Maurice Bonham Carter

Sir Maurice Bonham Carter, KCB, KCVO (11 October 1880 – 7 June 1960) was an English Liberal politician and cricketer.

Bonham Carter was the second son of Sibella Charlotte (née Norman) and Henry Bonham Carter. He was born in London and educated at Winchester College and Balliol College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1909.

He was a useful right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper for Kent and Oxford. He was awarded his blue in 1902. His highest score in first-class cricket was 86 for Oxford versus H.D.G. Leveson Gower's XI at the Parks in 1902.

Bonham Carter served as the Principal Private Secretary to the politician Herbert Henry Asquith and he became a leading figure in the British Liberal Party. He also held a number of business directorships with companies such as Blackburn and General Aircraft, Hanworth Securities Ltd, Scophony Ltd and was a partner with merchant bankers O.T. Falk and Partners, and stockbrokers Buckmaster & Moore.^[1]

Bonham Carter is buried in the churchyard at Mells in Somerset. The actress Helena Bonham Carter is his granddaughter.

Family life

He married Violet Asquith on 30 November 1915. As she was later made a life peeress, he and his wife were one of the few couples both of whom held titles in their own right. They had four children:

• The Honourable (Helen Laura) Cressida Bonham Carter (22 April 1917-17 June 1997); married Jasper Ridley (one son: Sir Adam Nicholas Ridley)
• The Honourable Laura Miranda Bonham Carter (born 13 October 1918); married Jo Grimond
• The Honourable Mark Raymond Bonham Carter (11 February 1922-4 September 1994)
• The Honourable Raymond Henry Bonham Carter (19 June 1929-17 January 2004)

His brothers included General Sir Charles Bonham Carter and the lawyer Sir Edgar Bonham Carter.

See also

• Bonham Carter family
• Asquith family

External links

• Cricinfo
• Cricket Archive

References