Lord Leslie Haden-Guest

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Lord Leslie Haden-Guest, birth 10 Mar 1877 Oldham, Lancashire, England, died 20 Aug 1960
Created Baron Haden-Guest 2 Feb 1950
MP for Southwark North 1923-1927 and Islington North 1937-1950.

Medical doctor, pioneer in school hygiene, author and journalist, member of Parliament. In his obituary published in the London Times, Haden Guest is described glowingly as "very much a man of parts," having taken on, during his remarkable career , such diverse roles as surgeon, social reformer, author, and politician. Readers of Orage's journal are familiar, however, with yet another side to Haden Guest: nearly every week from May 1907 until October 1908, Haden Guest wrote the drama colum n for the New Age. This interest in theater and literatureûwhich doesn't seem to carry through to his later lifeûmay simply be a youthful indulgence that Haden Guest satisfied before he set out upon the serious work of his maturity. But there's no thing unusual in members of Orage's circle combining such distinct disciplines as politics, social medicine, and the arts. That Haden Guest was also a student of theosophy (a further part of his personality left unmentioned in his official Time s obituary) only makes him more of a part of the New Age. Perhaps we can get a taste of Haden Guest's many sides in the way (in 1914) he described his recreations: "lecturing on socio-medical journals, theosophical and socialist questions and bein g lazy." Only that last item would raise objections from anyone familiar with Haden-Guest's entire life.

Haden Guest was born in Oldham, Lancashire, in the North of England. His father, a physician, was active in leftist causes, opening his home to the likes of Annie Besant and other Fabians. (Haden-Guest's second wife, Muriel Carmel, tells how Hade n Guest's father "went to America in his youth to liberate the Red Indians. He returned somewhat disillusioned.") As a young man, Haden Guest followed his father's example, lecturing on social issues and working-class politics. He was educate d at Hulme's Grammar School, went on to graduate from Owen's College, and eventually earned his medical degree from London Hospital. Haden Guest travelled to South Africa to serve in the Boer War; after the war he stayed on in Africa a few year s to practice medicine. Upon his return to London, Haden Guest played a key role in establishing health clinics for the city's public schools (see M. D. Eder for comparison). It was during this period in his life, when Haden Guest was 30 years old , that he also worked as a drama critic for the NA. In 1909, Haden Guest divorced his first wife, Edith Low (whom he had married in 1898 and with whom he had two sons), and the following year he married Muriel Carmel, the playwright and author who se work sometimes appears today under the name "Mrs. L. Haden Guest." Haden Guest continued his medical work in London and published, before the war, a number of socio-medical texts, including The Case for School Clinics (1911), a Fabian Societ y tract on school hygiene; Theosophy and Social Reconstruction (1911), issued by the Theosophical Publishing Society; and Votes for Women and the Public Health (1912), which Haden Guest wrote for the Women's Freedom League. During the World War , Haden-Guest worked for the Red Cross and helped to organize hospitals overseas.

Following the war, Haden Guest's professional interests generally moved from medicine to a more formal involvement with politics. Haden Guest founded the Labour Party Commonwealth Group, and from 1923 to 1927 he served as a Labour Party membe r of Parliament for North Southwark. About this time Haden Guest fell out with Labour and joined the Conservative party, running in the next election as an Independent Constitutionalist. By 1931, he had again aligned himself with Labour. Afte r a string of political defeats, Haden Guest was re-elected to the House of Commons in 1933, this time representing North Islington. He held this post until 1950, whenûupon becoming a baronûhe was made a member of the House of Lords.

During the post-war years, Haden Guest was also involved in a series of investigative trips to different countries. In 1920 he served as a member of the Labour Delegation that travelled to Russia and met with Lenin and Trotsky; a few years later , he joined the Empire Parliamentary Delegation in its visit to Canada; and in 1938-39, he travelled with a couple of British commissions that investigated conditions in West Africa. A number of H's books grew out of his political trips: The Strug gle for Power in Europe, 1917-1921. An outline economic and political survey of the central states and Russia (1921), The new Russia (1926), Canada as a career (1927), and The New British Empire (1929), which treated both Canada and Australia. Oth er titles by Haden-Guest include: The Nature of Future: a survey of hygienic conditions and possibilities in school and home life (1916), The Care and Nursing of Babies and Children (1922), The Labour Party and the Empire (1926), Where Is Labou r Going? (1927), Is Labour Leaving Socialism? (1929), and the grim wartime publication If Air War Comes; a guide to air raid precautions and anti-gas treatment (1939).
Married 1910 to:
Muriel Ethel Carmel Goldsmid, birth 10 May 1881, died 20 Feb 1943, occupation: playwright, author, daughter of Albert Edward Williamson Goldsmid and Ida Stewart Hendriks

1) Angela Haden-Guest, birth 1910, died 27 Nov 1965 to:
Orlando Martinez

2) David Haden-Guest, birth 1911, died 1937 SPAIN

3) Peter Haden-Guest, birth 29 Aug 1913, died 15 Apr 1996
4th Baron Haden-Guest
He graduated from Oxford University in 1934 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.).1 He was a dancer with Markova-Dolin Ballet, Ballet Divertissement, Ballet Theatre, Ballett Jooss and the Repertory Dance Theatre between 1935 and 1941.1 He wa s also known as Peter Michael a stage name.1 He graduated from Oxford University in 1938 with the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.).1 He fought in the Second World War.1 He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the service of the Royal Canadian Naval Vol unteer Reserve.1 He was a United Nations official between 1946 and 1972.1 He succeeded to the title of 4th Baron Haden-Guest, of Saling, co. Essex [U.K., 1950] in 1987.1
(divorced) to:
Elizabeth Louise Ruth Wolpert

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