PEER WITH A HISTORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

PEER WITH A HISTORY.

UNCONVENTIONAL WAYS. ISSUE OF DUEL CHALLENGE. PAYING POACHERS* FINES. One of England's most unconventional peers—the Earl of Kimbcrlev—died in a London nursing homo 011 January 7 at (lie age of eighty-three. He is succeeded by liia son, Loid Wodehouse, the wellknown polo player. The Kimberley motto is " Hit hard," and » big stick figures in tho coat of arms. Lord Kimberley lived up (o both. In 1905. following a disagreement with a fellow-member at a Norfolk County Council meeting, Lord Kimberley called his opponent a " cur and a coward, challenging him to a duel in Paris, which, needless to say, did not take place. It was of another member of the same council that Lord Kimberley, in 1923, said he was " a liar."

As Lord Wodehouse. before succeeding to the earldom, Lord Kimberley used his fists on an opponent during the general election of 1905, for which he was fined ,C 5 and had his naino struck off tho magistrates'- roll. He was later restored to tho Bench. In (he police court he was noted for unconventional remarks and for paying poachers' fines for tlieni.

Lord Kimberley's views on hunting and shooting were calculated to shock his friends. " 1 have poisoned quite a lot of foxes," he once announced publicly, while on another occasion he stated serenely that

if lie saw the last/ pheasant in the world lie would kill it and eat it. This in Norfolk, the paradise of game preserves! A dislike of perambulators, special con stables, ami public schools were among Lord Kimberley's pet aversions. He was sent to Eton and Cambridge, but declared in 1919. " I was never educated. Although I was sent to the most exclusive school, I learned nothing." In 1919 came the biggest shock of ull, when be joined the Socialist party. He supported the agricultural labourers in their strike in 1923.

Protesting some years ago against tho blowing of noisy instruments by occupants of motor-coaches passing through villages, Lord Kimberley said: " There are a great number of fools in the world to-day, and the world thinks of nothing but making noises and amusing itself, forgetting everything else. They think a great deal more of a cricket match in Australia than of tho higher price of food in this country. It is a sign of the decadence of tho human race."

Lord Kimberley was married in 1875 to Isabel Geraldine, the daughter of the late Sir Henry J. Stncey. Lady Kimberley died in 1927. The deceased belonged to a very ancient family. One of his ancestors was knighted by Henry 1., another fought at Agincourt, while another, as unconventional as himself, refused a knighthood. The landed portion of the estate comprises 11,200 acres.