Oliver Baldwin

Passions

Vocation

Family

English gay author and journalist and former Member of Parliament, he was the 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley. From 1948-1950, he served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Leeward Islands. A Member of Parliament, he represented Dudley in 1929-1931 and Paisley from 1945 to 1947. The elder son of prime minister Stanley Baldwin, his relationship with his esteemed father was difficult. His homosexuality caused a rift in the strained father-son relationship, and, when young Oliver entered public life, he did so as a socialist, in contrast to his father who was a conservative. The young Baldwin hated Eton, and, after he left the school, enlisted in the Irish Guards with a commission in 1916. After World War I, where he served mainly in France, he went to Armenia as an infantry instructor but was imprisoned twice, once by the Bolsheviks for two months and later by the Turks for five months. Once he returned to Britain, he became a Labour MP, and, for a short while, served as personal secretary to the minister of war. By 1922, he was earning his income as a journalist. In 1928, his book, "Socialism and the Bible, was published. Several other books followed: "The Questing Beast" (1932), "Unborn Son" (1933), "The Coming of Aissa" (1935) and " Oasis" in 1936. In January 1934, his article, 'No Fascism for British Youth,' stirred public consciousness, and he was subsequently assigned a post covering the Spanish Civil War for the Daily Mail. In 1939 he rejoined the army, becoming a major in the Intelligence Corps. During World War II, he served in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Eritrea and Algeria. Baldwin's father was a cousin of the noted author Rudyard Kipling. When Kipling learned of the young Baldwin's homosexuality, he denounced the young man publicly for his "beastliness" as well as for his radical politics. In 1936, Oliver Baldwin gave a vitriolic speech attacking the author though of course he could not mention the real reasons for the rift. When his father died in 1947, Oliver Baldwin was given the peerage, becoming the 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley. Most likely because of his by-now well-known homosexuality and his long-time relationship with his lover, he was sent out of the country, given a post as Governor of the Leewards. His partner went with him. Baldwin was recalled in 1950 and died on August 10, 1958, at age 59, in London. Link to Wikipedia biography