HOUGHTON, RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES, 1ST BARON (1809-1885), English poet and man of letters, son of Robert Pemberton Milnes, of Fryston Hall, Yorkshire, and the Hon. Henrietta Monckton, daughter of the fourth Lord Galway, was born in London and educated privately and at Trinity college, Cambridge. There he became a member of the famous "Apostles" Club, which then included Tennyson, Hallam, Trench and others. After taking his degree, Milnes travelled in Germany, Italy and Greece. He returned to London in 1837 and was in that year elected M.P. for Pontefract. In the House of Commons he interested himself particularly in the question of copyright and the conditions of reformatory schools. He left Peel's party over the Corn Law controversy, and joined Palmerston, at whose in stance he was made a peer in 1863. His chief title to remembrance rests on the part he played in moulding public opinion on literary matters and on the assistance he gave to many young writers. He secured a pension for Tennyson, helped to make Emerson known in Great Britain, and was one of the earliest champions of Swin burne. He helped David Gray (q.v.) and wrote a preface for The Luggie. Milnes married in 1851 the Hon. Annabel Crewe (d. 1874). He died at Vichy on Aug. i 1, 1885. His son, the sec ond Baron Houghton, was created earl of Crewe (q.v.) in See Sir T. Wemyss Reid, The Life, Letters and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes, first Lord Houghton (189o). HOUGHTON, WILLIAM STANLEY (1881-1913), Eng lish playwright, was born at Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire, on Feb. 22, 1881, and was educated privately and at the Manchester grammar school. He became a cotton-broker, employing his leisure in dramatic criticism for the Manchester Guardian, and in writing plays. The Dear Departed was played in Manchester on Nov. 2, 1908, and afterwards in London. In 1912, with the success of Hindle Wakes, which had a long run in London, he left his business career and went to London, settling in Paris in the following year. His other plays include The Younger Gener ation (1910), The Master of the House (1910), Trust the People (1911), Fancy-Free (1911). Houghton's early death in Man chester on Dec. II, 1913 cut short a career of much promise. His Works were edited by H. Brighouse in 1914.