Henry Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe

The Right Honourable
The Lord Rushcliffe
GBE PC
The Right Honourable The Lord Rushcliffe GBE PC
	by Walter Stoneman, 1930
Minister of Labour
	In office; 25 August 1931 – 29 June 1934
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Margaret Bondfield
Succeeded by	Hon. Oliver Stanley
Personal details
Born	15 August 1872
Died	18 November 1949 (aged 77)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	(1) Violet Gilliat (d. 1947) ; (2) Inez Lubbock (d. 1955)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

Henry Bucknall Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe, GBE, PC (15 August 1872 – 18 November 1949), known as Sir Henry Betterton, Bt, between 1929 and 1935, was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He served as Minister of Labour under Ramsay MacDonald between 1931 and 1934.

Background and education

Betterton was the son of Henry Inman Betterton, of Woodville, Leicestershire, and Agnes, daughter of Samuel Bucknall. He was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1896.^[1] He practiced for some years at the Chancery Bar.

Political career

Betterton was elected Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe in Nottingham in 1918.^[1]^[2] He served under Stanley Baldwin as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour between 1923 and 1924 and again between 1924 and 1929.^[1] When the National Government was formed in 1931 he was sworn of the Privy Council^[3] and made Minister of Labour under Ramsay MacDonald,^[4] a post he held until 1934,^[1] when he left the House of Commons after appointment as the chair of the Unemployment Assistance Board.^[5]

Betterton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1918^[6] and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1920.^[7] He was made a Baronet, of Blackfordby in the County of Leicester,^[8] in 1929 and raised to the peerage as Baron Rushcliffe, of Blackfordby in the County of Leicester, in 1935.^[9] In 1941 he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire.^[10]

He chaired the Nurses Salaries Committee which was established in October 1941.^[11]

Family

Lord Rushcliffe was twice married. He married firstly Violet, daughter of J. G. Gilliat, in 1912. They had two daughters. After her death in October 1947 he married secondly Inez Alfreda, daughter of Alfred Lubbock and widow of Sir Harold Edward Snagge, in 1948. Rushcliffe died in November 1949, aged 77, when the baronetcy and barony became extinct. His second wife died in May 1955.^[1]

Arms

Coat of arms of Henry Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe
	Notes Granted livery badge: A cinquefoil slipped ermine between two ears of wheat in saltire proper enfiled by a circlet Or. Crest Between the attires of a stag Or a pheon Sable. Escutcheon Argent three pheons Sable on a chief Gules a portcullis chained Or between two cinquefoils ermine. Motto Constantia Et Labore^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Henry Bucknall Betterton, 1st and last Baron Rushcliffe". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ "House of Commons: Rochester to Ryedale". Leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "No. 33770". The London Gazette. 10 November 1931. p. 7239.
^ "No. 33748". The London Gazette. 28 August 1931. p. 5617.
^ "No. 34067". The London Gazette. 6 July 1934. p. 4334.
^ "No. 30460". The London Gazette. 4 January 1918. p. 374.
^ "No. 31840". The London Gazette. 26 March 1920. p. 3761.
^ "No. 33523". The London Gazette. 6 August 1929. p. 5144.
^ "No. 34128". The London Gazette. 29 January 1935. p. 693.
^ "Issue 35184 page 3286". The London Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
^ Abel-Smith, Brian (1960). A History of the Nursing Profession. London: Heinemann. p. 167.
^ "Grant of Arms: Sir Henry Bucknall Betterton Bt 1929". Heraldry Online. Retrieved 11 August 2019.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Betterton

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Leif Jones	Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe 1918 – 1934	Succeeded by Ralph Assheton
Political offices
Preceded by Archibald Boyd-Carpenter	Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour 1923–1924	Succeeded by Margaret Bondfield
Preceded by Margaret Bondfield	Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour 1924–1929	Succeeded by Jack Lawson
Preceded by Margaret Bondfield	Minister of Labour 1931–1934	Succeeded by Hon. Oliver Stanley
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Blackfordby) 1929–1949	Extinct
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Rushcliffe 1935–1949	Extinct

[thepeerage.com-1] "Henry Bucknall Betterton, 1st and last Baron Rushcliffe". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.

[2] "House of Commons: Rochester to Ryedale". Leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[3] "No. 33770". The London Gazette. 10 November 1931. p. 7239.

[4] "No. 33748". The London Gazette. 28 August 1931. p. 5617.

[5] "No. 34067". The London Gazette. 6 July 1934. p. 4334.

[6] "No. 30460". The London Gazette. 4 January 1918. p. 374.

[7] "No. 31840". The London Gazette. 26 March 1920. p. 3761.

[8] "No. 33523". The London Gazette. 6 August 1929. p. 5144.

[9] "No. 34128". The London Gazette. 29 January 1935. p. 693.

[10] "Issue 35184 page 3286". The London Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2019.

[11] Abel-Smith, Brian (1960). A History of the Nursing Profession. London: Heinemann. p. 167.

[12] "Grant of Arms: Sir Henry Bucknall Betterton Bt 1929". Heraldry Online. Retrieved 11 August 2019.

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