Given the discrimination at the time and all that, would it be totally unrealistic to believe some non-white person could have been elevated to a viscountcy in the 20s-40s? Is it too far fetched for historical fiction? I have read about Lord Sinha http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendra_Prasanno_Sinha,_1st_Baron_Sinha but I'd like some of the opinions of the historians around here. Lord Sinha was only a step below viscount. My character is supposed to be of Chinese origin born/educated in Britain so I was wondering if race would make it impossible for him to become a viscount or parliamentary undersecretary of state or something at the time. Would it be impossible for him to live the "Downton Abbey life?"
It'd be very unlikely, especially given the very small non-white population of Great Britain during that time period. Several non-whites were given knighthoods during the period your'e interested in. Robert Hotung, for example, was knighted in 1915.
Some minorities members enjoyed political careers in Britain Dadabhai Naoroji was the first non-white MP, elected in 1892, although he remained a back-bencher during his short time in Westminster.
It might have been possible for your character to become a peer if he was extraordinarily well-connected, charming, and wealthy. But even then it'd be unlikely.