Christopher Addison

Christopher Addison was born to a farming family from Hogsthorpe in Lincolnshire. He attended Trinity College, Harrogate, and studied medicine at Sheffield and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, qualifying in 1892. He specialised in anatomy, but returned to Sheffield to teach, and in 1897 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy in the University College of Sheffield. In 1901 he left Sheffield to become a lecturer in Anatomy at Charing Cross Hospital, London.

During these years Addison, now remembered for his political achievements, carried out a large amount of research, published several works on anatomy, and delivered the Hunterian Lectures. However, Addison wanted to improve the conditions of the poor, and in 1907 entered politics as a the Liberal Candidate for Hoxton, in East London. He entered the House of Commons in 1910, and from 1911 served Lloyd George loyally, as a Minister of Munitions and Minister of Reconstruction. From early 1919 he set about laying the foundations for the establishment of the Ministry of Health, and in June 1919 he became the first Minister of Health.

For more information about Christopher Addison's political work and later years, we recommend the internet site: Catalogue of the papers of Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison (1869-1951).
Compiled by: Hannah Lowery 1999.
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/addison/addison000.html

• With the Abyssinians in Somaliland.
  With Major J. Willes Jennings. London, 1905.
• The Betrayal of the Slums. London, 1922.
• Politics from within: 1911-18, including some records of a great national effort. London, 1924.
• Practical Socialism. London, 1926.
• Why food is dear. 1925.
• Practical socialism. London, 1926.
• Religion and politics: the social service lecture.
  London, 1931.
• Four and a half years: a personal diary from June 1914 to January 1919. London, 1934.
• Labour’s policy for our countryside. 1937.
• A policy for British Agriculture. London, 1939.
• How the Labour Party has saved agriculture. 1951.
• R.J. Minney:
  Viscount Addison: Leader of the Lords. London, 1958.
• Kenneth and Jane Morgan:
  Portrait of a progressive: the political career of Christopher, Viscount Addison. Oxford, 1980.