Robert Self - The Neville Chamberlain Diary Letters

VOLUME THREE

The Heir Apparent, 192833

edited by

ROBERT SELF

First published 2002 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright 2002 R. C. Self

The author has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Chamberlain, Neville, 1869-1940

The Neville Chamberlain diary letters

Vol. 3: The heir apparent, 1928-33 edited by Robert Self

1. Chamberlain, Neville, 1869-1940 2. Chamberlain, Neville,

1869-1940 - Correspondence 3. Politicians - Great Britain - Biography 4. Great Britain - Politics and government - 1901-1936

I. Title II. Self, Robert C 1953-

941.083'092

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chamberlain, Neville, 1869-1940.

[Correspondence. Selections]

The Neville Chamberlain diary letters / edited by Robert Self.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references, (v. 3 : alk. paper)

Contents: v. 3. The heir apparent, 1928-33

1. Chamberlain, Neville, 1869-1940-Correspondence. 2. Great Britain-Politics and government-20th century. 3. Prime ministers-Great Britain-Correspondence. I. Self, Robert C 1953- II. Title.

DA585.C5 Z48 2000
941.083'092-dc21 00-026601

ISBN-13: 978-1-84-014691-2 (hbk)

A large number of debts are incurred during the preparation of a study of this sort. First and most obvious, I owe an immense debt of gratitude to the generosity of the University of Birmingham for granting its kind permission to reproduce so extensively the letters of Neville Chamberlain to his sisters and to quote from other Chamberlain family correspondence in their care. Thanks are due to Miss Christine Penney and the Special Collection staff of the Heslop Room at Birmingham University Library who cheerfully provided so much valuable assistance during this research and to Mr Jim Davies of the Photographic Department of Birmingham University Library for copying material from Chamberlains Papers. By the same token, the editor is indebted to the owners, custodians and archivists of the other collections of private papers and diaries used in the preparation of the text. For access and permission to quote from material in privately owned collections I am grateful to Viscount Addison, the Earl of Derby, John Grigg, Captain J. Headlam, Vice-Admiral Sir Ian Hogg, the Syndics of Cambridge University Library, the Warden and Fellows of New College Oxford, the Marquess of Salisbury, Mrs A. Stacey and the Trustees of the Bridgeman family archive, Mrs R.M. Stafford, the Clerk of Records of the House of Lords acting on behalf of the Beaverbrook Foundation Trust, the Masters and Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge and the Conservative Party. I have also consulted archive collections held by a number of other libraries and institutions, namely Birmingham Central Library, Department of Western Manuscripts of the Bodleian Library, British Library, British Library of Political and Economic Science, Durham Record Office, House of Lords Record Office, Liverpool City Central Library, National Archives of Scotland, National Library of Scotland, Public Record Office, Rhodes House Library, Oxford and Sheffield University Library. My thanks are due to the keepers, librarians and curators of these institutions and their staff. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of unpublished documents from which quotations have been made. To anyone whose copyright I have unwittingly infringed I offer my sincere apologies. A good deal of the research upon which this book is based was made possible by an award from the Arts & Humanities Research Board under the Research Leave Scheme which permitted me to devote an entire academic year to the preparation of these volumes in 19992000.

Debts of a more personal kind also exist. I am particularly deeply indebted to Mr James Lloyd, Neville Chamberlains grandson, for his kindness, assistance and patience in answering many questions about his family and to Dr Stuart Ball for all the practical and scholarly assistance he has so freely given during the course of this project. By the same token, Professors John Ramsden, Iwan Morgan, Peter Mandler and Brian Harrison all provided valuable advice or assistance on various aspects of this work. Alec McAulay of Ashgate Publishing provided unstinting enthusiasm and support at the commencement of this project and without his great vision and encouragement it may never have come to fruition. At the other end of the publishing process, Ruth Peters has consistently proved a patient and very helpful source of guidance, good judgement and support throughout. Thanks are also due to Helen Dalton, Dan Herbert, Christine Smart and their colleagues at the London Guildhall University Library who have been unfailing in their assistance during the research for these volumes and to Louisa Hoff who provided invaluable information on Chamberlains art and music interests. Finally, there is the vast debt of gratitude I owe to Katie for all she has contributed to this project and for just being there.

Although the general approach to the task of editing these letters is thoroughly discussed in the introduction to the first volume, the reader should note that where sentences and paragraphs have been removed these have all been marked by the use of suspension dots. In every other respect the letters themselves have been reproduced in their original form. Although Neville Chamberlains punctuation and use of capital letters is erratic and inconsistent and his spelling of surnames is idiosyncratic, his abbreviations and original spellings have been retained throughout. Editorial insertions have been made in some places for the sake of clarity, but these are always denoted by a square bracket. Only the style of dating has been standardised in the interests of consistency. Chamberlain almost always closed his letters with Your affecte. brother, Neville Chamberlain. These words have been omitted to avoid needless repetition.

Wilfred William Ashley (18671939). Conservative MP for Blackpool 190618, Fylde 191822 and New Forest 192232. Chairman, Anti-Socialist Union. Unionist Whip 191112; Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport 1922 23; Under-Secretary, War Office 192324; Minister of Transport 192429. Created Baron Mount Temple 1932.