THE NEW COLONIAL SECRETARY

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9211, 14 April 1908, Page 2

THE NEW COLONIAL SECRETARY

THE EARL OF CREWE. The Right Honourable Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnee, first Earl of Crowe, who has succeeded Lord Elgin as Secretary of- State for the Colonies, is a son of Lord Houghton, the wellknown writer and politician, and was born in London in 1858. He received hie education at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. He entered public lif e in 1883 as Assistant Private Secretary to Earl Granville, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in_Mr Gladstone^ Government. He continue ed to occupy this position until the retirement of the venerable Earl from office in the following year. Entering the House of Lords on the death of his father, in 1885, as Lord Houghton, he was warmly welcomed by the Liberal i Peers, and in 1886, on the formation, ] of Mr Gladstone's third Administration, he became a Lord-in-Waiting, and represented the Board of Trade in the Upper House. In 1892, on the return to power of the Liberal Party, he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland. The appointment caused general Surprise, as Lord Brassey had been confidently promoted to the post by the newspapers. Lord Houghton was one of the youngest Viceroys of modern times. During the ten years following 1895 which the Liberal Party remained in Opposition, Lord Crewe (he was made an Earl on, retiring from office) proved himself one of the most notable champions of the party of progress, and his speeches in the House of Lords and the country greatly assisted the cause of Liberalism. On the formation of the Liberal Government in. December, 1905, under the Premiership of Sir Henry CampellBaiuiernian, Lord Crewe was appointed Lord President of the Council, and during the two years he has held that office Trie reputation as a politician of consummate tact and judgment steadily advanced, and for some time it was confidently predicted that he would, on the re-arrangement of the portfolios, be placed in a, position of greater responsibility. Like his father, he is a bibliophile, and is interested in all literary matters. He is a model landlord, and has made a hobby of garden cities, being the principal promoter of the scheme for establishing a garden, suburb overlooking Ham^stead Heath. He is also a connoisseur in art, possessing some of the finest Reynoldses in. Great Britain, and his library of 32,000 volumes proves that he possesses literary tastes. He owns about 25,000 acres, and is also interested in minerals in Yorkshire and Staffordshire. H© married, in 1880, Miss Sybil Marcia, daughter' 1 of Sir Frederick Graham. His wife dying in 1887, he married again in 1899, his bride being Lady Margaret Primrose, youngest, daughter of Lord Rosebery. •