Heritage Strategy - Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Chapter 2: Knowing our <strong>Heritage</strong>
stockton’s heroes
There are many people associated with <strong>Stockton</strong>, either because they were born in the area, or because the actions or
events for which they are known took place here. Some individuals are household names, others are known only to people
with a specialist interest. The significance of an individual and their historic contribution, and the relevance of that
contribution to <strong>Stockton</strong>’s heritage, is subjective.
<strong>Stockton</strong> Borough Council recently established a Commemoration Working Group, made up of Elected Members, to
consider these issues in response to any nominations to the ‘<strong>Stockton</strong> Hall of Fame’. The following figures are those that, at
the time of producing this <strong>Strategy</strong>, have been nominated and accepted by that committee.
As covered elsewhere in this <strong>Strategy</strong> the online Hall of Fame is intended to continue to grow and anyone wishing to
nominate people for consideration is free to do so. To find out more visit www.stockton.gov.uk or e-mail
halloffame@stockton.gov.uk
harold Macmillan
1894 - 1986
Harold MacMillan, 1st Earl of <strong>Stockton</strong>, OM, PC was a British
Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963.
Nicknamed 'Supermac', in his premiership he advocated a
mixed economy, championed the use of public investment
to create expansion, and presided over an age of affluence
marked by high growth and low unemployment. When
asked what represented the greatest challenge for a
statesman, Macmillan famously replied: "Events, my dear
boy, events".
Harold Macmillan was born in Chelsea, London, and was
educated at Eton and Oxford, although he only completed
two years before the outbreak of the First World War.
Macmillan served with distinction as a captain in the
Grenadier Guards during the war and was wounded on
three occasions.
After the war he joined Macmillan Publishers as a junior
partner in 1920.
Macmillan married Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of
Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire on 21 April 1920.
Elected to the House of Commons in 1924 for <strong>Stockton</strong>on-Tees,
Macmillan lost his seat in 1929, only to return in
1931. He spent the 1930s on the backbenches,
In the Second World War he at last attained office in the
wartime coalition government.
With the Conservative victory in 1951 he became Minister
of Housing under Winston Churchill. He later served as
Minister of Defence, Foreign Secretary, and Chancellor of
the Exchequer before becoming Prime Minister and leader
of the Conservative Party after Anthony Eden's resignation
in January
1957,
In 1963 he
was taken ill
on the eve
of the
Conservative
Party
conference,
diagnosed
incorrectly
with
inoperable
prostate
cancer.
Consequently, he resigned on 18 October 1963.
Macmillan initially refused a peerage and retired from
politics in September 1964. He did, however, accept the
distinction of the Order of Merit from the Queen. After
retiring, he took up the chairmanship of his family's
publishing house, Macmillan Publishers.
In 1984 he finally accepted a peerage and was created
Earl of <strong>Stockton</strong> and Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden. In
the last month of his life, he observed:
"Sixty-three years ago ... the unemployment figure (in
<strong>Stockton</strong>-on-Tees) was then 29%. Last November ... the
unemployment (there) is 28%. A rather sad end to one's
life."
Macmillan died at Birch Grove, West Sussex, on 29
December 1986, aged 92 years.
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