[BITList] The politician's wife

[John Feltham]

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Asquith  [née Tennant],  Margaret Emma Alice  [Margot], countess of Oxford and Asquith  (1864-1945), political hostess and diarist, was born on 2 February 1864, the sixth daughter and eleventh child of Sir Charles Tennant, first baronet  (1823-1906), wealthy Scottish industrialist and Liberal MP, and his first wife, Emma (1821-1895), daughter of Richard Winsloe of Mount Nebo, Taunton, Somerset. Her younger brother, Harold John (Jack) Tennant, was also a Liberal MP and briefly secretary of state for Scotland in 1916. At birth her names were registered in the order Alice Emma Margaret; in later life they were sometimes given as Emma Alice Margaret.

Life before Asquith

Margot was born at The Glen, the house her father had built at Innerleithen, Peeblesshire. She was proud of being 'Scotch' (her invariable term). Agile and energetic, she revelled in the freedom of her country childhood. She loved riding, and when introduced to hunting in 1880 she found an activity in which she could excel; she rode with the Cottesmore, the Quorn, and the Belvoir hunts. In one of her many accidents, however, her nose was broken, and her upper lip became misshapen. Before that, she had been 'rather a pretty girl'  (M. Asquith, More Memories, 1933, 232). She was educated mostly at home, and read widely in her father's library; she also attended a seminary in London run by Mlle de Mennecy, and spent five months in Dresden studying music and German.

Being nervous and irascible, Margot was often unfavourably compared to her gentler, more spiritual sister Laura [see Lyttelton,  Octavia Laura, under Lyttelton,  Alfred], but they were deeply devoted to each other, and under Laura's influence Margot developed the strong Christian faith to which she adhered all her life. With the marriage of the eldest sister, Charlotte, 'the only beauty of the family'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1910-11, 143), to Thomas Lister, fourth Baron Ribblesdale, in 1877, the Tennants made a significant social advance. After 'coming out' Laura and Margot enjoyed a resounding success in society. Both girls were charming, vivacious, and highly unconventional. They were portrayed in novels such as Mrs Humphry Ward's Robert Elsmere (1888), and in E. F. Benson's Dodo (1893), where the 'clever and stimulating' heroine, with her inconsequential chatter, was widely recognized as being based on Margot. The sayings of Margot-for example her comment on ghosts, 'Appearances are in favour of them'-were much repeated throughout her lifetime: she herself had to suffer hearing epigrams attributed to her which were not authentic. Lord David Cecil described her remarks as being like those of a clever child who is surprised when grown-ups laugh.

When Laura, who had married Alfred Lyttelton in 1885, died in childbirth the following year at the age of twenty-four, the shock was felt not only by Margot but by the whole circle of Laura's friends and relatives, who drew together in mourning her. Margot became a prominent member of this group, which included Arthur Balfour and George Curzon among politicians, and Mary Elcho and Ettie Grenfell among the great hostesses whose country houses were its meeting places. Their intellectual and cultural interests gained them the nickname the Souls; Balfour thought the name 'meaningless and slightly ludicrous'  (A. BalfourChapters of Autobiography, ed. B. Dugdale, 1930, 232). In later life Margot was emphatic about the influence and success of the Souls, particularly in crossing party boundaries. She scornfully contrasted their 'brilliant conversation' and 'excellent company' with the later 'Anti-Cant' group, 'sexless, soulless and so disloyal'  (M. Asquith, diary, July 1916 - August 1917, 35).

Marriage to a politician

Margot first met Herbert Henry Asquith  (1852-1928), earl of Oxford and Asquith from 1925, in 1890. Asquith's wife, Helen, died suddenly in the following year from typhoid, leaving five children ranging in age from thirteen to one. When, to the surprise of his friends, Asquith asked Margot to marry him, she hesitated for months before finally accepting in 1894. The wedding took place on 10 May 1894; the register was signed by four prime ministers-Gladstone, Rosebery, Balfour, and Asquith. She later wrote that every one of the letters congratulating her had included 'a note of warning'  (M. Asquith, Autobiography, 1.282); and she soon found that the strains of being a stepmother were severe. She was to have five children of her own, but only Elizabeth (1897-1945) and Anthony 'Puffin' Asquith  (1902-1968) survived, three dying at birth. Much as she often longed to be alone with her husband and two children, she rarely achieved this. She brooded frequently over the difference in temperament between the Tennants and the Asquiths. She once wrote of her own father's lack of self-control, and of his tendency to hurt other people's feelings by saying everything that came into his head 'like a spoilt child'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1904-6, 241). These traits she had undoubtedly inherited: they made difficulties for her throughout her life, especially with her reserved stepfamily. Her relations with Raymond Asquith, the eldest, were cool; with Violet Bonham Carter, the only daughter, stormy.

By the end of 1903 there were good prospects that the Liberals would soon form a government, of which Asquith would be a prominent member. Margot, who had kept a diary since childhood, embarked in 1904 on a new scheme of arrangement whereby political events would be recorded separately from family matters. She wrote in the new volume that it was to record 'with absolute fidelity and indiscretion the private and political events of the coming years'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1904-6, 1). She continued to write two diaries more or less in tandem until 1913, and combined diary volumes from 1914 until 1918. After beginning work on her Autobiography she wrote no diary until 1922-3; if there were further volumes, they have not survived.

Margot's diary is of great importance as the record of someone close to the centre of power at a time of significant political change and, with the outbreak of the First World War, of crisis for the country. Often rapidly written in her strong angular hand, the diary has great freshness and vigour: Margot had a gift for the expressive phrase-writing for instance of Balfour's 'cool grace'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1904-6, 45). Her promise of 'absolute fidelity', however, has to be taken with caution. It is known that she made notes of conversations, for example, as soon as possible after the event: but she also writes of her despair at the piles of notes waiting to be written up, and in busy times letters, rough notes, pressed flowers, locks of hair, and even a baby tooth were thrown into the volumes. Where notes exist that can be compared with the diary version, the latter is reasonably accurate; but on one occasion when she presented inscribed cigarette cases to several friends, she gives two different versions of the inscription, at a few pages' distance from each other. More seriously misleading is the marginal entry 'From my diary' in the Autobiography. In many cases Margot considerably altered her diary narrative, usually to inject more drama into the scene.

Asquith became chancellor of the exchequer in December 1905. Margot and he looked over no. 11 Downing Street, but she could see no possibility of fitting into it with '16 servants and 9 of the family'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1904-6, 179-80). Sir Charles Tennant provided money whereby they were able to remain at their home, 20 Cavendish Square, and when Asquith succeeded Campbell-Bannerman as prime minister in April 1908 his 'cabinet-making' took place there. He telegraphed Margot from Biarritz that he had kissed hands, adding: 'Back Friday ask Grey dinner and one or two nice women'. Margot commented in the diary 'I never thought of obeying Henry's wire ... it would have ruined our dinner. I know very few really clever discreet women'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1907-9, 56). The Asquiths moved into no. 10 Downing Street, which Margot thought 'an inconvenient house with three poor staircases'  (M. Asquith, Autobiography, 2.107).

Character and influence

It is difficult to assess what influence, if any, was exerted by Margot, especially during the premiership. On the personal side she was highly demanding and critical, and poor health frequently made her difficult. She was capable of making terrible scenes (as she herself recounted). All this meant a far from restful home life for Asquith. On the other hand she was fiercely loyal to him, and seldom complained of her husband's close friendships with other women even in 1914-15, when one of these, with Venetia Stanley, had made her miserable. The lavish lifestyle of the Asquiths in society was much criticized: here Margot was thought to have had a corrupting influence on her husband. These criticisms were not confined to political opponents: they were voiced by Liberals also, and by at least one detached observer, Beatrice Webb.

Margot was wholly committed to the task of keeping the Liberal Party in power, even if there was an element of self-interest there. The extent of her interference, as revealed by countless examples in the diary, is startling. She lectured George V on home rule: 'You see sir you only see fashionable Tories and not very clever ones'  (M. Asquith, diary, February 1912 - September 1914, 175); she begged the chief whip in November 1910 to have a general election immediately; she summoned Kitchener in June 1915 in an effort to get a parliamentary question withdrawn; she suggested in October 1915 the suspension of The Times and the Daily Mail; she claimed to have 'made' at least one viceroy; she advised Winston Churchill in 1910 to turn over a new leaf. She once attempted to advise Lloyd George on what not to say in his speeches: but at that point she met her match, and on receiving an icy reply and the threat of a complaint to Asquith, she made peace. She admitted that 'Henry' hated her 'missionary tendencies'  (M. Asquith, diary, January 1910 - end of 1911, 93).

Margot's impetuous and high-handed ways were of course bound to attract criticism. In 1905 she was unable to resist dining out on an incident at court; a stiff royal rebuke, with the threat of withdrawing future invitations to Windsor, was administered. A more dangerous fault was her extravagance, which caused much adverse comment. Sir Charles Tennant had made generous provision for her on her marriage, and he increased this in 1900 and again when Asquith came into office. Some at least of these arrangements continued after Sir Charles's death in 1906. Margot was certainly generous, especially to her stepchildren, but being 'passionately fond of clothes'  (M. Asquith, diary, 1922-3, 26), she spent so much that even while Asquith was still prime minister she told Rosebery that she was forced to make money by journalism. The tory chief whip in 1910 considered that Asquith's inability to earn much in private life, coupled with his wife's extravagance, would make him cling to office as long as possible. It is certainly true that on one occasion the mere possibility of Asquith's being forced to resign from ill health reduced Margot to panic.

When the First World War broke out Margot insisted, typically enough, on visiting the front, though told by the foreign secretary that this was 'pure self-indulgence'  (M. Asquith, diary, October 1914 - May 1915, 211). Mounting criticism of her husband's leadership of the coalition which he had formed in May 1915 infuriated her, and when in June 1916, as the result of Kitchener's death, Asquith made Lloyd George war secretary, she saw this as a tragic mistake. She wrote sadly of the rift it had made between her and her husband: for the first time they were unable to discuss politics. The subsequent moves whereby Asquith was forced out of the premiership by Lloyd George in December 1916 roused Margot to intense rage and bitterness.

Writings and later life

Margot had always enjoyed writing, regarding it as a kind of safety valve. When it became urgent for her to earn money she decided to write her Autobiography, based on the diary. The publication of the first volume in 1920 was preceded by extracts in English and American newspapers. Immediate offence was given to some of her friends by her unvarnished descriptions of them-Curzon was never reconciled to her. The excessive candour and the egotism of the author were severely commented on by critics, and surprise was expressed at her account, in the newspaper version, of a conversation with Lord Salisbury which was held apparently after his death. However, the advances for both volumes were large (volume 2 was published in 1922), and the book sold well. Margot had a simple and direct style. With the aid of the diary she had been able to recall political manoeuvres and her encounters with many famous figures from politics, literature, and society. To the modern reader, there is much that is trivial and tedious in her material; however, the Autobiography brought fame, and Margot made a successful lecture tour of the United States in 1922, described in Places and Persons (1925). She continued to produce books at intervals during the next twenty years (Lay Sermons, 1927; More Memories, 1933; Myself when Young, 1938; Off the Record, 1943). These tend to share the faults of the Autobiography, without having its zest and novelty. Olivia, Margot's only novel, was published in 1928; it draws largely on her own experiences, particularly in the hunting field, and one of the central characters is based on her early admirer Peter Flower.

When obliged to sell their Cavendish Square house in 1919 the Asquiths moved to 44 Bedford Square. Margot arranged her homes with what Violet called her 'impeccable eye'  (Pottle, 358); in Lay Sermons she writes that she would have liked to decorate houses for friends as an occupation. The Wharf, Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire, which Margot had bought in 1911 with money given to her by Pierpont Morgan, continued to be a favourite resort until sold in 1932, when Margot was forced to economize further.

After Asquith's death in 1928 Margot continued to occupy herself with her books and journalism. Her son, Puffin, was making a distinguished career as a film director. Her daughter, Elizabeth, who had married Prince Antoine Bibesco in 1919, lived much of her life abroad, and throughout the Second World War was in Romania. The news that she was about to return to Britain in 1945 was immediately followed by that of her death. This was a crushing blow. Margot died on 28 July 1945 at 14 Kensington Square, and was buried at Sutton Courtenay churchyard on 31 July.

Margot had charmed Benjamin Jowett, had been given a private recital of 'Maud' by Tennyson, had watched the beautiful young duchess of Leinster making eleven perfect curtsies to royalties at an assembly, had launched a dreadnought, had knelt in prayer in a railway carriage with General Booth of the Salvation Army, had waltzed in a cabinet ante-room with Admiral Lord Fisher, had wept with the German ambassador on 4 August 1914 while he told her that Germany had 'never counted' that old Belgian treaty, and had lived to see Winston Churchill, for whom in 1915 she could foresee 'no political future', become the twelfth of the thirteen prime ministers she had known.

Eleanor Brock 

Sources  M. Asquith, diaries, 1878-1923, Balliol Oxf. + M. Asquith, The autobiography of Margot Asquith, 2 vols. (1920-22); repr. in 1 vol. with introduction by M. Bonham Carter (1962) + D. Bennett, Margot: a life of the countess of Oxford and Asquith (1984) + H. H. Asquith: letters to Venetia Stanley, ed. M. Brock and E. Brock (1982) + H. H. A.: letters of the earl of Oxford and Asquith to a friend, ed. D. MacCarthy, 2 vols. (1933-4) + J. A. Spender and C. Asquith, Life of Herbert Henry Asquith, Lord Oxford and Asquith, 2 vols. [1932] + R. Jenkins, Asquith, 3rd edn (1986) + S. Koss, Asquith (1976) + R. J. Minney, Puffin Asquith (1973) + Raymond Asquith: life and letters, ed. J. Jolliffe (1980) + Champion redoubtable: the diaries and letters of Violet Bonham Carter, 1914-1945, ed. M. Pottle (1998) + Lady Cynthia Asquith: diaries, 1915-1918 (1968) + The letters of Arthur Balfour and Lady Elcho, 1885-1917, ed. J. Ridley and C. Percy (1992) + H. Begbie, The glass of fashion (1921) + The Crawford papers: the journals of David Lindsay, twenty-seventh earl of Crawford ... 1892-1940, ed. J. Vincent (1984) + F. Horner, Time remembered (1933) + A. Lambert, Unquiet Souls: the Indian summer of the British aristocracy, 1880-1918 (1984) + A. Leslie, Edwardians in love (1972) + R. R. James, Rosebery: a biography of Archibald Philip, fifth earl of Rosebery (New York, 1964) + J. Sutherland, Mrs Humphry Ward: eminent Victorian, pre-eminent Edwardian (1990) + The diary of Beatrice Webb, ed. N. MacKenzie and J. MacKenzie, 3 (1984) + J. Wilson, C. B.: a life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973) + K. Young, Balfour (1963) + CGPLA Eng. & Wales (1947) + m. cert. + d. cert.
Archives Bodl. Oxf., diaries, corresp., and papers | BL, letters to Lady Abercromby, Add. MS 52550 + BL, corresp. with Arthur James Balfour, Add. MS 49794, passim + BL, corresp. with J. E. Burns, Add. MS 46282 + BL, corresp. with Lord D'Abernon, Add. MSS 48928, 48935 + BL, corresp. with Mary Gladstone, Add. MS 46238 + BL, letters to W. E. Gladstone, Add. MSS 44498-44520, passim + BL, letters to Sir E. W. Hamilton, Add. MS 48614 + BL, corresp. with Viscount Long, Add. MS 62404 + BL, corresp. with J. A. Spender, Add. MS 46388 + BL, letters to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Lady Beerbohm Tree, Add. MS 62126 + BL, letters to Viola Emmie Aida Tree, Add. MS 62126 + BL OIOC, letters to Lord Reading, MSS Eur. E 238, F 118 + BLPES, letters to A. G. Gardiner + Bodl. Oxf., letters to Geoffrey Dawson + Bodl. Oxf., corresp. with H. A. Gwynne + Bodl. Oxf., letters to Sir William Harcourt and Lewis Harcourt + Bodl. Oxf., letters to Elizabeth, Lady Lewis, and her daughter Katherine + Bodl. Oxf., corresp. with Gilbert Murray + Bodl. Oxf., corresp. with Lord Selborne + CAC Cam., letters to Duff Cooper + Herts. ALS, letters to Lady Desborough + King's AC Cam., letters to John Maynard Keynes + NA Scot., corresp. with Arthur Balfour + NL Scot., corresp. with Lord Haldane + NL Scot., corresp. with Lord Rosebery + NRA Scotland, priv. coll., corresp. with Tennant family + Parl. Arch., letters to David Lloyd George + Parl. Arch., corresp. with Herbert Samuel + Parl. Arch., corresp. with John St Loe Strachey + PRONI, corresp. with Edward Carson + U. Leeds, Brotherton L., letters to Sir Edmund Gosse + U. Sussex, letters to Virginia Woolf FILM BFINA, documentary footage + BFINA, news footage + BFINA, propaganda footage (Hepworth Manufacturing Company)
Likenesses  H. J. Brooks, group portrait, oils, 1889 (Private view of the Old Masters Exhibition, Royal Academy, 1888), NPG · J. S. Sargent, drawing, c.1895, NPG · P. A. de Laszlo, portrait, oils, 1909, Parliamentary Art Collection · A. de Meyer, photograph, c.1911, NPG [see illus.] · photograph, 1911, Hult. Arch. · M. L. Hamilton, drawing, c.1921, National Liberal Club, London · B. Partridge, caricature, 1922, V&A · C. Beaton, photograph, 1930-39, NPG · L. Moholy, photograph, 1935, NPG · H. Coster, photographs, 1938-9, NPG · photographs, repro. in Asquith, Autobiography (1920-22) · photographs, repro. in Bennett, Margot · photographs, repro. in S. Blow, Broken Blood (1987)
Wealth at death  £5799 14s. 10d.: probate, 13 Feb 1947, CGPLA Eng. & Wales




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