Unionist Member of Parliament for Basingstoke
Which position did Auckland Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes hold in Oct 1917?
Auckland Geddes , 1st Baron Geddes Auckland Campbell Geddes , 1st Baron Geddes , ( 21 June 1879 – 8 June 1954 ) was a British academic , soldier , politician and diplomat . He was a member of David Lloyd Georges coalition government during the First World War and also served as Ambassador to the United States . Life . Geddes was born in London the son of Auckland Campbell-Geddes , a civil engineer , and his wife Christina Helen MacLeod Anderson . He was the brother of Sir Eric Campbell-Geddes , First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I and principal architect of the Geddes Axe , which led to the retrenchment of British public expenditure following the War . His sister was Dr . Mona Chalmers Watson , the first woman to graduate M.D . from the University of Edinburgh and the first Chief Controller of the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps . Boer War . Geddes served in the Second Boer War in South Africa between 1901 and 1902 as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry . On 2 June 1902 he was promoted a lieutenant in the 3rd ( Militia ) battalion of the regiment , and he returned home with other men of this battalion on the SS Doune Castle in September 1902 , after the war had ended two months earlier . Academic career . Geddes was educated at George Watsons College , in Edinburgh . He then studied Medicine at Edinburgh University graduating MB ChB in 1903 . From 1906 to 1909 , Geddes was an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at Edinburgh University . The university gave him his doctorate ( MD ) in 1908 . In 1909 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . his proposers were William Turner ( anatomist ) , Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer , David Waterston and George Chrystal . From 1913 to 1914 he was a Professor of Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland . From 1913 to 1914 , he was a Professor of Anatomy at McGill University . His academic career was interrupted by the First World War during which he served as a Brigadier General in the War Office . First World War . During the First World War he served as a Major in the 17th Northumberland Fusiliers and was on the staff of the General Headquarters in France as a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and Honorary Brigadier General . Geddes was Director of Recruiting at the War Office from 1916 to 1917 . Political and diplomatic career . In 1917 he was elected Unionist Member of Parliament for Basingstoke , a seat he held until 1920 . He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1917 and served under David Lloyd George as Director of National Service from 1917 to 1918 , as President of the Local Government Board from 1918 to 1919 , as Minister of Reconstruction in 1919 and as President of the Board of Trade ( with a seat in the cabinet ) from 1919 to 1920 . Geddes was appointed Principal of McGill University in 1919 but never undertook his official duties . He resigned in 1920 when he was appointed British Ambassador to the United States which he served until 1924 . As His Majestys ambassador , Geddes investigated the treatment of British immigrants at Ellis Island , for which he wrote a report ( 1923 ) . He was also heavily involved in the negotiations that led up to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 , which limited the size and number of the worlds battleships . He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St . Michael and St . George ( G.C.M.G. ) in 1922 . From 1924 to 1947 , he was the Chairman of the Rio Tinto Company and Rhokana Corporation . He returned to public service during the Second World War when he served as Commissioner for Civil Defence for the South-East Region from 1939 to 1944 and for the North-West Region from 1941 to 1942 . The latter year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Geddes , of Rolvenden in the County of Kent . Family . Lord Geddes married , in 1906 , Isabella Gamble Ross ( d.1962 ) , daughter of William Adolphus Ross . They had five children : - Ross Campbell Geddes , 2nd Baron Geddes - Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable Alexander Campbell Geddes - Honourable Margaret Campbell Geddes who married Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine , last surviving member of this family - Honourable John Reay Campbell Geddes - Honourable David Campbell Geddes . Lord Geddes died in January 1954 , aged 74 , and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son , Ross . Lady Geddes died in January 1962 . External links . - The Papers of Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes . Forging of a Family , by Auckland Campbell Geddes , publ Faber 1952 Autobiography