History of the Curzons

George Nathaniel Curzon (1859–1925), commonly known as Lord Curzon, was born on 11 January 1859 at his ancestral home, Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. He was the second of 11 children of the 4th Baron Scarsdale and his wife Blanche. As the eldest boy, he was destined to inherit Kedleston. 

The house we see today was commissioned by Sir Nathaniel Curzon (1676–1758), Lord Curzon’s ancestor, in a bid to rival Chatsworth. Lord Curzon was always conscious that the family home was more distinguished than the family that inhabited it. He set out at an early age to prove himself a worthy inheritor. 

At the age of ten Curzon attended preparatory school. At Eton he had a ‘passionate resolve to be at the head of the class’, while at Oxford he was liked and disliked in equal measure. For all who found him great company – witty, hardworking and a skilled orator – some found him tedious and overconfident. 

In 1886 Curzon was elected MP for Southport, and later Under Secretary for India (1891-2) and Foreign Affairs (1895-8). He focused his attention on the study of Asia, a continent of utmost significance to the British Empire at the time.    

Curzon toured Russia, Central Asia and Persia from 1888 to 1890, East and Southeast Asia in 1892, and Afghanistan in 1894, when the contested demarcation of Afghan and British territories was being drawn.  

He wrote prolifically about his experiences, collecting artefacts which are today displayed in Kedleston’s Museum. No doubt captivated by the cultures and geo-politics of Asia, his missions were nevertheless imperialist, motivated by the protection and expansion of British colonial interests.  

On his return from Afghanistan in 1895, Curzon announced his engagement to Mary, daughter of the Chicago millionaire Levi Zeigler Leiter. The pair had already been engaged for two years, but on the insistence of Curzon it was kept secret. The pair went on to have three daughters. 

In 1899, at the age of 39, Curzon was appointed Viceroy of India. The family moved to Calcutta (Kolkata) and lived at Government House, a palace coincidentally modelled after Kedleston.  

The first 16 months of Curzon’s office saw India plunged into a devastating famine which claimed the lives of millions of people. His response was an improvement on previous relief efforts and he extended famine relief and invested heavily in irrigation. Curzon blamed the famine on drought, condemned ‘indiscriminate alms-giving’ and cut rations.  

‘Let India be my judge’ 

Curzon ended his final official speech as Viceroy with the statement, ‘Let India be my judge’.  

He is remembered for his administrative ‘reforms’ to Indian education, infrastructure and defence – and for his restoration of the Taj Mahal – but equally for his calamitous decision to partition Bengal in 1905. Pitting Muslims against Hindus to disempower Bengal, the partition triggered a political crisis so destructive it had to be revoked in 1911.  

Curzon resigned as Viceroy in August 1905 and returned to England. The following year he was asked to stand down in the general election, and in July 1906 his beloved wife Mary died. 

She had suffered considerable ill health following a miscarriage, surgery and prolonged bouts of sickness in India. His own marble effigy lies beside hers in the chapel of All Saints Church, Kedleston.  

Elected to the House of Lords in 1908, Curzon was active in his opposition to Liberal policies and in 1912 became president of The National League for Opposing Women's Suffrage. He remarried in 1917, to the wealthy Alabaman Grace Elvina Hinds.  

He was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1919, a post he held until 1924. Curzon led British strategy in Mesopotamia (Iraq), Persia (Iran) and the Ottoman Empire, negotiated Egyptian independence and the division of Mandatory Palestine. In 1920 he proposed a series of coercive and so-called ‘Indian’ tactics to suppress Irish independence.  

In 1923, on the grounds of his peerage, and his character, Curzon was rejected for the job of Prime Minister in favour of Stanley Baldwin. He died two years later.