Arthur Baldwin, 3rd Earl Baldwin Of Bewdley

Arthur Windham Baldwin, 3rd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, was born on 22 March 1904 and died on 5 July 1976. He was a British businessman, Royal Air Force (RAF) officer, and author. Baldwin is known for his writings, including a defense of the posthumous reputation of his father, Stanley Baldwin, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Early Life and Family

Baldwin was the younger son of Stanley Baldwin, who later became the 1st Earl of Baldwin of Bewdley, and his wife, Lucy Ridsdale. He was commonly nicknamed "Bloggs" among family and friends. His education was at Eton College, a prestigious boarding school, followed by Trinity College at the University of Cambridge.

Career

During the inter-war years, Baldwin held directorships in several companies. These included roles at the Round Oak Steel Works, Redpath, Brown, and the Great Western Railway. Additionally, he served as a director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society from 1938 to 1974.

Baldwin served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Notably, he sought to obtain a commission through the ranks rather than patronage, which he successfully achieved.

In the realm of publishing, Baldwin authored three books during the 1950s and 1960s. His first book, published in 1955, was a biography of his father titled "My Father: The True Story." Baldwin was motivated to write this work because he believed that the official biography by G. M. Young did not accurately portray Stanley Baldwin. Baldwin was critical of Young's biography and also criticized other historians such as John Wheeler-Bennett, D. C. Somervell, and Sir Lewis Namier, accusing them of misjudging his father.

His second book, "The Macdonald Sisters," published in 1960, examined the lives of the four daughters of Reverend G. B. Macdonald, who married into prominent families: Alice married John Lockwood Kipling, father of Rudyard Kipling; Georgiana married Edward Burne-Jones; Agnes married Edward Poynter; and Louisa married Alfred Baldwin, Stanley Baldwin’s parents.

In 1967, Baldwin published a memoir recounting his wartime experiences. The Times review remarked that he narrated his experiences with amusement and skill, emphasizing the atmosphere of the RAF.

Peerage and later life

Upon the death of his elder brother Oliver on 10 August 1958, Baldwin succeeded to the titles of Earl Baldwin of Bewdley and Viscount Corvedale. As a peer, he occasionally spoke in the House of Lords, primarily on topics related to transport and industry.

Personal Life

On 25 August 1936, Baldwin married Joan Elspeth Tomes, daughter of Charles Alexander Tomes, who was involved in commerce in the Far East with Shewan, Tomes & Co. The couple had one son, Edward Alfred Alexander Baldwin, born on 3 January 1938, who became the 4th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley and died in 2021.

Arthur Baldwin’s wife, the Countess Baldwin of Bewdley, died in 1980. Arthur Baldwin himself passed away in 1976 at the age of 72.

Selected Works

- "My Father: The True Story" (1955)

- "The Macdonald Sisters" (1960)

- "A Flying Start" (1967)

References and sources include the "Lyttelton/Hart-Davis Letters, Volume 1" (1978) and Peter Neville's "Hitler and Appeasement: The British Attempt to Prevent the Second World War" (2006).