1512 Sir John Dickson-Poynder

Constituency : Chippenham 1892-1905  ( Conservative )  1905-10

Sir  John  was  the  last  of  the  Conservative  defectors  in  the  1900-06  Parliament. He  had  repudiated  the  Cobnservative  whip  in  1903  but  didn't  join  the  Liberals  until  July  1905.

John  was  the  son  of  a  rear  admiral. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford. He  succeeded  to  his  uncle's  baronetcy  in  1884.  He  had  considerable  estates  in  Wiltshire.He  was  first  elected  as  Conservative   MP  for  Chippenham  in  1892. He  also  sat  on  London  County  Council  from  1898  to  1904. John  was  active  in  the  Volunteers  but  served  for  real  in  the  Boer  War  as  a  lieutenant. He  was  a  member  of  the  Navy  League . He  won  the  DSO  in  1900.

In  1907  John  led  a  small  revolt  against  the  smallholdings  bill  which  he  wanted  amending  to  favour  ownership  rather  than  tenancy.  

In  1910  John  was  created  Baron  Islington  and  appointed  Governor  of  New  Zealand. He  held  the  post  for  two  years  then  became  President  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Public  Services  of   India. In  1914  he  became  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  then  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  India.  He  remained  in  this  post  when  Lloyd  George  took  over. He  stepped  down  in  1919. From  1920  to  1926  he  was  head  of  the  National  Savings  Committee.

He  died  in  1936  aged  70.