Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale

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Baring in 1926.

Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale, KG, GCMG, KCVO (29 September 1903 – 10 March 1973) was Governor of Southern Rhodesia from 1942 to 1944, High Commissioner for Southern Africa from 1944 to 1951, and Governor of Kenya from 1952 to 1959. Baring played an integral role in the suppression of the Mau Mau uprising.[1] Together with Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd, Baring played a significant role in the government's efforts to deal with the Mau Mau uprising and see Kenya through to independence.

Education and early career[]

Baring followed in the footsteps of his father, the famed "Maker of Modern Egypt"–– Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer. Baring graduated from Oxford University with First Class Honours in modern history before serving in the Indian Civil Service. He then joined Britain's Foreign Office, where he was sent first to Southern Rhodesia before being posted in South Africa as High Commissioner.[2]

Seretse Khama[]

In 1949, while serving as High Commissioner for Southern Africa, Baring played a key role in preventing Seretse Khama, the heir to the throne of the Bechuanaland Protectorate from assuming the throne; doing so on the grounds that Khama's marriage to a white woman, Ruth Williams, was opposed by the white-minority government of South Africa, a neighbouring state which had recently implemented a system of racial segregation known as apartheid.[3]

Working in close collaboration with Percivale Liesching, who was serving as Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs at the time, Baring was able to persuade government ministers to prevent him from assuming the throne of Bechuanaland, instead mandating him to stay in a government-imposed exile in London, which lasted until 1956.[4]

Governorship in Kenya[]

Further information: Mau Mau Uprising

As Governor of Kenya, Baring declared a State of Emergency on 20 October 1952 before launching Operation Jock Scott, which targeted Mau Mau leaders, especially Jomo Kenyatta.[5]

In June 1957, Baring passed on to Alan Lennox-Boyd a secret memorandum[6] written by Eric Griffiths-Jones, the attorney general of Kenya, which described the abuse of Mau Mau detainees. The paper alleges that Baring supplied a covering letter that asserted that inflicting "violent shock" was the only way of suppressing the Mau Mau Rebellion.[6]

Career after Kenya[]

Baring left Kenya in 1959. He returned to his family estate of Howick Hall, which was inherited by his wife Lady Mary Cecil Grey, daughter of Charles Grey, 5th Earl Grey. He was known to enjoy birdwatching. He later accepted a post with the government's Colonial Development Corporation.[7]

Marriage and children[]

Baring married Lady Mary Cecil Grey, daughter of Charles Grey, 5th Earl Grey, and Lady Mabel Laura Georgiana Palmer (daughter of William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne), on 24 April 1935. They had three children:[8]

Baring died on 10 March 1973 at the age of 69 and was succeeded in the barony by his son, Charles.

Honours[]

Baring was created:[9]

Arms[]

Coat of arms of Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale
Coronet
Coronet of a Baron
Crest
A Mullet Erminois, two of the points resting on the pinions of a pair of Wings conjoined and elevated Argent.
Escutcheon
Azure, on a Fess Or, an Eastern Crown Azure, in chief a Bear’s Head proper, muzzled Or.
Supporters
Dexter: A Tiger guardant proper, gorged with an Eastern Crown Or.
Sinister: a Lion guardant Purpure, crowned with a Ducal Coronet Or, and gorged with an Eastern Crown Or.
Motto
DE BON VOULOIR SERVIR LE ROI
(To serve the King with goodwill)
Orders
Order of the Garter circlet (Appointed 23 April 1977)

Family tree[]

Family tree: Descendants of Johann Baring (1697–1748)
Johann (John) Baring
(1697–1748)
John Baring
(1730–1816)		Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet
(1740–1810)		Charles Baring
(1742–1829)
Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Baronet
(1772–1848)		Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton
(1774–1848)		Henry Baring
(1777–1848)		William Baring
(1779–1820)		William Baring-Gould
(1770–1846)
Francis Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook
(1796–1866)		Thomas Baring
(1799–1873)		Charles Baring
(1807–1879)		Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton
(1799–1864)		Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton
(1800–1868)		Henry Bingham Baring
(1804–1869)		Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke
(1828–1897)		Thomas Baring
(1839–1923)		Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer
(1841–1917)		William Henry Baring
(1819–1906)		Edward Baring-Gould
(1804–1872)
Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook
(1826–1904)		Francis Henry Baring
(1850–1915)		Thomas Baring
(1831–1891)		Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton
(1835–1889)		Charles Baring
(1829–1890)		John Baring, 2nd Baron Revelstoke
(1863–1929)		Cecil Baring, 3rd Baron Revelstoke
(1864–1934)		Everard Baring
(1865–1932)		Maurice Baring
(1874–1945)		Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer
(1877–1953)		Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale
(1903–1973)		Rosa Frederica Baring
(1854–1927)		Sabine Baring-Gould
(1834–1924)
Francis Baring, 2nd Earl of Northbrook
(1850–1929)		Francis Arthur Baring, 4th Baron Northbrook
(1882–1947)		Francis Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton
(1866–1938)		Guy Baring
(1873–1916)		Sir Godfrey Baring, 1st Baronet
(1871–1957)		Rupert Baring, 4th Baron Revelstoke
(1911–1994)		Rowland Baring, 3rd Earl of Cromer
(1918–1991)		Charles Baring, 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale
(born 1937)		William Drake Baring-Gould
(1878–1921)
Francis John Baring, 5th Baron Northbrook
(1915–1990)		Alexander Baring, 6th Baron Ashburton
(1898–1991)		Giles Baring
(1910–1986)		Sir Charles Christian Baring, 2nd Baronet
(1898–1990)		Helen Azalea Baring
(1901–1980)		Raymond Alexander Baring
(1912–1967)		John Baring, 5th Baron Revelstoke
(1934–2003)		James Baring, 6th Baron Revelstoke
(1938–2012)		Evelyn Rowland Esmond Baring, 4th Earl of Cromer
(born 1946)		William S. Baring-Gould
(1913–1967)
Francis Baring, 6th Baron Northbrook
(born 1954)		John Baring, 7th Baron Ashburton
(born 1928)		Sir John Francis Baring, 3rd Baronet
(born 1947)		Alexander Rupert Baring, 7th Baron Revelstoke
(born 1970)

References[]

  1. ^ Elkins, Caroline (2005). Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. London: Pimlico. p. 35. ISBN 9781847922946.
  2. ^ Douglas-Home, Charles (1978). Evelyn Baring, The Last Proconsul. Collins`. ISBN 9780002164573.
  3. ^ Williams, Susan, 2006, Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation, Allen Lane
  4. ^ Williams, Susan, 2006, Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation, Allen Lane
  5. ^ Leander (2013-11-07). "The longest state of emergency in Kenya ends". South African History Online. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  6. ^ a b Cobain, Ian; Walker, Peter (11 April 2011). "Secret memo gave guidelines on abuse of Mau Mau in 1950s". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  7. ^ Elkins, Caroline (2005). Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. London: Pimlico. p. 364.
  8. ^ The Peerage.com, entry for 1st Lord Howick of Glendale
  9. ^ The Peerage.com, entry for 1st Lord Howick of Glendale


External links[]

Political offices
Government offices
Preceded by Governor of Southern Rhodesia
1942–1944 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sir Philip Euen Mitchell
 Governor of Kenya
1952–1959 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British High Commissioner to
South Africa
1944–1951 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Howick of Glendale
1960–1973 		Succeeded by
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