'Squiffy' Asquith

Across the Square is an imagined conversation by two extraordinary women Lady Ottoline Morrell and Millicent Fawcett. Each in their own way had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances whose names will be familiar to our audiences.

H. H. Asquith

One of those names is Herbert Henry Asquith a politician who was Britain’s Prime Minister from 1908 until 1916. He is probably best remembered for his rôle in reducing the power of the House of Lords. The Parliament Act 1911 ensured that any bill which was passed by the House of Commons on three consecutive occasions would be enacted into law regardless of opposition by the House of Lords.

He was less successful in trying to resolve the issue of Irish Home Rule.

Married twice, Asquith also developed a passion for Venetia Stanley, a woman thirty five years his junior with whom he had a lengthy correspondence. This relationship is the focus of Robert Harris’ recent novel Precipice. 

For our two women the very name of Asquith evokes intense reactions but for very different reasons…

It is this same Asquith who buys 44 Bedford Square when Lady Ottoline Morrell is compelled to sell her beloved home in 1920.