Editing Anthony Berry

{{Short description|British Conservative politician (1925–1984)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sir Anthony Berry
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| image = Sir-Anthony-George-Berry.jpg
| caption = 1978 portrait
| office = [[Chief Whip of the Conservative Party|Deputy Chief Whip]]<br>[[Treasurer of the Household]]
| term_start = 17 February 1983
| term_end = 11 June 1983
| primeminister = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| predecessor = [[John Stradling Thomas]]
| successor = [[John Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley|John Cope]]
| office1 = [[Comptroller of the Household]]
| term_start1 = 30 September 1981
| term_end1 = 17 February 1983
| primeminister1 = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| predecessor1 = [[Spencer Le Marchant]]
| successor1 = Carol Mather
| office2 = [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]]
| term_start2 = 5 May 1979
| term_end2 = 30 September 1981
| primeminister2 = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| predecessor2 = [[Donald Coleman]]
| successor2 = [[Carol Mather]]
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br> for [[Enfield Southgate]]<br>{{nobold|[[Southgate (UK Parliament constituency)|Southgate]] (1964–1983)}}
| term_start3 = 15 October 1964
| term_end3 = 12 October 1984
| predecessor3 = [[Beverley Baxter|Sir Beverley Baxter]]
| successor3 = [[Michael Portillo]]
| birth_name = Anthony George Berry
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|2|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Eton, Berkshire|Eton]], [[Buckinghamshire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|10|12|1925|2|12|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Brighton]], [[East Sussex]], England
| death_cause = [[Brighton hotel bombing|Bombing]]
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Mary Burke Roche|1954|1966|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Sarah Clifford-Turner|1966}}
}}
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| father = [[Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley|Gomer Berry]]
| children = 6, including [[Jo Berry|Jo]] (by Roche)
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| profession = 
| signature = 
}}

'''Sir Anthony George Berry''' (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984)<ref name=autogenerated1>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/hon-anthony-berry/index.html Hon. Anthony Berry (Hansard)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician. He served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Enfield Southgate]] and a [[Whip (politics)|whip]] in [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s government.

Berry served as an MP for twenty years and was still in office when killed in the [[Brighton hotel bombing]] of 1984 by the [[Provisional IRA]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Eton, Berkshire|Eton]], [[Buckinghamshire]], Berry was the sixth and youngest son of the newspaper magnate [[Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley]], and his wife Mary Holmes. He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]], graduating MA, and served as a Lieutenant in the [[Welsh Guards]] from 1943 to 1947.<ref name=WWW>"Berry, Hon. Sir Anthony George", ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who Was Who]]'', online edition published 1 December 2007, accessed 12 October 2024 {{subscription}}</ref>

==Career==
After resigning his commission in the Guards, Berry went into journalism. He was an Assistant Editor of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' from 1952 to 1954, when he was appointed as Editor of the ''[[Sunday Chronicle]]''.<ref name=WWW/>

In 1962, Berry was appointed as [[High Sheriff of Glamorgan]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=42623|page=2145 |supp=y|date=16 March 1962}}</ref>

Standing as a Conservative, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Southgate (later Enfield Southgate) at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]],<ref name=autogenerated1 /> and served in [[First Thatcher ministry|Margaret Thatcher's government]] after the Conservatives won the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]]. He was [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] between 1979 and 1981, then as [[Comptroller of the Household]] from 1981 to 1983, and was appointed [[Treasurer of the Household]] in 1983. He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in December 1983.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=49575|page=16802|date=20 December 1983}}</ref><ref name=anniversary>{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/whereilive/northwest/enfield/4677815.Brighton_bombing__25th_anniversary_of_Sir_Anthony_Berry_s_death_remembered/ |title=Brighton bombing: 25th anniversary of Sir Anthony Berry's death remembered |website=Thisislocallondon.co.uk |first=Hannah |last=Crown |date=12 October 2009 |access-date=14 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604035719/http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/whereilive/northwest/enfield/4677815.Brighton_bombing__25th_anniversary_of_Sir_Anthony_Berry_s_death_remembered/ |archive-date=4 June 2011 }}</ref>

==Death==
On 12 October 1984, Berry was murdered in the [[Brighton hotel bombing]], when a bomb was planted in the [[Grand Brighton Hotel]] during the [[Conservative Party Conference]]. He was 59.<ref name=film/> He was survived by his wife, Lady Berry, who was injured in the blast.<ref name=anniversary/> His death occurred three days before the 20th anniversary of his first election to Parliament in 1964.

Berry's death in office triggered a [[1984 Enfield Southgate by-election|by-election in Enfield Southgate]], which was won by future Cabinet minister [[Michael Portillo]].

In September 1986, [[Patrick Magee (Irish republican)|Patrick Magee]], who carried out the bombing, received eight life sentences, but was released from prison in 1999 under the terms of the [[Good Friday Agreement]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/301223.stm |title=Patrick Magee: The IRA Brighton bomber |work=BBC News |date=22 June 1999 |access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/375092.stm |title=Outrage as Brighton bomber freed |work=BBC News |date=22 June 1999 |access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

Since Magee's release, Berry's daughter, [[Jo Berry]], has received attention for her series of controversial meetings with the Brighton bomber, as part of her quest to come to terms with the bombing and, in her own words, "to bring something positive out of it". Some of their discussions were filmed for an ''Everyman'' programme, shown on [[BBC Two]] in December 2001. She has received some criticism from other families of IRA victims for these meetings.<ref name=film>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1704600.stm |title=Brighton bomb: Filming forgiveness |work=BBC News |date=13 December 2001 |access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1706358.stm |title=Looking the Brighton bomber in the eye |work=BBC News |date=13 December 2001 |access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

A ceremony was held in Berry's Enfield Southgate constituency on 12 October 2009, the 25th anniversary of the bombing, at which his widow (wife of [[Lord Donoughue]]) and her daughter Sasha unveiled a plaque in his honour at the newly renamed Sir Anthony Berry House in Chaseville Parade, [[Winchmore Hill]].<ref name=anniversary/>

==Personal life==
In 1954, at [[Westminster]], Berry married firstly Mary Cynthia Roche (1934–2023), a daughter of [[Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy]].<ref name=WWW/> Mary's sister, [[Frances Shand Kydd]], married [[John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer]], and so Berry was an uncle of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]].<ref>Tom Corby, [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jun/04/guardianobituaries.monarchy "Frances Shand Kydd"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 4 June 2004</ref>

Berry and his wife Mary had four children: Alexandra Mary (born 1955), Antonia Ruth and [[Jo Berry|Joanna Cynthia (Jo)]] (twins, born 1957), and Edward Anthony Morys (born 1960). They divorced in 1966.<ref name=WWW/>

He then married Sarah Clifford-Turner at [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] in 1966 and had two more children: George (born 1967), and Sasha Jane (born 1969).<ref name=WWW/>

Shortly before his death, Berry was being prosecuted for drink-driving and reckless driving after he allegedly drove at two police officers who were attempting to stop his vehicle, injuring one of them. He narrowly missed two pedestrians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Conviction politics » 29 Sep 1984 » The Spectator Archive |url=http://spprd.insec.netcopy.thompsonjames.co.uk/article/29th-september-1984/7/conviction-politics |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=The Spectator Archive}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef
  | before = [[Beverley Baxter|Sir Beverley Baxter]]}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Enfield Southgate (UK Parliament constituency)|Southgate]]
  | years  = [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964]]–[[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]}}
{{s-non
  | reason = Constituency renamed
}}
{{s-new
  | constituency}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Enfield Southgate]]
  | years  = [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]–[[1984 Enfield Southgate by-election|1984]]}}
{{s-aft
  | after  = [[Michael Portillo]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] | before=[[Donald Coleman]] | years=1979–1981 | after=[[Carol Mather]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Comptroller of the Household]] | before=[[Spencer Le Marchant]] | years=1981–1983 | after=[[Carol Mather]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Treasurer of the Household]] | before=[[John Stradling Thomas]] | years=1983 | after=[[John Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley|John Cope]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Stradling Thomas]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chief Whip of the Conservative Party|Conservative Deputy Chief Whip]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]|years=1983}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley|John Cope]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{PIRA}}
{{Murders in the United Kingdom in the 1980s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Anthony}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:1984 murders in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Assassinated English politicians]]
[[Category:English terrorism victims]]
[[Category:Younger sons of viscounts]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Glamorgan]]
[[Category:Deaths by improvised explosive device in England]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:People from Eton, Berkshire]]
[[Category:People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army]]
[[Category:People murdered in England]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association]]
[[Category:Terrorism deaths in England]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1964–1966]]
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[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:Treasurers of the Household]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Berry family|Anthony Berry]]
[[Category:Assassinated British MPs]]
[[Category:English murder victims]]
[[Category:European politicians assassinated in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Assassinated national legislators]]
[[Category:Politicians assassinated in 1984]]
[[Category:Deaths by explosive device]]