Baron Godfrey Rathbone Benson Charnwood

Born in Hampshire in 1864, Baron Charnwood—born Godfrey Rathbone Benson—was an English author, academic, Liberal politician, and philanthropist. He was educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford, and was raised to the peerage in 1911 as Baron Charnwood.

He is remembered above all for his book Abraham Lincoln (1916), a biography that helped introduce many readers to Lincoln through a calm, balanced, and deeply humane portrait. He also wrote a life of Theodore Roosevelt, showing the same interest in political character and leadership.

Charnwood's career was not limited to books. He was active in public life and charitable work, and that wider experience seems to have shaped the generous, practical tone of his writing. He died in 1945.