1980. p. 5.

[16] Debrett's Peerage. 1985.^{[incomplete short citation]}

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v t e Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
to Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Carr-Gomm 1906–1908
to H. H. Asquith	Howard 1908–1909 Lyell 1908–1915
to David Lloyd George	Barran 1916–1918 D. Davies 1916–1918 Sutherland 1916–1918, 1919–1920 Astor 1918 Sassoon 1920–1922
to Bonar Law	Davidson 1922–1923
to Stanley Baldwin	Herbert 1923–1924, 1924–1927 Rhys 1927–1929 Geoffery-Lloyd 1935 Dugdale 1935–1937
to Ramsay MacDonald	Weir 1924, 1929–1931 R. Morrison 1929–1931 Markham 1931–1932 Glyn 1931–1935 Worthington 1931–1935
to Neville Chamberlain	Douglas-Home 1937–1940
to Winston Churchill	Bracken 1940–1941 Harvie-Watt 1941–1945 Soames 1952–1955
to Clement Attlee	de Freitas 1945–1946 Moyle 1946–1951
to Anthony Eden	Carr 1955 Allan 1955–1956
to Harold Macmillan	Barber 1957–1959 K. Cunningham 1959–1963
to Alec Douglas-Home	Pearson 1963–1964
to Harold Wilson	Fernyhough 1964–1967 Shore 1965–1966 H. Davies 1967–1970 Varley 1968–1969 Hamling 1974–1975 Marks 1975 Tomlinson 1975–1976
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