Life with Lloyd George

Even today, more than thirty years after its appearance, Life with Lloyd George (1975), by A. J. Sylvester, Principal Private Secretary to from 1923, remains a valuable and unique source of information for students of Lloyd George, his life and times – particularly the so-called ‘wilderness years’ of the last phase of his life – and for those interested in his family. Dr J. Graham Jones examines the preparation, publication and impact of the book, drawing on extracts from Sylvester’s diaries between 1931 and 1945.

28 Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 Life with Lloyd George

lbert James Syl- an immensely privileged posi- immediate family did and said. vester (1889–1989) tion. By nature he was a com- Originally, Sylvester kept his served as Principal pulsive, habitual note taker, a diary in a group of relatively Private Secretary to practice much facilitated by his small notebooks with black David Lloyd George proficiency in shorthand. From covers, which he crammed Afrom the autumn of 1923 until about 1915 onwards he took to with shorthand. Only members Lloyd George’s death in March recording in some detail the of his closest family were fully 1945.1 A native of Harlaston in seminal, often momentous aware of the nature of their Staffordshire and the son of a events which he witnessed at contents and the secrets which relatively impoverished tenant close quarters. Sometimes he they contained. farmer, he perfected his short- kept a diary. He went to great The detail of the diary is hand and typing skills by attend- pains to record the moves which amazing. It became A. J. Syl- ing evening classes when still led to the selection of Stanley vester’s practice to write up his in his teens, while he spent his Baldwin, rather than Lord Cur- diary late at night as his last task days as a clerk at Charrington’s zon, as Conser vative leader in the before retiring to bed. This was breweries. In 1910, like so many spring of 1923, and he chronicled an undertaking which could be of his generation, he moved in some detail the tempestuous achieved at great speed because to to seek his fortune, course of Ramsay MacDonald’s of his use of Pitman’s shorthand, holding a variety of jobs before first minority Labour govern- which also provided the diarist in 1915 securing appointment ment of 1923–24. with an element of security. His as a stenographer in the office During these years, however, mastery of shorthand enabled of M. P. A. Hankey (later Lord his diary keeping was at best Sylvester to record speeches, Hankey), who at the time was spasmodic; there were lengthy debates and conversations fully Secretary to the Committee of periods during which no diary verbatim. So, too, did he note Imperial Defence. In 1921 he entries were made. Some years the gist of the numerous tel- left Hankey’s employ to become afterwards, however, newspaper ephone conversations which Private Secretary to Lloyd proprietor Sir George Riddell he had and even the small-talk George, still Prime Minister of (later Lord Riddell) impressed which took place during meals the post-war coalition govern- upon Sylvester that his unique in the Lloyd George household. ment. A short spell under Con- status and position demanded This penchant for minutiae servative premier Andrew Bonar that he should record in detail sometimes extended to not- Law preceded his return to work the events which he was privi- ing what Lloyd George’s guests as PPS to Lloyd George for an leged to witness. It was an wore, ate, drank and smoked. unbroken twenty-two-and-a- argument, buttressed by many Inevitably much of the informa- half years. Sylvester was thus in others, which the devoted PPS tion which Sylvester recorded in a unique position to view Lloyd readily accepted. Consequently his diaries was highly personal George’s public and private life from 1931, Sylvester’s diary is and private. It would seem that, throughout the so-called ‘wil- more or less continuous for as he made his meticulous record derness years’. the next fourteen years. It is an of all he saw and heard in Lloyd Very early in his career A. J. extremely valuable record of A. J. Sylvester and George’s milieu, Sylvester dis- Sylvester realised that he was in all that Lloyd George and his Lloyd George played no inclination of making

Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 29 life with lloyd george it available to the world. It was years until 1948 he worked for Although the leader E. Clement Davies who simply his own private record. Express Newspapers on a short- was a personal friend and whose Lloyd George died on 26 term contract with Lord Beaver- terms given work on behalf of the party he March 1945. Within days of brook. At the same time he now greatly admired. During these the old man’s death, his widow felt relatively free to quarry his to Sylvester months he drew on his savings, Frances, now the Dowager extensive diary material and the were by any but such an arrangement could Countess Lloyd-George of more modest personal archive not continue indefinitely. When Dwyfor, made it clear to Syl- of correspondence, papers and standards the Liberal Party hierarchy was vester, the ever-loyal, utterly documents which he had care- unable or unwilling to create a discreet employee for more fully accumulated over the exception- paid position for A. J. Sylvester, than two decades, that she had years, in order to piece together and no other suitable position now resolved to dispense with a semi-biographical volume ally gener- was available, he and his wife his services. Although the terms about his former employer. This ous, the Evelyn moved from their home given to Sylvester were by any was eventually published as The at Putney in London to Chip- standards exceptionally gener- Real Lloyd George by Cassell and course of penham in Wiltshire, where he ous – he was given a full three Co. in the autumn of 1947.2 This had already purchased a substan- years’ salary as severance pay, rather dramatic title was not events still tial piece of agricultural land and he also inherited the sum of reflected in the book’s contents. during the war years. Here he £1,000 under the terms of Lloyd Although it included a revealing came as a was to remain until his death George’s will – the course of account of Lloyd George’s visits complete in October 1989, just over forty events still came as a complete to Hitler at Bechtesgaden in the years later, farming on a fairly shock to him. Any hope which autumn of 1936 and some other shock to him. extensive scale, while retaining he could reasonably have had of episodes of interest, much of the his avid interest in Lloyd George being kept on by Frances to col- volume consisted of domestic and in contemporary political laborate with her in perpetuat- trivia. Above all, the portrait of life. He battled courageously to ing Lloyd George’s good name Lloyd George which emerged overcome the trauma of Evelyn’s and memory (in particular by from a perusal of the book’s 322 death in 1962 and a succession of assisting in the researching and hastily penned pages was dis- serious health problems. writing of a full biography), tinctly unflattering. In his later Lloyd George received a and in working with her on the years Sylvester’s employer had consistently bad press dur- massive archive of papers which become a soured, peevish and ing the twenty years follow- Lloyd George had bequeathed autocratic old man, increas- ing his death, a practice which to her in his will, had been cru- ingly cantankerous and ever Sylvester himself had to some elly dashed. For the first time more prone to vicious temper extent initiated with the publi- in his life, at fifty-five years tantrums which deeply upset cation of The Real Lloyd George of age, A. J. Sylvester, a proud all those in his inner circle. in 1947, and which was perpetu- man, was unemployed. Con- Most of the sensational revela- ated by Richard Lloyd-George sequently, the latent antago- tions about Lloyd George in the (the second earl, who had been nism between him and Frances, original diaries had been either disinherited by his father) in his which had existed from the omitted or toned down in the hostile biography published in beginning, was unleashed. As published work. Just one or two 1960 and in works like Donald long as Lloyd George, a noto- warts remained. Even so Frances McCormick’s The Mask of Mer- riously difficult man, lived, Lloyd-George was incensed that lin, published in 1963. More bal- and both Frances and Sylvester The Real Lloyd George had seen anced Lloyd George biographies remained in his employ, they the light of day before the ‘offi- by Sir Alfred Davies (1947), Dr were forced to work in har- cial biography’ of Lloyd George Thomas Jones (1951) and Frank mony to preserve the peace and by Malcolm Thomson, a work Owen (1954), although arous- mollify the old man. The harsh which was then being prepared ing considerable interest and course of events of the spring of with her full approval and co- some acclaim, failed to stem the 1945, however, meant that Syl- operation and unrestricted generally bad press which Lloyd vester subsequently felt no loy- access to the papers in her sole George attracted. This trend alty whatsoever to the Dowager possession. was enhanced still further by Countess, although he still felt In 1948 Sylvester’s contract the general works of historians some affection for the Lloyd with Lord Beaverbrook came like A. J. P. Taylor and Trevor George family and he certainly to an abrupt end, and he again Wilson. ‘Lloyd George’s repu- showed no inclination to bring found himself searching for tation in 1966, therefore’, wrote Lloyd George’s name and repu- remunerative employment. He Kenneth O. Morgan, ‘was at its tation into disrepute. failed, and spent the period of lowest ebb.’3 First, he needed a new job, 1948–49 working as an unpaid From that point on, how- if not a new career. For three assistant to the Liberal Party ever, a dramatic ­transformation

30 Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 life with lloyd george took place, partly the result In the same year the availabil- Cross and Observer Newspa- of the appearance of a spate of ity of the same archive led to pers to consider the publica- ­important publications which the publication of Lloyd George: tion of extracts from his diaries took a more detached, even Family Letters, 1885–1936, edited as a single monograph. Cross, sympathetic, view of Lloyd by Kenneth O. Morgan, a a native of Cardiff, educated at George (the work of histori- ground-breaking work which ­Portsmouth Grammar School ans such as , gave much wider currency to and the University of Cam- Cameron Hazlehurst, Robert the riches of the Lloyd George bridge, was by the end of the Skidelsky and Peter Clarke), Papers recently acquired by the 1960s a member of staff of The partly the outcome of the avail- National Library. (It should still Observer. Ever since 1950 he had ability of a wide range of new be noted, however, that there earned his living as a journalist archival sources. In 1967 the are many valuable letters within and had travelled extensively in magnificent archive of papers the archive which have not been Africa, Asia and the Middle East. which Frances had sold to Lord included in this volume.) A. J. His published works included Beaverbrook became available P. Taylor also began to edit the The Fascists in Britain (1961), The to the public for the first time at correspondence between Lloyd Liberals in Power, 1905–1914 (1963), the Beaverbrook Library; they George and , a biography of the first Labour were to be transferred to the a work which eventually saw the Chancellor of the Exchequer, custody of the Record Office light of day as My Darling Pussy Philip Snowden (1966), The Fall at the in 1975. in 1975. of the British Empire, 1918–1968 These were the major source for All this activity, and the new, (1968) and Adolf Hitler (1973). the period after Lloyd George’s more charitable attitude to Lloyd At a meeting between Sylvester assumption of the premier- George which had emerged as a and Cross at the former’s home ship in December 1916. Then, result, clearly spurred A. J. Syl- in September 1971, Cross soon in 1969, the National Library vester to consider making his became convinced that the diary of Wales at Aberystwyth was own diary material available in material constituted ‘the basis of able to purchase from the estate print. He had published noth- an excellent book’. It was recog- of Lady Megan Lloyd George ing of substance since The Real nised from the outset, however, (who had died in May 1966) a Lloyd George back in 1947, simply that the original diaries would substantial collection of corre- Sylvester contributing occasional columns have to be ruthlessly edited spondence and papers running to newspapers and magazines down to some 80,000 words, to almost 3,500 items which considered and making a few radio broad- and The Observer Ltd. agreed had been assembled at the casts. He still felt deeply resent- to provide the ageing Sylvester Lloyd George family home at the book ful that Frances Lloyd-George with secretarial assistance to Brynawelon, Criccieth. Most of had deliberately prevented him facilitate the task of transcrib- this priceless material had once grossly from contributing in any way ing some of the diary material been owned by Dame Marga- over-ro- to the ‘official biography’ of which remained only in short- ret Lloyd George and included Lloyd George written by Mal- hand.5 He stubbornly refused the a run of more than 2,000 let- manticised, colm Thomson in 1948. Then, offer, determined to undertake ters written by Lloyd George to in 1967, Frances published her all of the remaining transcrip- her, spanning the period from incom- own autobiography, The Years tion work himself. Before the 1886 to 1936.4 They constituted that are Past, a somewhat cau- end of the year, Sylvester had a vital new source for Lloyd plete and tious, guarded account of her made contact with Lady Olwen George’s early career and fam- sometimes long relationship with Lloyd Carey-Evans, by this time Lloyd ily life. George. Sylvester considered the George’s only surviving child, The availability of such factually book grossly over-romanticised, and Owen, the third Earl Lloyd- sources made possible an array incomplete and sometimes fac- George of Dwyfor. Both were of exciting new publications. inaccurate. tually inaccurate. He was at once immediately supportive, the earl In 1971 there appeared in print spurred to action in defence of enthusiastically commenting, the diaries of Frances Stevenson, He was at the good name of his ‘old chief’. ‘your material is unique and … edited by A. J. P. Taylor, honor- once spurred He opened up his old notebooks you should make the maximum ary librarian of the Beaverbrook containing the shorthand diary use of it’.6 Library. In 1973 John Grigg to action in material, some of which he had Sylvester laboured away with published, to universal acclaim, not looked at for more than forty the diligence which had charac- his monumental The Young Lloyd defence of years. Some of the contents he terised the whole of his work- George, the first instalment of a had more or less forgotten. Re- ing life, so that a full typescript projected multi-volume biog- the good reading them came as a pleasant transcript of all the diary mate- raphy which was substantially name of his surprise to him. rial was available before the end enriched by access to the cor- In September 1971, Syl- of the following January. It was respondence at ­Aberystwyth. ‘old chief’. vester was approached by Colin a task he found ­compelling: ‘I

Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 31 life with lloyd george have just lived again through I feel that I have a duty to pro- Macmillan were prepared to those periods of time and the vide a more balanced picture pay a royalty advance of £1,500, events. I have found it all deeply for history than that provided a substantial sum in 1972, and interesting; it had been fun and by the Dowager. to pay a royalty rate of 17½ per fascinating. For it SPEAKS.’7 It is fascinating: it is writ- cent (rather than the custom- Further meetings, which both ten at the time from my own ary rate of 12½ per cent) on any men found very rewarding, knowledge: it is dynamic! I have sales in excess of 4,000 copies. took place between Cross and the most amazing evidence. It was then anticipated that the Sylvester at the latter’s home, LG is the genius; with some volume might sell for £4.95, Rudloe Cottage, Corsham, in of his warts, his great and fasci- that a sale of some 2,500 copies Wiltshire. Although both Colin nating personality looms large. to libraries was guaranteed, and Cross and his editorial colleagues My desire is to put Dame that some copies would sell in at The Obser ver Ltd were imme- Margaret and the family in the USA.12 During the winter diately highly impressed by the their rightful place and per- of 1972–73 Colin Cross worked quality of the diary material, the spective. Dame Margaret was at breakneck speed in prepar- problem of its inordinate length LG’s foundation: his ROCK ing the volume for the press and was immediately apparent. The AND HIS REFUGE: she kept drafting the introduction and original typescript text pro- him in public life: she could explanatory notes. duced by Sylvester ran to more have brought him crashing at In December 1972 the Dowa- than a million words, fully capa- any moment; but always she ger Countess Lloyd-George ble of filling more than half a remained loyal to him. It was of Dwyfor died at her Surrey dozen printed volumes! Drastic always ‘to the “old gell” he home. Shortly afterwards A. J. pruning could not be avoided.8 went in the end’. I know: I was Sylvester wrote to Lady Olwen Several important considera- there.10 Carey-Evans confirming that tions had to be borne in mind: the planned publication of his the careful selection and edit- The enterprise was soon to diaries was indeed going ahead: ing of the material, the choice of receive the enthusiastic support the most suitable publisher, the of both A. J. P. Taylor and David It is likely to be dynamic. It financial arrangements, and the Jenkins, the Librarian of the will seek to present another and advance publicity for the book. National Library of Wales. It was a balanced view compared to ‘I am enormously encouraged’, agreed that the royalties from that presented by the Dowager wrote Cross enthusiastically to the sale of the book should be and destroy the image which Sylvester, ‘this book is going to divided on a 70:30 basis between she has endeavoured to build be dynamite in several senses’. Sylvester and Colin Cross. Pub- up for herself in the eyes of the Noting that The Observer was lic interest was stimulated by public. Thus, I hope that Dame anxious to publish gossip column the news that the publication of Margaret and her family will be paragraphs about Sylvester’s life Family Letters, edited by Ken- seen in a very different and in and the significance of the dia- neth Morgan, was now immi- their true light. I am very sorry ries, Cross went on, ‘I think we nent. The Sylvester camp hoped personally that the Dowager need to watch this with care in that the appearance of his diaries has died. I should have been relation to possible reaction from should precede the publication very pleased for her to have the Dowager Countess who of the Morgan volume, but such read what I have to say.13 must realise exactly what cat you ‘I am enor- an aspiration was unrealistic. have to let out of the bag.’9 mously By the high summer of 1972 A few weeks later, in the wake of The Dowager Countess was it was agreed to aim for a vol- the publication of the pioneer- clearly in the forefront of Syl- encouraged’, ume of about 110,000 words, to ing volume Lloyd George: Family vester’s mind, too, at this time be published some time during Letters, he participated, together and central to his calculations: wrote Cross the following year. The book with Kenneth O. Morgan, W. enthusiasti- was to include an introductory R. P. George, and A. J. P. Tay- My approach to the whole general essay of about 10,000 lor, in a St David’s Day broadcast project is: I thought that my cally to Syl- words by Colin Cross on Lloyd on the BBC. This gave him an massive and vital material George, to be followed by some opportunity to underline Dame would be incapable of being vester, ‘this 100,000 words of annotated Margaret’s sterling assets, ‘the published for many years, if extracts from Sylvester’s dia- outstanding qualities of one of indeed at all. Now, however, book is going ries.11 In the following October, the greatest ladies I have ever the chief obstacle to publica- to be dyna- a contract was signed between known’: tion has been removed by the Sylvester and Macmillan pub- fact that the Dowager has pub- mite in sev- lishers (rather than Chatto and I then explained how LG hated lished her own memoirs, and Windus, who had also been sent letters: how difficult [it] was in an edited edition of her diaries. eral senses’. the material for consideration). getting him to deal with them;

32 Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 life with lloyd george

and how surprised I was that in the recently deceased Dowager Interest was host of other riches. These were those days he wrote so many. Countess, born in 1929) all took carefully guarded at Garthce- In recent years I have felt a keen and supportive inter- increased lyn, Criccieth; other writers, concern about the way the late est in the progress of Sylvester’s still further John Grigg among them (much Dowager has behaved towards pioneering volume. The Earl to his intense annoyance), were the family, and particularly offered Cross and Sylvester the by A. J. P. banned from consulting these towards Dame Margaret, in her use of his extensive photograph treasures. (They did not even- books and in her TV appear- albums to illustrate the dia- Taylor’s rev- tually come into the public ances. She has built up an image ries. He had inherited from his domain until 1989 when they of herself which she wishes the uncle Gwilym Lloyd-George, 1st elation that were purchased by the National 18 public to believe: I know that Viscount Tenby, who had died he planned Library of Wales. ) this is wholly untrue. What- in 1967, many albums dating During 1974 the editors ever I do will be to present mainly from the 1930s and cov- to edit and insisted that Life with Lloyd another view, in which I hope ering many of Lloyd George’s George had to be reduced still Dame Margaret will stand out trips to deliver speeches in vari- publish further in length, and Colin as THE one person who, by ous parts of the UK. Some of Cross faced the unenviable task her loyalty and devotion to a these also featured Sylvester.16 the corre- of again editing the text by difficult husband, was ever his By the end of October 1973 the spondence eliminating further passages. A. tower of strength and THE complete text of the diaries was J. Sylvester reluctantly approved one to whom he always went ready to be delivered to the pub- between these eleventh-hour changes, in times of stress and real trou- lishers. The original diaries had painful though they proved. ble. But for her LG would have been pruned substantially in the Lloyd George By December 1974, however, been out on the political flag- rigorous editorial process. ‘It the final page proofs had been stone with his mistress, and is such a pity that such a lot of and Frances corrected and a detailed index the country would have been fascinating material will be left held at the compiled. After a succession poorer, and history changed. out’, wrote Sylvester to Lady of minor hiccups, plans were As for LG himself, with Olwen, ‘and this is just sacri- Beaverbrook finalised to launch the book on all his private entanglements lege, but it cannot be helped.’17 20 May 1975. On 30 March The which would have crushed In fact a great deal of material Library. Observer Magazine published an most men, with amazing audac- had been cut out in the editorial article by Colin Cross on the ity, he handled successfully the process: all repetitive material Sylvester diaries – to whet the most momentous issues, thus was eliminated, general political appetite of the British reading making him an even greater accounts and descriptions of Syl- public, and at the same time to man than ever – an amazing vester’s private life with his fam- mark the thirtieth anniversary achievement. Then, he was a ily were banished from the text of Lloyd George’s death. The genius.14 (with the exception of a handful articles included brief extracts of brief extracts) and trivia, too, from the diaries and ran to five Interest in Lloyd George had was removed from the edited and a half pages in the magazine: been much stimulated by the version. three and a half pages of text and publication of Lloyd George: Interest was increased still two of pictures. The cover of Family Letters and by the knowl- further by A. J. P. Taylor’s rev- the magazine carried the same edge that the publication of John elation that he planned to edit picture as the dust-jacket of the Grigg’s pioneering The Young and publish the correspondence final published volume. By the Lloyd George was now imminent. between Lloyd George and middle of April copies of the When Grigg’s book did indeed Frances held at the Beaverbrook book had arrived at Macmillan’s appear in the summer, Owen, Library as part of the Lloyd warehouse at Basingstoke, and a the third Earl Lloyd-George of George Papers, and by repeated delighted A. J. Sylvester was the Dwyfor, expressed to Sylvester conjecture that Councillor proud owner of six complimen- the view that Grigg had ‘made W. R. P. George of Criccieth tary copies. Further free copies an absolutely first-class begin- was preparing a volume on his were sent to Lady Olwen Carey- ning of what I clearly believe uncle’s early life, to be based on Evans, Owen, the third Earl will be a masterpiece: he was the huge archive of papers which Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, and certainly working on it long he had inherited from his father Jennifer Longford. Just before enough!’.15 (John Grigg had in Dr William George (Lloyd publication extracts from Life fact spent the whole of the 1960s George’s younger brother) who with Lloyd George were also pub- undertaking the research for this had died, aged almost 102, in lished in the Liverpool Daily Post first volume.) January 1967. These included and the Western Mail. As he sent Owen Lloyd-George, Lady a magnificent run of no fewer Lady Olwen her complimen- Olwen Carey-Evans and Jen- than 3,292 letters from Lloyd tary copy of the book, Sylvester nifer Longford (daughter of George to his brother and a wrote as follows:

Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 33 life with lloyd george

When you have read it I should ‘But I have The final product was a children, and that was why she value enormously your candid handsome hard-bound vol- had none. In fact at that date reaction including your criti- always felt, ume running to 351 pages. The she was already the mother of cisms. What is in the book is after many published diary entries were Lloyd George’s daughter. what was written at the time: divided into sixteen chrono- Another example: Frances it is a pen picture of just what years of close logical chapters with occasional Stevenson stated that in 1926 happened: you play an impor- ­explanatory ­sections and foot- Lloyd George’s wife and chil- tant part and will know the observation, notes. The volume also included dren sent him a letter demand- truth of what I have written: fifteen attractive photographs, ing that he should dismiss her it was in events in which I and I will most previously unpublished, from his secretariat; and that he played my part: an impossible never cease a short introduction by Colin replied with ‘a terrible letter’ position, because I was always Cross and a detailed index. The offering a divorce. between so many fires. But I to proclaim, launch party at Macmillan was Mr Sylvester, who handled have always felt, after many a great success. Although her all Lloyd George’s affairs, pub- years of close observation, and that the advancing years prevented Dame lic and private, believes that I will never cease to proclaim, Olwen from attending, both no such correspondence took that the woman who made LG woman who Owen Lloyd-George, the third place. He allows that Lloyd great and preserved his national made LG earl, and Lloyd George’s biog- George may have caused Miss and international image, was rapher John Grigg (formerly Stevenson to think it had.22 Dame Margaret, who was his great and Lord Altrincham) were present. rock and his refuge, and not, as Sylvester delivered a sprightly, It was reported in the press that she claimed, his self-confessed preserved his amusing address and began to Sylvester, who would be eighty- Mistress, with her other and consider the future custody of his six years of age the following secret lover. That story is told national and own extensive archive of papers. November, ‘positively crackled by Colin Cross with delicacy, international The book was certainly much with energy’ as he told his audi- taken from the diaries. The more revealing than Life with ence that Lloyd George was ‘the facts are given: the reader is left image, was Lloyd George back in 1947, but greatest man I have ever known, to judge.19 was not in any sense sensational and I knew them all’. He lav- Dame Marga- or likely to cause offence. ‘Your ished praise on Colin Cross for Lady Olwen was considered by diary is a major historical source’, his work in editing the diaries Sylvester and Colin Cross to be ret, who was wrote John Grigg appreciatively for publication: ’It was like try- ‘by far the best living witness’ following the launch, ‘and I was ing to get thirty-six gallons to the events recorded in the his rock and glad, indeed, to hear that there is of beer into an Imperial pint diaries. Her opinion and reac- his refuge.’ no question of your destroying mug.’23 The press reviews were tion were thus eagerly awaited. what has not been published.’21 generally highly complimen- They also wondered whether At the launch party A. J. Syl- tary and appreciative, particu- they would receive any response vester felt obliged to explain to larly those by John Grigg in the from Muriel Stevenson, Franc- the assembled guests why he had Times Literary Supplement for 30 es’s younger sister (to whom she changed his mind in relation to May 1975 and Lord Boothby in had always been very close), and publication: the previous day. In by 1975 ‘the best witness’ ‘from an admirably judicious review, the other side’. They regretted What fired me to publish was Lady , while rec- that delays on the part of Mac- the publication in 1971 of the ognising that there was ‘much millan meant that the volume diary of Frances Stevenson, … of sheer political interest in had failed to appear during Lloyd George’s mistress and this diary’, rightly emphasised Frances’s lifetime, and feared eventually his second wife. She that the book had impressed her that the British reading pub- and I were good colleagues for because it had ‘less to do with the lic would assume that its pub- more than twenty-five years. archival side of politics than with lication had deliberately been But she entirely changed her the human, the very human, side delayed until after her demise personality when she became of it all.’24 In the Church Times, – which was certainly not the the countess. Her account of Martin Fagg applauded Sylvester case. They also looked askance Lloyd George in her autobiog- who ‘seem[ed] to have got eve- at the eventual publication price raphy and her diaries is incom- rything down. … But he was not of £7.50, which had escalated as plete, over-romanticized, and just a walking tape-recorder. He a result of increased printing in parts incorrect and false. registers times, meals, expres- costs and other overheads, but She wanted to put across sions, dress, mannerisms. His they still remained convinced a sympathetic public image. book is a deep enrichment of that the original print-run of For example, she wrote that the LG archive.’25 Members of 3,000 copies would be sold in those days it was not ‘done’ the Lloyd George family greeted quickly.20 for unmarried women to have with relief what they regarded

34 Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 life with lloyd george as a much-needed corrective to to enjoy a modest income (and personal and sensitive material, the view of Lloyd George pro- much publicity) from its sales. mean that much of importance pounded by Frances in her 1967 An approach was made to Pen- has still been omitted from the memoir, The Years that are Past, guin to consider the publication final published volume. In the and in her 1971 diaries. Both of of a paperback edition, but this full, original diaries Sylvester is these works, they felt, had pre- eventually came to nothing.28 rather crude and frequently crit- sented a sugary, idealised view But sales of the original book ical of Lloyd George, ­especially of the author’s relationship with continued to be buoyant, and by from 1935 onwards. Certainly, Lloyd George and had shied 1978 it was difficult to find a new the dedicated researcher should away from discussing the many copy in a bookshop. still make the journey to the skeletons in the family cupboard, A. J. Sylvester eventually National Library of Wales at not least the affairs in which survived until 1989 – within a Aberystwyth, where the full both actors had engaged. With month of his hundredth birth- typescript texts of the diaries the publication of Sylvester’s day. During the years following are held. It would prove a highly volume, Dame Margaret, they the publication of Life with Lloyd illuminating and rewarding felt convinced, had now been George, Sylvester, encouraged by experience. restored to her rightful place in its reception, became something history. of a national celebrity, appear- Dr J. Graham Jones is Senior Archi- In late June of the same year ing fairly often on television and vist and Head of the Welsh Political A. J. Sylvester was taken on radio programmes, and winning Archive at the National Library of a week’s tour of north Wales an array of prizes and awards as Wales, Aberystwyth by his daughter Maureen and a competitive ballroom dancer, her husband. It was a highly- a new hobby which he had 1 A helpful, brief account of A. J. valued opportunity to renew taken up after 1964, following Sylvester’s life and career is now his links with many mem- his enforced retirement from available in John Grigg’s article in bers of the Lloyd George clan. the bench. It was most unfor- the Oxford Dictionary of National On the return journey Mr tunate that his plan to publish a Biography, Vol. 53 (Oxford, 2004), David Jenkins, Librarian of the full-length autobiography, upon pp. 566–67. See also J. Graham National Library of Wales, sac- which he was actively engaged Jones, ‘Keeper of Secrets’, Journal of rificed his Sunday morning to almost to the end of his excep- Liberal History 44 (Autumn 2004), provide the family group with tionally long life, sadly never pp. 24-29. A much fuller account a tour of the Library: ‘It was a came to fruition. by the same author is available thrilling experience: it was a joy Even today, more than thirty in J. Graham Jones, ‘”Keeper of for me to see just where one day years after its appearance, A. J. Secrets”: Albert James Sylvester my manuscripts will be kept in Sylvester’s Life with Lloyd George CBE (1889–1989)’, National Library safe custody for the benefit, I remains a valuable and unique of Wales Journal Vol. XXXIII, hope, of history. For LG was a source of information for stu- Sylvester’s no. 2 (Winter 2003), pp. 169–99. very, very great man.’26 A few dents of Lloyd George, his life There is also much helpful mate- months later there appeared and times and for those inter- unfailing rial in Colin Cross (ed.), Life with the volume My Darling Pussy, a ested in his family. Sylvester’s Lloyd George: the Diary of A. J. Syl- selection of the letters between unfailing closeness to Lloyd closeness to vester, 1931-45 (Macmillan, 1975), Lloyd George and Frances Ste- George throughout the so- Lloyd George pp. 11–18 (introduction to the venson, again edited by A. J. P. called ‘wilderness years’ of the volume). Taylor. Sylvester, predictably, last phase of his life underlines throughout 2 J. Graham Jones, ‘The Real Lloyd was unimpressed by the book: the importance of the work. In George’, Journal of Liberal History 51 ‘I am surprised that so distin- this respect, his only rival was the so-called (Autumn 2004), pp. 4–12. guished a historian should have Frances Stevenson. Moreover, 3 Kenneth O. Morgan, ‘Lloyd George made so many misstatements by the 1970s he felt more able to ‘wilderness and the historians’, Transactions of the and mistakes; they are vitally speak out than in 1945–46 when years’ of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, important.’ Dame Olwen he wrote The Real Lloyd George Session 1971, part 1 (1972), p. 72. Carey-Evans, too, was, claimed during the period immediately last phase 4 J. Graham Jones, Lloyd George Papers Sylvester, ‘shocked at the publi- following Lloyd George’s death. at the National Library of Wales and cation of these letters from her In Life with Lloyd George its sub- of his life other Repositories (National Library Father, SOLD by Frances Ste- ject, at times at least, comes of Wales, 2001), p. 9. venson and for publication, as through as an increasingly underlines 5 National Library of Wales (here- she says, for filthy lucre. Frances mean, unpleasant and rather the impor- after NLW), A. J. Sylvester Papers, Stevenson betrayed LG.’27 vindictive individual. Even so, file D8, Colin Cross to Sylvester, 15 By October 1975 1,680 cop- the constraints of space imposed tance of the September 1971. ies of Life with Lloyd George had by the publishers, and the neces- 6 Ibid., Owen, third Earl Lloyd- been sold, and Sylvester began sity to leave out some highly work. George of Dwyfor, to Sylvester, 5

Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007 35 life with lloyd george

January 1972. Carey-Evans, 30 November 1973 Ed Randall in essence argued 7 Ibid., Sylvester to Cross, 20 January (copy). that any comparison between 1972 (copy). 18 Jones, Lloyd George Papers, pp. the Yellow Book and the 8 See the introduction to Colin Cross 32–46. Orange Book was not a fair one. (ed.), Life with Lloyd George, pp. 19 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers file The Yellow Book was based on 11–20. C65, Sylvester to Lady Olwen substantial research, and had a 9 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers, file D8, Carey-Evans, 14 May 1975 (copy). single purpose – outlining the Cross to Sylvester, 11 February 1972. 20 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers file means for national ­recovery. 10 Ibid., Sylvester to Lady Olwen D10, Colin Cross to Sylvester, 15 The Orange Book had no Carey-Evans, 16 February 1972 May 1975. money behind it, no shared (copy). See also ibid., Sylvester to 21 Ibid., John Grigg to Sylvester, 22 goal or single theme in its crea- Owen Lloyd-George, 17 February May 1975. tion. Instead Randall suggested 1972 (copy). 22 Cited in Philip Howard’s account in the consideration of a third 11 Ibid., Cross to Sylvester, 17 July , 21 May 1975. book, written in 1995 by Ralf 1972. 23 Daily Telegraph, 21 May 1975. Dahrendorf (Report on Wealth 12 Ibid., Cross to Sylvester, 11 October 24 Antonia Fraser, ‘Wizard bluff’, Creation and Social Cohesion in a 1972. Evening Standard, 3 June 1975. Free Society) which he felt made 13 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers file C56, 25 Martin Fagg, ‘Welsh charmer’, a fairer comparison with the Sylvester to Lady Olwen Carey- Church Times, 13 June 1975. For fur- Yellow Book. Evans, 20 December 1972 (copy). ther reviews, see The Times, 21 May For Randall, the 1928 book 14 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers file 1975; Daily Telegraph, 21 May 1975; reflected on national recovery, C63, Sylvester to Dame Olwen and the , 22 May 1975. was the product of a commis- Carey-Evans, 7 March 1973 (‘Pri- 26 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers file sion, and demonstrated the vate’) (copy). C96, Sylvester to Cledwyn Hughes richness of intellect to be found 15 NLW, A. J. Sylvester Papers file MP, 10 July 1975 (copy). both inside and outside the D12, Owen Lloyd-George to Syl- 27 Ibid., Sylvester to Mrs Sybil Hamil- Liberal Party. The Yellow Book vester, 9 August 1973. ton, Leeds, 31 October 1975 (copy). was a high-water mark in the 16 Ibid. 28 See the correspondence in NLW, A. history of the party. It was writ- 17 Ibid., Sylvester to Lady Olwen J. Sylvester Papers file D13. ten at a time when there was a failure of economic demand, a fundamental flaw in market societies, and it took courage to produce. The Yellow Book was something distinctive that the party could shout about. Randall suggested that this was not true of the Orange Book which was, instead, a product of the need for media attention Reports and was timid in its selection of The Yellow social and economic problems Book was to address, serving as a recla- Yellow Book versus Orange Book: Is it time mation rather than a renewal something of Liberal thought. It looked for a new New Liberalism? back, whereas the Yellow Book distinctive looked forward. Fringe meeting, 20 September 2006, Brighton, with Paul Randall reminded his audi- Marshall and Ed Randall; Chair (Lord) Wallace of Saltaire that the ence of the traditional Liberal theme of balance. As Locke said, Report by Lynsey Groom party could humans were entitled to God’s shout about. bounty and had a responsibility to share it: ‘As much and as good he Yellow Book’ (Brit- do they hold up to compari- Randall sug- should be left for what comes ain’s Industrial Future, son? William Wallace oversaw later’. In present times, Al Gore ‘T1928) and The Orange the lively debate in a packed gested that has argued that we are on a ‘col- Book: Reclaiming Liberalism room in Brighton between Ed lision course with the earth’ and (2004) have both been seen as Randall, Professor of Politics at this was not that ‘civilised human life as we attempts to rethink the Liberal Goldsmiths, University of Lon- true of the know it will become impossible philosophy of their era. Written don, and Paul Marshall, one of if the temperature continues to seventy-five years apart, how the editors of the Orange Book. Orange Book. rise’. In other words, the market

36 Journal of Liberal History 55 Summer 2007