| Honorific prefix | The Right Honourable |
|---|---|
| Office 1 | Member of Parliament for Gainsborough |
| Term start 1 | 15 February 1956 |
| Term end 1 | 13 May 1983 |
| Predecessor 1 | Harry Crookshank |
| Successor 1 | Edward Leigh |
| Birth name | Marcus Richard Kimball |
| Office | Member of the House of Lords |
| Status | Lord Temporal |
| Term label | Life peerage |
| Term start | 9 May 1985 |
| Term end | 26 March 2014 |
| Birth date | 18 October 1928 |
| Birth place | Marylebone, London, England |
| Death date | 26 March 2014 (aged 85) |
| Party | Conservative |
| Parents | Lawrence Kimball (father) |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Marcus Richard Kimball, Baron Kimball (18 October 1928 – 26 March 2014) was a British Conservative politician.
Early life
The son of Major Lawrence Kimball,[1] he was born in Marylebone, London, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He became a farmer and a Lloyd's underwriter. He was a councillor on Rutland County Council and commanded a squadron of the Leicestershire Yeomanry.
Political career
Kimball contested Derby South in 1955.
He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gainsborough from a 1956 by-election until 1983. While representing this constituency, he wrote to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, after Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands, that he felt the British government should "let the Argentinians have the Falklands with as little fuss as possible". This letter, apparently written without the knowledge of his constituency party, remained secret until revealed by the release of part of the Thatcher archive in 2013.[2]
According to his obituary he treated his constituents in much the same way as he treated the tenants of his Market Harborough and Altnaharra estates advising potential MPs not to promise to hold surgeries and not to live in the constituency unless sure there was a good local hunt.[3]
Kimball opposed separate taxation for women in 1978, saying women just gave the bill to their husbands.[3]
Knighted in 1981,[4] Kimball was subsequently given a life peerage as Baron Kimball, of Easton in the County of Leicestershire on 9 May 1985.[5]
Hunting interests
A keen huntsman, Kimball was joint master of the Fitzwilliam Hunt 1952 and 1953, and the Cottesmore Hunt 1953–58. He was chairman of the British Field Sports Society 1966–82, and its President 1996–98. He was vice-president of its successor organisation, the Countryside Alliance from 1998. He indirectly gave money to an anti-field sports organisation after an Industrial Tribunal ruled that he sacked his housekeeper unfairly and she donated part of her compensation.[6]
Other interests
In March 1993, he was appointed Chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Trust, a position he held until 1996.[7][8] He also held senior positions in show jumping, light horse breeding organisations and in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Personal life
He married June Mary Fenwick, the sister of his sister's husband, from Great Stukeley Hall, on 15 March 1956, at St Michael's Church in Huntingdon.[9]
He died at the age of 85 on 26 March 2014.[10]
Arms
| Coronet | Coronet of a Baron |
|---|---|
| Escutcheon | Argent a Pale Gules charged with a Lion rampant of the field on a Chief Sable a Bezant between two Crescents Or |
| Crest | In front of two Arrows points downwards saltirewise Gules a Bull's Head erased Sable armed Or ducally gorged also Gules between two Branches of Laurel fructed proper |
| Supporters | On either side a Wild Turkey proper |
References
- ^ "Kimball (Life Baron UK), Marcus Richard Kimball", Dod's Parliamentary Companion, ed. Andrew Cox, et al,, Vacher Dod Publishing, 1999
- ^ "Thatcher papers show Falkland islands doubts in heart of Downing Street". The Guardian. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ "Lord Kimball – obituary". The Telegraph. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ No. 48700. 7 August 1981. p. 10262.
- ^ No. 50123. 15 May 1985. p. 6742.
- ^ Britten, Nick (8 April 2002). "Hunt-supporting peer's payout will go to animal rights group". – via telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "Remember When March". Greyhound Star. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ "MPs and Lords". members.parliament. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ The Times 16 March 1956, page 12
- ^ "Lord Kimball". UK Parliament website. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1966 & 1979