David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham

The Right Honourable The Lord Windlesham CVO PC FBA
Lord Privy Seal & Leader of the House of Lords
In office 23 May 1973 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	The Earl Jellicoe
Succeeded by	The Lord Shepherd
Personal details
Born	23 January 1932
Died	21 December 2010 Aged 78
Alma mater	Trinity College, Oxford

David James George Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham and Baron Hennessy CVO PC FBA (28 January 1932 – 21 December 2010^[1]) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who held visiting professorships at various universities.

Early life

Hennessy, an Anglo-Irish peer, was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Oxford, earning a Master of Arts in Jurisprudence in 1957.^[2] He did his National Service with the Grenadier Guards in Tripoli.^[2]

Political career

He was elected to Westminster City Council in 1958 to 1962,^[2] unsuccessfully contested Tottenham in 1959, and entered the House of Lords as the 3rd Baron Windlesham upon his father's death in 1962. He joined the Government as Minister of State in the Home Office in 1970 to 1972; and from 1972 to 1973, in the Northern Ireland Office, after which he became Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords in June 1973 until October 1974.^[2] He was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 1981 New Year's Honours.^[3] On 16 November 1999, he was created Baron Hennessy, of Windlesham in the County of Surrey^[4] after the House of Lords Act 1999, so that he could continue sitting in the Lords.

Media

He worked for Associated-Rediffusion and was involved in This Week. He later joined the board of Rediffusion as Chief Programme Executive.^[2] His TV career continued as Managing Director of Grampian (1967–70) and Managing Director of the ATV network (1974-1981).^[2] He was a director of The Observer from 1981 to 1989.^[2]

Academic

He returned to Oxford where he earned a DLitt and was principal of Brasenose College from 1989 to 2002.^[2] He had also been a visiting professor at Princeton University in 1997 and 2002 to 2003.^[2]

Family

Baron Windlesham married the fashion journalist and author Prudence Glynn in 1965. She died in 1986; he is survived by a son and a daughter.^[2]

References

1. "Politics obituaries: Lord Windlesham". The Daily Telegraph. London. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
2. The Ampleforth Journal. 115: 88–89. Missing or empty |title= (help);
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48467. p. 4. 31 December 1980.
4. The London Gazette: no. 55672. p. 12349. 19 November 1999.

External links

• Announcement of his taking the oath under his new title at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 22 November 1999
• David James George Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham, National Portrait Gallery