Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Beach, Michael Edward Hicks
BEACH, The Right Hon. Sir Michael Edward Hicks, Bart., M.P., eldest son of the late Sir Michael Hicks Hicks-Beach, of Williamstrip Park, Gloucestershire, the eighth baronet, by his wife Harriet Vittoria, daughter of John Stratton, Esq., of Farthinghoe Lodge, Northamptonshire, was born in Portugal Street, London, in 1837. From Eton he was sent to Christ Church, Oxford (B.A. 1858; M.A. 1861), and in July 1864 he was elected M.P. for East Gloucestershire, which constituency he still represents in the Conservative interest. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board from Feb. till Dec. 1868, with the exception of a few weeks, during which he was Under-Secretary for the Home Department; and he served as a member of the Royal Commission on Friendly Societies. When the Conservatives again came into office in Feb. 1874, Sir M. H. Beach was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland. On taking that office he was sworn on the Privy Council, and in 1877 he was admitted to a seat in the Cabinet. In Feb. 1878 he was nominated Secretary of State for the Colonies, in the place of Lord Carnarvon, who had resigned in consequence of a difference with his colleagues on the Eastern Question. He went out of office with his party in April, 1880. Sir Michael is a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for Gloucestershire, and was for fourteen years Captain in the Royal North Gloucestershire Militia.