1403 Sigismund Mendl

Constituency : Plymouth  1898-1900

Sigismund  won  the  by-election at  Plymouth  following  the  death  of  Charles  Harrison.

Sigismund  was  the  son  of  a  successful  grain  merchant . He  was  Jewish ( although  the  Chief  Rabbi  urged  his  Jewish  constituents  to  vote  against  him ).. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister. He  contested  the  Isle  of  Wight  in  1892  and  came  fourth  at  Plymouth in  1895 . He  was  a  Freemason.

Sigismund  came  third  in  1900. He  abandoned  politics  for  a  career  in  City  finance.  He  had  two  terms  as  President  of  the  London  Corn  Trade  Association. He  became  the  first  chairman  of  Decca  Records. He  was  knighted  in  1918.

He  died  in  1945  aged  79.