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Julian Amery was born 27 March 1919, the son of Leopold Amery, PC, CH. He was educated at Summer Fields, then Eton College, before going on to Balliol College, Oxford. In 1950, Amery married Catherine Macmillan, daughter of the 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS [earlier Maurice Harold Macmillan], having one son and three daughters. Lady Catherine died in 1991.
Amery's career began as a War Correspondent in the Spanish Civil War, (1938-1939), and from there he moved to foreign affairs, serving as Attaché at the British Legation, Belgrade [Yugoslavia], and on special missions in Bulgaria, Turkey, Roumania and the Middle East, (1939-1940). He joined the RAF as a sergeant in 1940, then was commissioned and transferred to the army in 1941, seeing active service in Egypt, Palestine and Adriatic, (1941-1942), before a period as liaison officer to the Albanian resistance movement in 1944, and finally a position on the staff of General Carton de Wiart, VC, Churchill's personal representative with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, in 1945.
Once the war was over, Amery turned to politics, unsuccessfully contesting the seat of Preston [Lancashire] in July 1945. At the next attempt, however, Amery won the seat, and remained Conservative MP for Preston North, from 1950 to 1966, later becoming MP for Brighton Pavilion [Sussex], (1969-1992).
Once in Parliament, Amery served as a delegate to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, (1950-1953 and 1956), and a member of the Round Table Conference on Malta, (1955). His political positions included: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Financial Secretary at the War Office, (1957-1958); Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office, (1958-1960); Secretary of State for Air, (October 1960-July 1962); Minister of Aviation, (1962-1964); Minister of Public Building and Works, (June-October 1970); Minister for Housing and Construction, (1970-1972); Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (1972-1974). Amery was made a Privy Counsellor in 1960, and his other honours include: Honorary LLD Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri [United States]; Knight Commander, Order of the Phoenix, Greece; Grand Cordon, Order of Skanderbeg, Albania; Order of Oman, first class. He died in September 1996.
Amery's publications include: "Sons of the Eagle" (1948); "The Life of Joseph Chamberlain": volume IV, "1901-3: At the Height of his Power" (1951); volumes V and VI, "1901-14: Joseph Chamberlain and the Tariff Reform Campaign" (1969); "Approach March", Amery's autobiography (1973); articles in National Review, Nineteenth Century and the Daily Telegraph.
The collection held at Churchill Archives Centre includes: personal and family papers, including correspondence with other members of the Amery family, financial and household papers; some papers from Amery's wartime service; Amery's personal and general correspondence; political correspondence and papers, including copies of ministerial papers and election material; a large amount of constituency correspondence, from Amery's Preston and Brighton seats; papers on foreign affairs, including Amery's visits abroad; literary material, including the transcription of Leo Amery's diaries, material on Amery's biography of Joseph Chamberlain, his own autobiography and "Sons of the Eagle"; speeches and articles; election papers; engagement diaries; press cuttings; photographs; audio material.
The papers were deposited at Churchill Archives Centre in 1997 by Amery's son, Mr Leo Amery.
The papers are currently being catalogued. Where they have not yet been catalogued in detail, no reference numbers have been assigned other than at series level, so please use the provisional box-numbers given when requesting a file from this material
The Papers of Julian Amery have been accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by HM Government and allocated to Churchill Archives Centre, 2002.
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