1319 Hudson Kearley

Constituency : Devonport  1892-1910

Hudson  was  the  other  Liberal  victor  at  Devonport.

Hudson  was  educated  at  Surrey  County  School. in  1876  he  founded  a  tea  importing  company and  started  retailing  it  two  years  later. by  1890  he  had  200  groceries  operating  as International  Stores. In  1895 it  became  a  public  company.

Hudson  was  conscientious  in  raising  dockyard  issues  with  the  Admiralty  in  Parliament   and  this  was  felt  to  be  a  factor  in  his  retaining  the  seat  during  difficult  times  for  the  Liberals. In  1900  he  secured  a  departmental  committee  of  inquiry  into  naval  victualling.

Hudson  was  also  an  effective  parliamentary  champion  of  food  regulation . He  sat  on  a  relevant  select  committee  in  1894-6  and  castigated  the  Local  Government  Board  for  not  exercising  its  powers  effectively.

In  1905  Hudson  was  appointed  parliamentary  secretary  to  the  Board  of  Trade  under  Lloyd George. He  came  to  believe  his  boss  was  a  genius. In  1908  he  was  created  a  baronet   after playing  an  important  part  in  getting  the  Port  of  London  Bill  passed. He  was  unpaid Chairman  of  the  Port  of  London  Authority  from  1909  to  1925.

Hudson  holidayed  in  North  Wales  where  he  had  a  second  home  in  Denbighshire. In  1909  he  was  fined  for  speeding  by  local  magistrates.

Hudson  stood  down  in  January  1910  and  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Devonport. The  New  York  Times  reported  a  dispute  between  party  bosses  and  Hudson  over  his disinclination  to  contribute  to  party  funds  believing  that  his  ministerial  work  alone  justified the  peerage. He  apparently   threatened  to  make  the  correspondence  public  knowledge.  This didn't  save  him  from  a  savage  epigram  from  fellow  Liberal  MP  Hilaire  Belloc -  "The  grocer, Hudson  Kearley, he / When  purchasing  his  barony/ Considered  first, we  understand / The  title  of Lord  Sugarsand".

In  1916  Lloyd  George  made  Hudson  Minister  of  Food  Control  but  he  resigned  in  May  1917 after  his  scheme  for  compulsory  rationing  was  delayed. He  had  become  something  of  a laughing  stock  with  his  promotion  of  "meatless  days"  and  impractical  schemes  for  voluntary  rationing. He  was  upgraded  to  a  viscount.

He  died  in  1934  aged  78.