J. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson

Background and education

Davidson was born at Aberdeen, the younger child and only son of Sir James Mackenzie Davidson, a physician and pioneer of X-rays, by Georgina Barbara Watt Henderson, daughter of William Henderson, of Aberdeen. His grandfather John Davidson had accumulated a large fortune in Argentina, of which Davidson inherited a half. He was educated at Fretherne House preparatory school, Westminster and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1913.

Civil service career, 1910–1920

After leaving Cambridge in 1910, Davidson joined the Colonial Office, where he became unpaid private secretary to Lord Crewe, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. He continued in this post when Lewis Harcourt succeeded Crewe as Colonial secretary at the end of 1910. Davidson was anxious to serve in the First World War, but Harcourt considered him so valuable that he managed to convince him to stay at the Colonial Office. In 1915 Bonar Law replaced Harcourt as head of the Colonial Office, and was urged to retain Davidson as private secretary. They became close friends and Law came to rely as heavily on Davidson as Harcourt had done.

In December 1916 Bonar Law was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons and insisted on taking Davidson with him as private secretary. Davidson managed to persuade Bonar Law to employ Stanley Baldwin as his Parliamentary Private Secretary, a move that would have far-reaching consequences for Davidson himself and for the nation's history. Baldwin had up until then been an obscure back-bench MP, but his appointment as PPS to Bonar Law was his first move on the ladder of promotion. Davidson and Baldwin developed a close friendship which lasted until Baldwin's death in 1947. In 1918 he was responsible for the final draft of the "coupon" endorsing parliamentary candidates in the general election as representatives of the coalition government. In 1919 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

Political career, 1920–1937

Davidson entered parliament unopposed for Hemel Hempstead in a 1920 by-election and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Bonar Law, then Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. The latter resigned on the grounds of ill health in May 1921, when Davidson became PPS to Stanley Baldwin, who by then had become President of the Board of Trade. The following year he urged Bonar Law to return and accept the leadership of the Conservative Party if the party voted against continuing the coalition government headed by David Lloyd George. Despite the wishes of the party leadership, a majority of MP's voted against continuing the coalition at the Carlton Club meeting in October 1922. Austen Chamberlain resigned as party leader and was succeeded by Bonar Law. Shortly afterwards Bonar Law was asked to form a government and once again appointed Davidson as his Parliamentary Private Secretary and unofficial unpaid private secretary.

Bonar Law resigned in May 1923 after his health collapsed. Davidson was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the short resignation honours list which was issued that same month. Stanley Baldwin was chosen to succeed Bonar Law as Prime Minister over the claims of Lord Curzon. In his biography of Davidson in the Dictionary of National Biography, Robert Blake writes that Davidson's role in the appointment of Baldwin remains a puzzle. Lord Stamfordham, George V's private secretary, sounded out Davidson on Bonar Law's wishes for his successor. Bonar Law, now gravely ill, asked not to be involved, but it was apparent that he favoured Baldwin although he could not overlook the claims of party grandee, Curzon. In 1954, a memorandum was found in the Royal Archives that had obviously been dictated by Davidson and clearly argued for the claims of Baldwin over Curzon. The note had been handed over to Stamfordham by Sir Ronald Waterhouse, another of Bonar Law's secretaries, at the same time as his official resignation as Prime Minister. Stamfordham had noted on the memorandum that it "practically expressed the views of Mr. Bonar Law". According to Blake, there was nothing in the memorandum to substantiate that claim. Davidson subsequently said that he had dictated the note after being asked by Stamfordham about the opinion of back-bench MP's. However, Blake argued, "In any case, the result [Baldwin as Bonar Law's successor] was affected only marginally. The King's decision was firmly based on his own good sense and the powerful arguments of Balfour against the choice of a peer as prime minister".

Following the appointment of Baldwin as prime minister, Davidson entered the government as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and effectively continued as the prime minister's private secretary. However, he lost his seat in parliament at the general election of December 1923, but regained it already in the general election in October the following year. Baldwin once again formed an administration after the brief first-ever 1924 Labour government, and made Davidson Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty. In this post he was forced to deal with cuts in naval expenditure proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, especially regarding the construction of new cruisers. He served as deputy chief civil commissioner during the general strike of 1926, with responsibility for publicity. He also managed the short-lived British Gazette during the strike and arranged for the broadcasting of official bulletins.

Later career, 1937–1970

Despite being only 48 at the time of his elevation to the peerage, Davidson took no further active part in political life. He remained involved with Ashridge and his business affairs. During the Second World War he was with the Ministry of Information between 1940 and 1941 and made an official tour of South America in 1942. This was followed in 1943 with his foundation of Canning House, an important centre for Latin American culture and education. Blake writes of Davidson: "A man of much charm and geniality, bespectacled and ruddy complexioned, Davidson could be very tough. He was essentially one who operated behind the scenes rather than on the front of the stage. A streak of Scottish puritanism put him emphatically on the side of the 'respectable'. He had no sympathy with the buccaneers – Lloyd George, Churchill, Birkenhead, Beaverbrook. He was deeply devoted to Baldwin who owed a great debt to his advice, companionship, and support."

Marriage and children

Davidson married Frances Joan "Mimi" Dickinson, daughter of Sir Willoughby Dickinson, later Lord Dickinson of Painswick, in 1919. They had two sons and two daughters:

Hon. Margaret Joan Davidson (24 June 1922 – 11 May 2008)

Hon. Jean Elizabeth Davidson (19 June 1924 – 15 August 2020), married the Hon. Charles Strutt, son of Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh. They had three children, the youngest of whom is John Gerald Strutt, 6th Baron Rayleigh, and the eldest is Anne Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington.

(John) Andrew Davidson, 2nd Viscount Davidson (22 December 1928 – 22 July 2012)

Malcolm William Mackenzie Davidson, 3rd Viscount Davidson (28 August 1934 – 27 September 2019)

Lady Davidson remained MP for Hemel Hempstead until 1959, and was created a life peer as Baroness Northchurch in 1963. Lord and Lady Davidson thereby became one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right.

Death

Lord Davidson died in London in December 1970, at the age of 81. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest son Andrew, who also became a Conservative government minister. Andrew died in 2012 and the title passed to his brother Malcolm who became the 3rd Viscount.

Viscountess Davidson died in November 1985, aged 91.

In popular culture

Davidson was featured prominently in Jack Thorne's 2023 play When Winston Went to War with the Wireless, played by Ravin J Ganatra.