Hyde, H. Montgomery (Harford Montgomery), 1907-1989

Irish lawyer, Lt. Colonel in the British Army Intelligence Corps., professor of history and political science, and writer.

From the description of H. Montgomery Hyde Collection, 1897-1971. (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 122385668

Harford Montgomery Hyde was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1907. His parents were James Johnstone Hyde, a linen merchant, and Isobel G. Montgomery, a distant cousin of Henry James. Hyde attended Sedbergh School at Queen's University, Belfast, Magdalen College, and Oxford where he read history and law. He began his practice of law as a barrister in London and on the North-Eastern Circuit in 1934. He and his wife Dorothy, a member of the World War II Fire Service, were married in April 1939. Later that year, Hyde joined the British Army Intelligence Corps. He became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the service and traveled to many countries including America, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Sweden, and Russia.

Beginning in 1947, Hyde spent two years as the legal advisor for the British Lion Film Corp. He served as a member of Parliament from the Belfast North Division in the House of Commons from 1950-59. He played a prominent role in the fight to abolish the death penalty for murder and became involved in efforts to bring about legal and social reform in the areas of censorship, pornography, and civil rights for homosexuals. Hyde also acted as a United Kingdom delegate for the Council of Europe Consultative Assembly in Strasbourg, France, from 1952-55. From 1959 to 1961 he was a professor of history and political science at Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan.

The Rise of Castlereagh,Hyde's first published work, appeared in 1933. He published more than 40 books on various topics, including several volumes in the Notable Trial Series. As a scholar of trends in criminal law and social history, he focused particularly on pornography and scandal and wrote numerous works on Oscar Wilde, Alfred Douglas, Henry James, Roger Casement, and Judge Jefferys. Some of his titles include: Air Defense and the Civil Population (1937), Mexican Empire (1946), Privacy and the Press (1947), The Trial of Oscar Wilde (1948), The Trial of Craig and Bentley (1954), Trial of Sir Roger Casement (1960), Oscar Wilde: The Aftermath (1963), A History of Pornography (1964), Henry James at Home (1969), The Love that Dared Not Speak Its Name (1970), Oscar Wilde: A Biography (1975), Crime Has Its Heros (1976), The Annotated Oscar Wilde (1982), and Secret Intelligence Agent (1982), an autobiographical account of Hyde's activities during World War II. Hyde died in the summer of 1989, just after completing the introduction to his final work, The Lady Chatterley's Lover Trial, published in 1990.

From the guide to the H. Montgomery Hyde Collection TXRC95-A4., 1907-1989, (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin)