Maurice Macmillan
British politician (1921–1984)
title: "Maurice Macmillan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1921-births", "1984-deaths", "british-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "sussex-yeomanry-officers", "conservative-party-(uk)-mps-for-english-constituencies", "british-secretaries-of-state-for-employment", "children-of-harold-macmillan", "members-of-kensington-metropolitan-borough-council", "british-courtesy-viscounts", "heirs-apparent-who-never-acceded", "macmillan-family", "members-of-the-privy-council-of-the-united-kingdom", "people-educated-at-eton-college", "alumni-of-balliol-college,-oxford", "uk-mps-1955–1959", "uk-mps-1959–1964", "uk-mps-1966–1970", "uk-mps-1970–1974", "uk-mps-1974", "uk-mps-1974–1979", "uk-mps-1979–1983", "uk-mps-1983–1987", "ministers-in-the-macmillan-and-douglas-home-governments,-1957–1964", "chief-secretaries-to-the-treasury"] description: "British politician (1921–1984)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Macmillan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary British politician (1921–1984) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden |
| image | Maurice Macmillan 1957.jpg |
| caption | Macmillan in 1957 |
| {{Collapsed infobox section begin | Ministerial offices |
| office | Paymaster General |
| primeminister | Edward Heath |
| term_start | 2 December 1973 |
| term_end | 4 March 1974 |
| predecessor | The Viscount Eccles |
| successor | Edmund Dell |
| office1 | Secretary of State for Employment |
| primeminister1 | Edward Heath |
| term_start1 | 7 April 1972 |
| term_end1 | 2 December 1973 |
| predecessor1 | Robert Carr |
| successor1 | William Whitelaw |
| office2 | Chief Secretary to the Treasury |
| primeminister2 | Edward Heath |
| term_start2 | 23 June 1970 |
| term_end2 | 7 April 1972 |
| predecessor2 | Jack Diamond |
| successor2 | Patrick Jenkin |
| office3 | Member of Parliament |
| for South West Surrey | |
| term_start3 | 9 June 1983 |
| term_end3 | 10 March 1984 |
| predecessor3 | new constituency |
| successor3 | Virginia Bottomley |
| office4 | Member of Parliament |
| for Farnham | |
| term_start4 | 31 March 1966 |
| term_end4 | 13 May 1983 |
| predecessor4 | Godfrey Nicholson |
| successor4 | constituency abolished |
| office5 | Member of Parliament |
| for Halifax | |
| term_start5 | 26 May 1955 |
| term_end5 | 25 September 1964 |
| predecessor5 | Dryden Brook |
| successor5 | Shirley Summerskill |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Westminster, London, England |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Westminster, London, England |
| parents | {{plain list |
| spouse | |
| children | {{plain list |
| education | Eton College |
| alma_mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| honorific_suffix | |
| :: |
| honorific-prefix = | name = Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden | image = Maurice Macmillan 1957.jpg | caption = Macmillan in 1957 | office = Paymaster General | primeminister = Edward Heath | term_start = 2 December 1973 | term_end = 4 March 1974 | predecessor = The Viscount Eccles | successor = Edmund Dell | office1 = Secretary of State for Employment | primeminister1 = Edward Heath | term_start1 = 7 April 1972 | term_end1 = 2 December 1973 | predecessor1 = Robert Carr | successor1 = William Whitelaw | office2 = Chief Secretary to the Treasury | primeminister2 = Edward Heath | term_start2 = 23 June 1970 | term_end2 = 7 April 1972 | predecessor2 = Jack Diamond | successor2 = Patrick Jenkin | office3 = Member of Parliament for South West Surrey | term_start3 = 9 June 1983 | term_end3 = 10 March 1984 | predecessor3 = new constituency | successor3 = Virginia Bottomley | office4 = Member of Parliament for Farnham | term_start4 = 31 March 1966 | term_end4 = 13 May 1983 | predecessor4 = Godfrey Nicholson | successor4 = constituency abolished | office5 = Member of Parliament for Halifax | term_start5 = 26 May 1955 | term_end5 = 25 September 1964 | predecessor5 = Dryden Brook | successor5 = Shirley Summerskill | birth_date = | birth_place = Westminster, London, England | death_date = | death_place = Westminster, London, England | parents = {{plain list|
- Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton
- Lady Dorothy Cavendish | spouse = | children = {{plain list|
- 5, including:
- Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton | education = Eton College | alma_mater = Balliol College, Oxford | honorific_suffix = Maurice Victor Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden, (27 January 1921 – 10 March 1984), was a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament. He was the only son of Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963.
Background and education
Macmillan was the only son of Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, and Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. He served with the Sussex Yeomanry in Europe in the Second World War. Like his father, he was chairman of Macmillan Publishers, as well as a director of two news agencies.
Political career
Macmillan contested Seaham at the 1945 election, Lincoln in 1951 and Wakefield at a 1954 by-election. He served on Kensington Borough Council from 1949 to 1953, then was elected MP for Halifax at the 1955 general election but lost this seat in 1964. He was then elected for Farnham in 1966. This latter seat became South West Surrey at the 1983 election. He served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury (1963–64) under Alec Douglas-Home, and as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1970–72), Secretary of State for Employment (1972–73) and Paymaster General (1973–74) under Edward Heath. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1972.
Family
Macmillan married the Honourable Katharine Ormsby-Gore, daughter of William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech, on 22 August 1942. They had four sons and a daughter:
- Alexander Daniel Alan Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton (born 10 October 1943)
- Joshua Edward Andrew Macmillan (1945–1965)
- Hon. Adam Julian Robert Macmillan (1948–2016)
- Hon. Rachel Mary Georgia Macmillan (1955–1987)
- Hon. David Maurice Benjamin Macmillan (born 1957); married English fashion designer Arabella Pollen in 1995 and has issue.
Macmillan was for a time the owner of Highgrove House, which he sold to the Prince of Wales in 1980. Upon his father's elevation to the peerage as Earl of Stockton on 24 February 1984, Macmillan acquired the courtesy title Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden. He held the title for just days, because he died on 10 March 1984, in Westminster, London, following a heart operation. He was 63. His father outlived him by almost three years, dying in December 1986 at the age of 92.
Macmillan's son Alexander has held the title 2nd Earl of Stockton since the death of the first Earl.
Arms
|image = Arms of the Earl of Stockton.svg |crest = [Upon a helm with a wreath Azure and Sable] within sprigs of oak fructed Or a dexter cubit Arm and a sinister Arm embowed both proper the dexter hand gauntleted Or and with the other brandishing a two handed Sword proper hilt pommel and quillons Sable. |escutcheon = Argent a chief Or overall between three open books Proper edged Or and bound Azure those in chief inscribed respectively in letters Sable "Miseres" and "Discere" and that in base also in letters Sable inscribed "Succo" and as many mullets Azure a lion rampant Sable.
References
References
- "Adam Macmillan Obituary (2016) – London, City of London – the Times".
- (21 May 1987). "Rachel Macmillan died from a drug overdose". [[The Herald (Glasgow)]].
- {{London Gazette. (29 February 1984)
- (29 December 1986). "1986: Harold Macmillan dies".
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