Sunday, 30 July 2017

1632 Carlyon Bellairs

Carlyon Wilfroy Bellairs, by Elliott & Fry,  - NPG x86336 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

Constituency : King's  Lynn  1906-10  ( from   1906  Liberal  Unionist ), Maidstone   1915-31 ( Conservative  )

 Carlyon  took  King's  Lynn  from  the  Tories.

Carlyon  was  the  son  of  a British  army  officer.  He  was  born  in  Gibraltar  and  joined  the  navy  rising  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  before  retiring  in  1902. He   took  up  journalism  prior  to  his  election.

Carlyon  took  even  less  time  than  Leslie  Renton  to  decide  that  the  New  Liberalism  was  not  for  him  and  he  joined  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  October  1906. He  penned  many  articles  for  the  Evening  Standard  lambasting  Britain's  lack  of  preparation  for  war  and  calling  for  increased  naval  expenditure.

Carlyon  was  a  frequent  contributor  on  military  and  naval  matters.

In  January  1910  Carlyon  stood  unsuccessfully  at  Salford  West. In  December  he  stood  for  Walthamstow  with  the  same  result.

In  1913  Carlyon  became  a  London  County  Councillor,  giving  it  up  when  he  was  elected  as  a  Conservative  for  Maidstone  in  a  by-election  in  1915.  He  held  the  seat  until  1931  when  he  retired.

Carlyon  published  a  critical  book  about  the  Battle  of  Jutland.

Carlyon  was  a  strong  supporter  of  female  suffrage  and  bequeathed  his  estate  to  a  women's  educational  institution.

Carlyon  declined  a  baronetcy  in  1927.

He  died  in  Barbados  in  1955  aged  84.




No comments:

Post a Comment