Godfrey Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood
Godfrey Rathbone Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood (6 November 1864 – 3 February 1945) was a British author, academic, Liberal politician and philanthropist.
Benson was born in Alresford, Hampshire, the son of William Benson, a barrister, and Elizabeth Soulsby Smith. He was educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford. He graduated in 1887, and would later become a philosophy lecturer at Balliol. He was involved in politics and represented Woodstock in the House of Commons from 1892 to 1895 and served as Mayor of Lichfield between 1909 and 1911. In the latter year Benson was raised to the peerage as Baron Charnwood, of Castle Donington in the County of Leicester.
Lord Charnwood was the author of many works, including two biographies, Abraham Lincoln (1916) and Theodore Roosevelt (1923). He was also involved in charitable work with the deaf and disabled, becoming the first President of the National Institute for the Deaf from 1924 until 1935.
Family
He married Dorothea Mary Roby Thorpe, daughter of Roby Thorpe, in 1897. She died in 1942. Charnwood died in London in February 1945, aged 80, and was succeeded in the barony by his second but only surviving son John.
References
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.
- N.I.D.Annual Reports 1924–1935
External links
- Works by Godfrey Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Godfrey Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood at Internet Archive
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Godfrey Benson
- Works by Charnwood at manybooks.net
- Lord Charnwood's 'Abraham Lincoln'
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by George Morrell |
Member of Parliament for Woodstock 1892–1895 |
Succeeded by George Morrell |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
New creation | Baron Charnwood 1911–1945 |
Succeeded by John Roby Benson |