§ 2.37 p.m.
THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE EARL OF HOME)My Lords, your Lordships will be grievously shocked and distressed to learn that on Sunday our companion and our guide, Charles Hendriks, died. We in this House, for obvious and very good reasons, exercise a self-discipline in respect of the public tributes which we pay; but he had created for himself such a very special position in the trust and service of your Lordships that I did not think we could allow the even flow of our business to continue without expressing our deep regret and our gratitude to one who gave so much in our service.
For thirty years he was Private Secretary to Leaders of your Lordships' House. But, of course, he was much more than that. With his wide education in the humanities, with his fund of sympathy and understanding of the frailties of human nature, with his vitality and with his knowledge and love of Parliament, and, in particular, his loyalty to the House of Lords, he was a close friend and a wise counsellor to all noble Lords who came to him. It is a consolation to us, and I hope it will be a consolation to his widow, that he was supremely happy in this work, and he died as he would have wished, in the full possession of his powers and in harness. It is, my Lords, from the fullness of our hearts that we send to Lady Hendriks our understanding and our deepest sympathy.
§ 2.39 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, I am sure that all of us of your Lordships' House will welcome the initiative of the noble Earl the Leader of the House in this instance in paying public reference to a great and devoted public servant. We have different lengths of service in the House; noble friends of mine such as Lord Stansgate or Lord Pethick-Lawrence have a much longer experience than mine. But for ten years, at any rate, both on the Government side of the House and for many years since in Opposition, I have had to be in constant touch with the work of the late Sir Charles Hendriks. He was, as the noble Earl the Leader of the House truly says, so wrapped up in his loyalty and affection for this Chamber of our Parliaments in this country that he was never really happy except when he was working hard at some task connected with it.
He certainly was a great friend to every Leader of your Lordships' House, and he was at least sympathetic to us, if he could not on every occasion be quite as friendly on points of political detail to be arranged for the Business of the. House, when we were in Opposition. Nevertheless, he proved himself at all times to be a true friend to all who had difficulties in making arrangements and in trying to get round awkward corners. In fact, it was only last week that he was trying to do that with some other Members of your Lordships' House and myself with regard to debates to-day and on very near days. We are grateful for the memory of his great and devoted services to this House, and we join very sincerely in the wishes that the noble Earl has expressed, I feel sure on behalf of us all, to his widow.
§ 2.41 p.m.
LORD REAMy Lords, the noble Viscount who leads the Opposition has really said the words I had planned to say to your Lordships myself. We are grateful to the noble Earl the Leader of the House for taking this unusual step and, with his instinct, sensing the feeling of the House. We should like to break away a little from Standing Orders or even tradition to have the opportunity of paying a particular tribute to one who held such a particular position in your Lordships' House. As neither a 785 Member nor an official, he had a unique position, which he had made for himself, and I would say that it is not only many of your Lordships but many hundreds of your Lordships who went to him with the absolute conviction that he would give you kindly advice whenever he could.
I think that one of the most endearing things about Charles Hendriks was that when on occasion he had to give a view causing a little frustration or disappointment, he was sincerely distressed and did his best to rectify the matter as soon as he could. He was a man of warm heart whom we shall very much miss. Referring to Lady Hendriks, I hope it will be a little consolation to her, as the noble Earl said, that he died as he would have liked to, quickly, painlessly and in harness, and in being of great value until the day of his death both to this House and to its Members.
§ 2.43 p.m.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, there is little I can add to what has been so well said by the noble Earl the Leader of the House and the Leaders of the other Parties who have also spoken about Sir Charles Hendriks; but he was to me so close a friend and so wise a counsellor, over so many years, that I could not let this occasion go by without one word of affection and gratitude. It is now nearly twenty years since I first came to know him and to understand his rare qualities. When first it fell to my lot to lead your Lordships' House I was fairly young and very inexperienced as to your Lordships' ways, and I learned to lean very much on his judgment as to what could be done and what could not be done: and he never, so far as I know, led me wrong: for he knew this House and every active Member of it as well as they could be known.
My experience, I am sure, has been shared by everyone else in this House. He was always at hand to guide and counsel us in our problems. No trouble was too great for him, no praise was more unstinted for our successes, no sympathy more wholehearted for our failures. And to-day, when he is suddenly taken from us, we all feel, I am sure, quite lost without that eager figure to turn to. He was, my Lords, the kindest of men. That, I believe, was 786 the secret of the position that he occupied in all our hearts. That is why we shall all miss him so much. For him, I am sure, as the noble Lord, Lord Rea, rightly said, the moment of his departure was well chosen by fate. For inevitably, soon—quite soon—the moment of his retirement would have come, and I do not believe he could have borne that. But I am certain that to all of us who came, in the passage of time, to know him and to love him, his death will have come with a sense of deep, personal grief; and I should like, if I may, to join with the noble Earl the Leader of the House, and with the Leaders of the other Parties, in sending our heartfelt sympathy to Lady Hendriks in this sudden, irreparable loss that she, like we all have, has sustained.
LORD SALTOUNMy Lords, I see one or two, but not many, Back-Benchers who have been in your Lordships' House longer than I have, and I should like to say that from the first moment of my activity in your Lordships' House Sir Charles Hendriks was one of the best and wisest counsellors a young Peer could possibly ask for. His counsel was always given as the counsel of a co-operator, one who wanted to help you to do what you wanted. I cannot help feeling that those noble Lords who come to our House in the future will be very fortunate if they find a friend half so sympathetic and half so wise and useful as the late Sir Charles Hendriks. I hope that her Ladyship will realise that everyone in your Lordships' House echoes the words of our Leader and deeply sympathises with her in her sudden, severe loss.
§ THE EARL OF LUCANMy Lords, I think I can claim to have known Sir Charles Hendriks over a greater span of years than anybody in this House, because it was some 52 or 53 years ago that Charles Hendriks was an assistant master at the school to which I went. I can only say that his qualities then and to the last were always the same: he was friendly, cheerful and, above all, helpful.
§ BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGERMy Lords, so much has been said by those who have a long history in this House that I should like a word to be added on behalf of the newcomers. I myself was quite unaware of this tragedy until I happened to open my 787 newspaper in the train; and I should like on behalf of the newest brand of Lords to say how deeply we feel this loss. Nobody could have eased our passage into this, to us, rather strange environment with greater kindness, greater tact, greater humour and greater sympathy than Sir Charles. It seldom happens to us, I think, relatively late in life to make new friends who make so deep and warm an impact so quickly as did Sir Charles. I, for one, was very proud and happy that I was introduced into this House at a time when I could have the benefit of the advice and support of one so kind and helpful.