1266 Joseph Pease 2

Constituency : Tynemouth  1892-1900, Saffron  Walden  1901-10, Rotherham  1910-17

Joseph  took  over  from  Wentworth  Beaumont  at  Tyneside.

Joseph  was  a  member  of  the  Quaker  railway  dynasty. He  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Pease  the  MP  for  Barnard  Castle  and  so  acquired  the  nickname  "Jack "  in  order  to  distinguish  them.  York. He  was  educated  at  a  Quaker  school  in  Tottenham  and  Cambridge.  In  1886  he  married  Henry  Havelock-Allen's  daughter. He  was  Mayor  of  Darlington  from  1889  to  1890. He  was  actually  more  involved  in  coal  mining  than  railways  and  was  Deputy  Chairman  of  the  Durham  Coal  Owners  Association. He  also  had  interests  in  electricity  companies  and  fisheries. He  himself  was  not  particularly  religious.

Joseph  was  private  secretary  to  John  Morley  as  Chief  secretary  for  Ireland  between  1893  and  1895. He  was  a  junior  opposition  whip  between  1897  and  1905.

Joseph  became  a  government  whip  when  the  Liberals  came  back  to  power. Asquith  promoted him  to  Chief  Whip  in  1908  although  he  had  begged  for  an  escape  from  the  Whips'  office.   He  denounced  Lloyd  George  to  his  face  for  raising  funds  for the  Budget  League  by  the  promise  of  honours. Asquith  asked  him  to  investigate  Lloyd George's  approach  to  Lady  Henry. Joseph  exonerated  him  despite  his  personal  dislike  for  the Welshman.

In  1910  Joseph  joined  the  Cabinet  as  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster. He  thought Seely should  succeed  him  as  Chief  Whip  but  Asquith  chose  Elibank  who  Joseph  thought  was  "a   bit  too  scheming".   He  then  became  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1911. Joseph  was  anti-women's  suffrage  and  the  NUWSS  plotted  with  Labour  to  unseat  him.

 He  physically  prevented  Kitchener  from  leaving  the  Cabinet's  discussion  of  the  Munitions  Committee's  powers.  He  ceased   to  hold  the  post  on  the  formation  of  the  Coalition  in  1915  but  served  as  Postmaster-General for  most  of  1916.

In  1917  Joseph  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Gainford.

In  1922  Joseph  became  chairman  of  the  BBC which  he  held  until  1926. He  then  became  its  vice-chair  until  1932.

He  died  in  1943  aged  83.