Curzon, George Nathaniel, , 1859-1925

George Nathaniel Curzon was born at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, in 1859. He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1885, he was appointed assistant private secretary to the Marquis of Salisbury and in the same year contested the parliamentary seat for South Derbyshire. In 1886, he was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the Southport division of Lancashire, serving between 1891 and 1892 as under-secretary of state for India, and from 1895 to 1898, as under-secretary of state for Foreign Affairs.

In 1898, he was created Baron Curzon of Kedleston in the Irish peerage and appointed viceroy and governor-general of India, an office he held until 1905. In 1907, he was elected chancellor of Oxford University and the following year, entered the House of Lords as an Irish representative peer, serving as secretary of state for Foreign Affairs between 1919 and 1924, and as leader of the House of Lords from 1916 to 1924. Between 1911 and 1914, he served as president of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1921, Curzon was created first Marquis of Kedleston and died in London in 1925.

From the guide to the George Curzon collection, 1911-1914, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)

1886 Member of Parliament for Southport; 1891 under-secretary for India; 1895 privy councillor and under-secretary of state, Foreign Office; 1899-1905 Viceroy of India; 1908 representative peer for Ireland, House of Lords; 1911 president of the Royal Geographic Society; 1916 Knight of the Garter; 1916 chairman of the Shipping Control Board; 1916 president of the Air Board; 1916-1918 member of Lloyd George's war cabinet; 1919-1924 foreign secretary

Epithet: politician and traveller

Title: 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001219.0x000012