Noel Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton

The Right Honourable The Lord Noel-Buxton PC
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
In office 22 January 1924 – 3 November 1924
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Sir Robert Sanders, Bt
Succeeded by	Hon. E. F. L. Wood
In office 7 June 1929 – 5 June 1930
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Hon. Walter Guinness
Succeeded by	Christopher Addison
Personal details
Born	9 January 1869 (1869-01-09)
Died	12 September 1948 (1948-09-13)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Labour
Spouse(s)	Lucy Burn (1888-1960)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Noel Edward Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton PC (9 January 1869 – 12 September 1948) was a British Liberal and later Labour politician. He served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and between 1929 and 1930.

Background and education

Born Noel Edward Buxton, the second son of Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet, he was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1]

Political career

In 1896, Buxton acted as Aide-de-Camp to his father during his time as Governor of South Australia. He served on the Whitechapel Board of Guardians and Central Unemployment Body, and was a Member of the Home Office Departmental Committee on Lead Poisoning.^{[citation needed]}

During the First World War (1914-1915), he went on a political mission with his brother, Charles Roden Buxton, with the object of securing the neutrality of Bulgaria; in the course of this an attempt was made on their lives by a Turkish activist (October 1914), Hasan Tahsin, in which he was wounded and his brother was shot through the lung. After their return, they published a book describing the region and its recent history, The War and the Balkans (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1915). It begins with these words:

No one now denies the supreme importance of the Balkans as a factor in the European War. It may be that there were deep-seated hostilities between the Great Powers which would have, in any case, produced a European War, and that if the Balkans had not offered the occasion, the occasion would have been found elsewhere. The fact remains that the Balkans did provide the occasion. A great part of the Serbo-Croat race found itself under the Austrian Empire, and with its increasing consciousness of nationality became more and more dissatisfied with its lot. The independent kingdom of Serbia for its part has taken active steps to spread abroad the idea of uniting its brothers under its own flag. It was Austria's ambition to crush this dangerous little State, the one rallying point of a vigorous and determined race.^{[citation needed]}

Buxton stood unsuccessfully for Ipswich in 1900.^{[citation needed]} He was elected as Liberal Member of Parliament for Whitby in 1905, a seat he held until 1906.^[2] He was out of parliament until the January 1910 general election, when he was returned for Norfolk North.^[3] He joined the Labour Party in 1919 and in 1922 he successfully contested his Norfolk North seat as a Labour candidate. He continued to represent the constituency until 1930.^[3] When Labour came to power under Ramsay MacDonald in January 1924, Buxton was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries,^[4] with a seat in the cabinet, and sworn of the Privy Council.^[5] He remained as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries until the government fell in December 1924. He resumed the post in 1929 (once again as a member of the cabinet) when Labour returned to office under MacDonald,^[6] and held it until 1930, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Noel-Buxton, of Aylsham in the County of Norfolk.^[7] He changed his surname at this point to 'Noel-Buxton', so enabling that to be his title.^{[citation needed]}

Buxton's publications include Europe and the Turks; With the Bulgarian Staff; Travels and Reflections, 1929; and he was part-author of The Heart of the Empire, Travel and Politics in Armenia, The War and the Balkans, Balkan Problems and European Peace, and Oppressed Peoples and the League of Nations.^{[citation needed]}

Family

Lord Noel-Buxton married Lucy Edith Pelham Burn in 1914.^{[citation needed]} She succeeded him as Member of Parliament for Norfolk North in 1930.^[8] Noel-Buxton died in September 1948, aged 79, and was succeeded in the barony by his son, Rufus. Lady Noel-Buxton died in December 1960.

References

1. ^ Buxton [post Noel-Buxton], Noel Edward in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
2. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: West Lothian to Widnes
3. ^ ^{a b} leighrayment.com House of Commons: New Romney to Northampton
4. ^ London Gazette: no. 32901. p. 770. 25 January 1924.
5. ^ London Gazette: no. 32901. p. 769. 25 January 1924.
6. ^ London Gazette: no. 33505. p. 3856. 11 June 1929.
7. ^ London Gazette: no. 33617. p. 3874. 20 June 1930.
8. ^ London Gazette: no. 33625. p. 4427. 15 July 1930.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Noel Noel-Buxton

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Ernest Beckett	Member of Parliament for Whitby 1905–1906	Succeeded by Gervase Beckett
Preceded by Sir William Brampton Gurdon	Member of Parliament for North Norfolk January 1910–1918	Succeeded by Douglas King
Preceded by Douglas King	Member of Parliament for North Norfolk 1922–1930	Succeeded by The Baroness Noel-Buxton
Political offices
Preceded by Sir Robert Sanders, Bt	Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1924	Succeeded by Hon. E. F. L. Wood
Preceded by Hon. Walter Guinness	Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1929-30	Succeeded by Christopher Addison
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by (new creation)	Baron Noel-Buxton 1930-1948	Succeeded by Rufus Alexander Buxton

Persondata
Name	Noel-Buxton, Noel Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 January 1869
Place of birth
Date of death	12 September 1948
Place of death