# Patrick Mayhew > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Patrick_Mayhew > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Patrick_Mayhew.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Mayhew > Source revision: 1347301595 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden**, (11 September 1929 – 25 June 2016) was a British [barrister](/source/Barrister) and politician. ## Early life Mayhew was born in [Cookham](/source/Cookham), Berkshire, on 11 September 1929.[1] His father, George Mayhew, was a decorated army officer turned oil executive; his mother, Sheila Roche, descended from members of the Anglo-Irish Protestant ascendancy, was a relative of [James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy](/source/James_Roche,_3rd_Baron_Fermoy), an [Irish National Federation](/source/Irish_National_Federation) MP for [Kerry East](/source/East_Kerry_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). Through his father, Mayhew was descended from the Victorian social commentator [Henry Mayhew](/source/Henry_Mayhew). He was educated at [Tonbridge School](/source/Tonbridge_School), an all boys [public school](/source/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)) in [Tonbridge](/source/Tonbridge), Kent.[2][3] He then served as an officer in the [4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards](/source/4th/7th_Royal_Dragoon_Guards), studied law at [Balliol College, Oxford](/source/Balliol_College,_Oxford), and was president of the [Oxford University Conservative Association](/source/Oxford_University_Conservative_Association) and of the [Oxford Union](/source/Oxford_Union).[4] He was [called to the Bar](/source/Called_to_the_Bar) by the [Middle Temple](/source/Middle_Temple) in 1955.[3] ## Political career Mayhew contested [Dulwich](/source/Dulwich_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in [1970](/source/1970_United_Kingdom_general_election),[3] but the incumbent [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) member, [Sam Silkin](/source/Samuel_Silkin,_Baron_Silkin_of_Dulwich), beat him by 895 votes.[citation needed] He was [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) for the [Tunbridge Wells constituency](/source/Tunbridge_Wells_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) from its creation at the [February 1974 general election](/source/February_1974_United_Kingdom_general_election), standing down at the [1997 election](/source/1997_United_Kingdom_general_election).[5] He was Under Secretary of Employment from 1979 to 1981, then Minister of State at the [Home Office](/source/Home_Office) from 1981 to 1983.[citation needed] After this, he served as [Solicitor General for England and Wales](/source/Solicitor_General_for_England_and_Wales) from 1983 to 1987,[6] and then [Attorney General for England and Wales](/source/Attorney_General_for_England_and_Wales)[7] and simultaneously [Attorney General for Northern Ireland](/source/Attorney_General_for_Northern_Ireland)[8] from 1987 to 1992. He was [Secretary of State for Northern Ireland](/source/Secretary_of_State_for_Northern_Ireland) from 1992 to 1997.[1] He was one of only five Ministers ([Tony Newton](/source/Tony_Newton,_Baron_Newton_of_Braintree), [Kenneth Clarke](/source/Kenneth_Clarke), [Malcolm Rifkind](/source/Malcolm_Rifkind) and [Lynda Chalker](/source/Lynda_Chalker) are the others) to serve throughout the whole 18 years of the [Governments of Margaret Thatcher](/source/Premiership_of_Margaret_Thatcher) and [John Major](/source/Major_ministry_(disambiguation)).[citation needed] This represents the longest uninterrupted Ministerial service in Britain since [Lord Palmerston](/source/Henry_John_Temple,_3rd_Viscount_Palmerston) in the early 19th century.[citation needed] ## Honours and awards Mayhew was [knighted](/source/Knight_Bachelor) in 1983.[6] On 12 June 1997, he was given a [life peerage](/source/Life_peerage) as **Baron Mayhew of Twysden**, of [Kilndown](/source/Kilndown) in the [County of Kent](/source/County_of_Kent).[9] He retired from the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords) on 1 June 2015.[10] ## Personal life In 1963, Mayhew married the Rev. Jean Gurney, and they had four sons.[4] His son [Jerome Mayhew](/source/Jerome_Mayhew) is the Conservative MP for the constituency of [Broadland and Fakenham](/source/Broadland_and_Fakenham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) (previously Broadland) in Norfolk since the [2019 general election](/source/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election). Mayhew, a devout Anglican, was a [churchwarden](/source/Churchwarden) at [Christ Church, Kilndown](/source/Christ_Church,_Kilndown).[1] Mayhew suffered from cancer and [Parkinson's disease](/source/Parkinson's_disease) in his later years.[11] He died from cancer at his home on 25 June 2016, aged 86.[1][11] ## Arms ## References 1. Shiels, David C. (2020). "Mayhew, Patrick Barnabas Burke, Baron Mayhew of Twysden (1929–2016), politician". [doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.111353](https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.111353) 1. (Bates 2016) 1. Maume, Patrick (September 2023). ["Mayhew, Patrick Barnabas Burke"](https://www.dib.ie/biography/mayhew-patrick-barnabas-burke-a10318). *Dictionary of Irish Biography* 1. ["Profile: The grandee with the smoking gun: Sir Patrick Mayhew MP, attorney-in-question"](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-the-grandee-with-the-smoking-gun-sir-patrick-mayhew-mp-attorney-in-question-2316609.html). *The Independent*. ESI Media. 29 May 1993. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-the-grandee-with-the-smoking-gun-sir-patrick-mayhew-mp-attorney-in-question-2316609.html) 25 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 April 2020. 1. ["Sir Patrick Mayhew (Hansard)"](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/sir-patrick-mayhew/index.html). *api.parliament.uk*. Retrieved 2020-11-27. 1. No. 49397. 24 June 1983. p. 8380. 1. ["No. 50971"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50971/page/7931). *The London Gazette*. 22 June 1987. 1. ["Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973"](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/36/section/10/1991-02-01) 1. No. 54809. 17 June 1997. p. 7011. 1. ["Lord Mayhew of Twysden"](https://members.parliament.uk/member/914/career). UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2020. 1. ["Former NI Secretary Lord Mayhew dies, aged 86"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36631449). BBC News. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016. ## External links - ["Lawyer and huntsman who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland"](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/lawyer-and-huntsman-who-helped-broker-peace-in-northern-ireland-34833503.html). *Belfast Telegraph*. Independent News & Media. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2020. - ["Lord Mayhew of Twysden – obituary"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/0/lord-mayhew-of-twysden--obituary/). *The Telegraph*. Telegraph Media Group. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2020. - Bates, Stephen (26 June 2016). ["Lord Mayhew of Twysden obituary"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/26/lord-mayhew-of-twysden-obituary). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 7 April 2020. - ["Patrick Mayhew: Northern Ireland secretary at a critical time in peace process"](http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/patrick-mayhew-northern-ireland-secretary-at-a-critical-time-in-peace-process-1.2707350). *The Irish Times*. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2020. - ["Lord Mayhew of Twysden"](https://www.thetimes.com/article/lord-mayhew-of-twysden-df9lhfkd2). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. Times Newspapers. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2020. - ["Patrick Mayhew's funeral service"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170304193045/http://www.gkchurch.org.uk/?c=patrick-mayhews-funeral-service-433). GK Church Goudhurst & Kilndown. Archived from [the original](http://www.gkchurch.org.uk/?c=patrick-mayhews-funeral-service-433) on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017. |- |- |- |- --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Patrick Mayhew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Mayhew) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Mayhew?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.