English soldier and Conservative Party politician (1875–1937)
Herbert Henry Spender-Clay, PC, CMG, DL, JP (4 June 1875 – 15 February 1937[1]), was an English soldier and Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1910 to 1937.
Early life
Herbert Henry Spender-Clay was born on 4 June 1875, the only son of the former Sydney Garrett and Joseph Spender-Clay, one of the largest shareholders in the Bass Brewing Company.[2] He was a godson of Rev. John Harden Clay, the son of Herbert's great-uncle Rev. John Clay.[3]
On 10 June 1896 was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Life Guards. He was promoted to lieutenant on 20 April 1898, and served in the Second Boer War, during which he was further promoted to captain on 25 September 1901.[5] Following his return from South Africa, he resigned his commission in early September 1902 to take up farming on his father's estate in Surrey, which he inherited.[6] He was appointed a captain in the Reserve of Officers on 24 January 1903.[7]
Portrait of his eventual wife, Pauline Astor, by John Singer Sargent, c. 1898
In 1897, when Spender-Clay was just 21 years old, he was tricked into signing promissory notes worth a lot of money by his friend Lord William Beauchamp Nevill. Following two court actions called the Hidden Signature Cases, Spender-Clay was absolved from having to pay for this, and Lord William was convicted of fraud and imprisoned.[9] On 29 October 1904, at the age of 29, Spender-Clay married Pauline Astor, who was then 24, at St Margaret's Church, Westminster with Claude de Crespigny as his best man. She was the elder daughter of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor and Mary Dahlgren Paul.[2][10] They lived at Ford Manor, Lingfield, Surrey and also had a London house at 21 Hill Street. Herbert and Pauline had three daughters:[4]
Sybil Gwendoline Spender-Clay (1910–1912), who died young.[3]
He died on 15 February 1937 aged 61 at his London home at 2 Hyde Park Street, from pneumonia following influenza, and was buried at Dormansland, Surrey.[4][17]
Descendants
Through his eldest daughter, he was a grandfather of two grandsons and two granddaughters.[3]
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 2)
^ a b"MISS PAULINE ASTOR ENGAGED.; To Marry Capt. Spender Clay, One of the Richest Commoners in England". The New York Times. 15 July 1904. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^ a b cMosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, vol. 1, p. 131.
^ a b c dTIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (16 February 1937). "H. H. SPENDER - CLAY, M. P. 26 YEARS, DEADD; Husband of Former Pauline Astor, Daughter of the First Viscount". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"SPENDER RIDICULES WAR-SCARE TALK; British Journalist Tells the Pilgrims He Has Found No Hostility Here. PLEADS FOR FORBEARANCE Thompson's "Delightful Sayings," He Declares, Really Make for More Harmony". The New York Times. 26 January 1928. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"Titled man who was jailed figured in scandals of the nineties". The People. British Newspaper Archive. 14 May 1939. p. 3, cols. 6, 7. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
^"MISS PAULINE ASTOR WEDS.; William Waldorf Astor's Daughter the Bride of Capt. Spender Clay". The New York Times. 30 October 1904. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"W.W. ASTOR A GRANDFATHER.; A Daughter Born to Capt. and Mrs. Spender Clay". The New York Times. 8 October 1905. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^Townend, Peter. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edition. 3 volumes. London, England: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965-1972, vol. 1, p. 530.
^"Miss Anne Nichols Proxpective Bride". The New York Times. 19 July 1959. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"Sir Philip Nichols, Diplomat In Prague and The Hague". The New York Times. 8 December 1962. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"THE ENGAGEMENT ROSTER; Miss Spender-Clay's Announcement Heralds Notable Anglo-American Alliance". The New York Times. 14 October 1928. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"BOWES-LYON WEDS MISS SPENDER-CLAY; Duke and Duchess of York See Ceremony for Brother and Viscount Astor's Niece. LORD DAVIDSON OFFICIATES Bride Has Eight Bridesmaids and Two Pages--Wedding at St. Margaret's". The New York Times. 7 February 1929. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"AN ASTOR RETURNS TO REALTY BUYING; Mrs. Spender-Clay Invests in East Side Apartment in All-Cash Transaction E. 12TH ST. TENEMENT SOLD Buyer From Emigrant Bank Will Alter 5-Story House for Twenty Families". The New York Times. 11 April 1939. Retrieved 21 January 2022.