1691 Frederick Mackarness

Constituency : Newbury 1906-10

Frederick  took  Newbury  from  the  Tories  by  402  votes.

Frederick  was  the  son  of  John  Mackarness  who  became  Bishop  of  Oxford. He  was  educated  at  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister  and  initially  practised  in  South  Africa. He  became  Recorder  of  Newbury  in  1894   and  Professor  of  Roman-Dutch  Law  at  University  College, London  in  1905. He  was  the  brother-in-law  of  Bernard  Coleridge,former  MP  for  Sheffield  Attercliffe. He  was  on  the  South  African  Conciliation  Committee  looking  to  bring  the  Boer  War  to  an  end. He  was  a  strong  advocate  of  Home  Rule.

Frederick  was  concerned  about  Chinese  labour  and  the  native  Indians. He  chaired  the  executive  of  the  Indian  Civil  Rights  Committee. 

Frederick  was  a  frequent  contributor  on  imperial  matters.

In  1906, Frederick  introduced  in  a  bill  to  strengthen  the  powers  of  local  councils  to  provide  rural  housing.   

In  1909,  Frederick  announced  he  would  be  stepping  down  at  the  next  election.

In  1910, Frederick   published  Methods  of  the  Indian  Police  in  the  20th  Century  in  which  he  alleged  torture  was  being  used. This  caused  a  rift  with  Edwin  Montagu, the  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  India  who  supported  the  Indian  government's  banning  of  the  pamphlet.

Frederick  became  a  judge  in  1911.

He  died  in  1920  aged  66.

1690 Alfred Hedges

Constituency : Tunbridge  1906-10  

Alfred  took  Tunbridge  from  the  Tories.

Alfred  was  the  son  of  William  Hedges, co-founder  of  Benson &  Hedges. He  was  educated  at  Milton, Kent. He  was  a  Methodist. William  took  over  from  his  father  as  sole  proprietor  of  the  firm.

Alfred  was  interested  in  local  taxation  and  voted  against  the  government  on  rating  reform  in  1909.

Alfred  was  soundly  defeated  by  the  Tories  in  January  1910.

He  died  in  1929  aged  61.

1689 Thomas Napier

Constituency  : Faversham  1906-10

Thomas  took  Faversham  from  the  Tories.

Thomas  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  London  University.  He  became  a  barrister  and  then  a  judge. He  was  elected  to  London  County  Council  in  1893. He  contested  Islington  North  in  1895.

Thomas  was  easily  defeated  in  January  1910.

He  died  in  1933  aged  79.

1688 Godfrey Baring

Constituency  : Isle  of  Wight  1906-10, Barnstaple  1911-18

Godfrey  took  over  from  John  Seeley  on  the  Isle  of  Wight.

Godfrey  was  a  member  of  the  Baring  banking  family  and  grandson  of  the  Peelite  minister  Sir  James  Graham. In  1898  he  became  chairman  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  County  Council, a  position  he  held  for  the  next  59  years.

Godfrey  was  narrowly  defeated  in  January  1910. He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1911  then  returned  to  Parliament  at  a  by-election  at  Barnstaple  later  that  year.

In  1918  Godfrey  stood  for  the  Isle  of  Wight  again  but  was  easily  defeated  by  a  couponed  Conservative.

Godfrey  was  a  keen  yachtsman  who  joined  the  Royal  Yacht  Squadron  in  1892. He  frequently  entertained  royalty  during  Cowes  Week. He  was  on  the  management  committee  of  the  Royal  National  Lifeboat  Institution  for  33  years  and  eventually  became  its  president.

He  died  in  1957  aged  86.

 

1687 Nathaniel Micklem

Constituency : Watford  1906-10

Nathaniel  took  Watford  from  the  Tories.

Nathaniel  was  a  solicitor's  son  from  Berkshire. He  was  educated  at  Mill  Hill  School  and  Oxford. He  was  President  of  the  Oxford  Union  in  1878. He  became  a  barrister. He  was  a  Congregationalist.

Nathaniel  was  defeated  in  January  1910  when  the  Tories  described  him  as  a  "Raduical  Socialist". He  failed  to  re-tale  the  seat  in  December.

Nathaniel  retired  in  1924  and  sat  on  the  Royal  Commission  on  Lunacy  and  Mental  Disorder thereafter  becoming  chairman  in  1930.

In  1946  Nathaniel  opposed  the  creation  of  Hemel  Hempstead.

He  died  in  1954  aged  100.

1686 Julius Bertram

Constituency : Hitchin  1906-10

Julius  took  Hitchin  from  the  Tories  by  76  votes. The  Tories  had  been  unopposed  at  the  last  two  elections.

Julius  was  educated  at  Repton  School  and  Oxford. He  became  a  solicitor  and  practised  in  London. He  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  The  Case  For  Free  Imports.

Julius  was  a  member  of  the  Navy  League. He  also  had  links  with  the  brewery  trade  and  regularly  voted  against  the  government's  licensing  proposals.

Julius  raised  a  number  of  questions  about  the  land  clauses  in  the  People's   Budget. He  then  voted  against  is  Third  Reading.

Julius  was  opposed  to  female  suffrage,  declaring  that  "Taxation  is  not  the  whole  basis  of  representation.The  real  basis  is  manhood - the  ability  to  bear  arms  and  defend  the  country  if  necessary  from  invasion"

Julius  was  a  keen  huntsman  and  organist.

Julius  stood  down  in  January  1910.

He  died  in  1944  aged  77.

1685 Arthur Lever

Constituency : Harwich  1906-10, Hackney  Central  1923-24

Arthur  took  Harwich  from  the  Tories.

Arthur   was  the   son  of  a  clothing  manufacturer  and   brother  of  the  Loughborough  MP   Maurice  Levy. He was  educated  at  University  College  School. He  joined  the  army and  reached  the  rank  of  Major.

Arthur  sat  on  the  Royal  Commission  on  Coastal  Erosion  and  Afforestation.

Arthur  lost  his  seat  in  January  1910. He  switched  to  Wolverhampton  South  in  December  but  was  narrowly  defeated.

Arthur  was  created  a  baronet  in  1911.

Arthur   was  re-commissioned  in  1914  and  reached  the  rank  of  Colonel.

In  1922  Arthur  contested  the  vacant  seat  of  Hackney  Central  ( contested  by  his  father  in  1900 )  previously  held  by  a  Lloyd  George  Liberal. Arthur  stood  for  the  National  Liberals  against  Thomas  McKinnon  Wood  for  the  Asquithians  and  won  by  2.970  votes  in  the  absence  of  a  Tory  candidate.

Arthur  stood  down  in  1923.

He  died  in  1924  aged  63.

1684 Charles Corbett

Constituency : East  Grinstead  1906-10

Charles  took  East  Grinstead  from  the  Tories  at  the  third  attempt. He  based  his  campaign  on  local  hostility  to  the  1902  Education  Act,

Charles  was   the  son  of  a  London  property  developer . He  was  educated  at  Marlborough  College  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister. His   wife  Marie  was  a  prominent  suffragist. He  inherited  an  estate  in  Sussex  where  he  gave  free  legal  advice  to  the  villagers.

Charles  was  soundly  beaten  in  January  1910  and  didn't  stand  in  December.

In  December  1913  Charles  helped  found  an  East  Grinstead  branch  of  the  Men's  League  for  Women's  Suffrage.

He  died  in  1935  aged  72.

1683 Hubert Beaumont

Constituency : Eastbourne  1906-10

Hubert  took  Eastbourne  from  the  Tories.

Hubert  was  the  son  of  Baron  Allendale  , the  former  Liberal  MP  Wentorth  Beaumont. He  was  eduated  at  Eton  and  Oxford. He  stood  for  King's  Lynn  in  1895, Buckingham  in  1900  and  Barnard  Castle  in  1903. The  latter  by-election  was  a  famous  one  where  Labour's  Arthur  Henderson  was  elected. Liberal  headquarters  tried  to  persuade  Hubert  to  withdraw  and  he  came  third.

Hubert  stood  down  in  January  1910.

He  died  in  1922  aged  58.

1682 Francis Marnham

Constituency : Chertsey  1906-10

Francis  took  Chertsey  from  the  Tories. His  victory  by  95  votes   was  apparently  a  great  surprise  to  him.

Francis  was  privately  educated.  He  made  his  fortune  on  the  Stock  Exchange  and  retired  when  he  was  32.  He  was  well  travelled He  was  a  Baptist.

In  1906  Francis  introduced  a  Bill  to  stop  men  who'd  been  forced  to  seek  medical  relief  being  taken  off  the  electoral  register. He  reintroduced  it  in  1908.

In  1908  Francis  expressed  his  intention  to  stand  down  at  the  next  election  due  to  "the  strains  of  parliamentary  life".

Francis  retired  to  Torquay. He  was  Mayor  of  the  town  in  1926.

He  died  in  1941  aged  88.

1681 Frederick Verney

Constituency : Buckingham  1906-10

Frederick  took  Buckingham  from  the  Tories.

Frederick  was  the  son  of  Harry  Verney  and  brother  of  Edmund  Verney  ,both  previous  Liberal  MPs  for  the  constituency.  He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Oxford. He  joined  the  Anglican  clergy  and  acted  as  private  secretary  and  chaplain  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  but  left  the  ministry  after  three  years. He  became  a  barrister  instead. In  1883  he  took  up  a  diplomatic  post  with  the  Siamese  legation. He  was  both  a  county  councillor  for  Buckinghamshire  and  a  Progressive  councillor  for  London. He  stood  for  Tunbridge  in  1885, Bath  in  1886, Norwich  in  1895  and  Liverpool  Exchange  in  1900.

Later  in  1906  Frederick  inherited  the  Manor  of  Pleasley  from  his  stepmother.

Frederick  was  a  strong  promoter  of  smallholdings. In  1909  he  sat  on  a  Royal  Commission  on  the  selection  of  magistrates.

Frederick  held  his  seat  in  January  1910  but  moved  aside  for  his  nephew  Harry  in  December. and  contested  Christchurch  instead. Harry  held  the  seat  but  Frederick  was  unsuccessful  at  Christchurch.

Frederick  was  related  to  Florence  Nightingale  by  marriage  and  She  took  an  interest  in  his  career.

He  died  in  1913  aged  67.

1680 Aurelian Ridsdale

Constituency :  Brighton  1906-10

Aurelian  took  the  second  Brighton  seat  from  the  Tories, coming  in  second  behind  the  by-election  victor  Ernest  Villiers.

Aurelian   was  the  brother-in-law  of  future  Tory  P.M. Stanley  Baldwin. Aurelian  was  educated  at  University  College  School  and  the  Royal  School  of  Mines. He  became  a  stockbroker.

Aurelian's  maiden  speech  expressed  the  view  that  the  government  was  moving  too  fast  on  the  Chinese  labour  issue  and  it  should  be  left  to  the  Transvaal  government.

Aurelian  was  scared  off  by  the  radicalism  of  the  Liberal  government. His  last  speech  was  a  long  criticism  of  the  Peoples'  Budget  which  he  described  as  socialistic  and  derived  from  Baron  Munchausen : " This  idea  of  taxing  people  in  order  to  build  up  a  fund  for  their  prosperity  seems  to  me  to  be  so  absurd  and  dangerous  that  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  enter  a  most  earnest  protest  against  it ". He  declined  to  stand  in  January  1910  when  both  seats  fell  easily  to  the  Tories.

Aurelian  chaired  the  executive  committee  of  the  British  Red  Cross  from  1912  to  1914  and  deputy  chairman  from  1914  to  1919. He  was  knighted  in  1920  for  this  work.

Aurelian  was   a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society. He  was  a  free  thinker  and  the  author  of  Cosmic  Evolution. He  had  a  somewhat  austere  manner.

He  died  in  1923  aged  59.

1679 Arthur Black

Constituency : Biggleswade  1906-18

Arthur  took  Biggleswade  from  the  Liberal  Unionist,  Alwyne  Compton.

Arthur  was  born  in  Nottingham. He  was  educated  locally  then  went  into  business  as  a  lace  manufacturer. He  was  elected  to  Nottingham  Town  Council  in  1895  and  was  Mayor  from  1902-03. He  was  chairman  of  the  Nottingham  Free  Church  Council  and  led  opposition  to  the  1902  Education  Act. In  1903  he  visited  America   as  part  of  a  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  education.  He  stood  for  Doncaster  in  1900.

Arthur  was  knighted  in  1916.

In  1918,  Biggleswade  was  abolished  and  Arthur  stood  for  the  new  seat  of  Mid  Bedfordshire. He  was  defeated  by  a  couponed  Conservative.

In  1930,  Arthur  opposed  Snowden  ending  the  duty  on  imported  lace  claiming  that  keen  domestic  competition  had  kept  prices  down.

In  1935  Arthur  donated  a  building  to  the  National  Children's  Home  and  repeated  the  gift  in  1945.

He  died  in  1947  aged  84.

 

1678 Percy Barlow

Constituency :  Bedford  1906-10

Percy  took  Bedford  from  the  Tories  at  the  second  attempt.

Percy  was  the  younger  brother  of  the  Frome  MP,  Sir  John  Barlow.  He  was  educated  privately  and  at  Cambridge. He  became  a  barrister. He  was  a  Quaker.

Percy  supported  female  suffrage. He  also  urged  action  against  the  Lords.

In  January  1910  he  was  defeated  by  169  votes.

In  the  First  World  War,  Percy  served  as  a  lieutenant, initially  involved  in  recruiting. He  became  a  captain  in  1917  and  became  liaison  officer  to  the  Eastern  Command. He  became  the  director  of  National  Service  in  Hertford  after  the  war.

He  died  in  1931  aged  63.

1677 Eustace Fiennes

Constituency : Banbury  1906-10 , 1910-18

Eustace  took  Banbury  from  the Tories.

Eustace  was  the  second  son  of  Baron  Saye. He  was  educated  at  Malvern  College. Eustace  joined  the  army  and  served  in  Canada, Egypt  and  South Africa. He  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant  in  1899. He  fought  in  the  Boer  War  and  was  promoted  to  Major  in  1905.

Eustace's  parliamentary  contributions  were  mainly  on  military  matters.

Eustace  was  defeated  by  315 votes  in  January  1910  then  won  the  seat  back  by  91  votes  in  December.,

In  1912, Eustace  became  Parliamentary  Private  Secretary  to  Churchill  at  the  Admiralty.

Eustace  saw  action  in  Flanders  and  the  Dardanelles  during  World  War  One.  He  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant-Colonel He  was created  a  baronet  in  1916. He  supported  Lloyd  George  after  1916.  

In  1918, Eustace  resigned  his  seat  to  become  Governor  of  the  Seychelles. In  1921 he  switched  to  the  Leeward  Islands  where  he  remained  until  retiring  in  1929.

Eustace  died  in  1943 aged  78. He  was the  grandfather  of  explorer  Ranulph  Fiennes.

1676 Edward Strauss

Constituency : Abingdon  1906-1910, Southwark  West  1910-18, Southwark  North  1918-23, 1927-9, 1932-9  ( Liberal  National  for  the  latter  term )

Edward  took  Abingdon  from  the  Tories.

Edward  was  the  son  of  a  Jewish  merchant  in  London. He  was  educated  at  King's  College  London  and  overseas  colleges. His  main  business  was  corn  and  hops.

Edward  was  a  champion  of  smallholders'  rights.

Edward  was  defeated  in  December  1910  and  switched  to  Southwark  West  in  December. He  won  by  18  votes  after  a  recount.

In  1913,  Edward  was  sued  by  a  constituent  for  breach  of  contract  for  not  keeping  his  electoral  pledges. The  case  was  not  successful  to  the  great  relief  of  politicians  everywhere.  

In  1916  Edward  led  a  deputation  to  Lord  Kitchener  calling  for  better  defences  against  air  raids  on  London.

Southwark  West  was  abolished  in  1918  so  Edward  switched  to  Southwark  North. He  received  the  coupon  but  some  local  Conservatives  were  unhappy  about  this  and  invited  Lieutenant- General  Harington  from  the  National  Party  to  stand  against  him. He  agreed  to  stand  as  an  Independent. Edward  also  had  opposition  from  Labour  and  the  Discharged  Soldiers  and  Sailors  party  but  won  the  seat  by  2,071  votes.

In  1922,  Edward  stood  as  a  Lloyd  George  Liberal  and  defeated  Labour  in  a  straight  contest. In  1923,  Labour's  Leslie  Haden-Guest  unseated  him  by  362 votes. In  1924  Edward  failed  to  win  the  seat  back  as  the  Conservatives  entered  the  fray.

In  1927,  Haden-Guest  resigned  from  the  Labour  party  over  its  policy  on  China  and  decided  to  fight  a  by-election  as  a  Constitutionalist  supported  by  the  local  Conservative  party. Edward  profited  from  the  split  in  the  Labour  vote  and  the  absence  of  a  Conservative  and  won  his  seat  back  with  Haden-Guest  coming  third.

Labour   narrowly  regained  the  seat  in  1929  in  a  three-cornered  contest  during  which  Edward  complained  about  disruption  of  his  meetings  by  Labour  supporters.

In  1931   Edward  stood  as  the  government  candidate  , the  Tory  candidate  in  1929  agreeing  to  step  aside. Edward  regained  the  seat  for  a  third  time  with  a  majority  of  5,992.

Edward  was  not  initially  a  member  of  Simon's  grouping  but  by  1932  had  thrown  in  his  lot  with  it , writing  to  Samuel  that  the  party  could  not  be  revived  by  a  policy  of  "Back  to Free  Trade."

In  1935  Edward   held  onto  his  seat  as  a  Liberal  National  by  79  votes. Edward  had  been  beset  by  business  failures  in  the  thirties  and  had  to  sell  personal  assets  to  meet  his  creditors. He  conceded  during  the  campaign  that  he  was  now  "an  impoverished  man".

Edward  was  known  for  local  philanthropy.

Towards  the  end  of  1938,  Edward  had  to  enter  a  nursing  home  aged  76.

1675 Sir Philip Magnus

Constituency  : London  University  1906-12  ( Liberal  Unionist ), 1912-22  ( Conservative )

Philip  recovered  the  London  University  seat  for  the  Liberal  Unionists  unseating  Michael  Foster  who  had  gone  over  to  the  Liberals  by  24  votes.

Philip  was  educated  at  University  College  School  and  University  College  London. He  was  a  Reform  Jew  and  trained  to  be  a  rabbi in  Berlin. He  supplemented  his  income  with  private  tuition. This  expanded  until  he  abandoned  his  calling  and  became  director  of  the  new  City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute. He  was  particularly  interested  in  the  technical  education  departments  and  became  their  Superintendent  in  1888. Philip  sat  on  the  Samuelson  Commission  on  technical  instruction  in  1884 and  was  knighted  two  years  later. He  oversaw  the  merger  of  his  Institute  into  the  Imperial  College  of  Science  and  Technology.

Philip  retired  from  his  post  in  1915.  In  May  that  year  he  harassed  the  government  over  the  shortage  in  optical  glass. He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1917.

Philip  held  his  seat  as  a  couponed  Conservative  in  1918  against  a  strong  challenge  from  Sidney  Webb.

Philip  stood  down  in  1922  but  continued  on  the  Senate  of  the  University  of  London  and  chaired  the  council  of  the  RSA. He  was  a  vice-president  of  the  Anglo-Jewish  Association.

Philip  was  an  anti-Zionist  describing  the   ideal  as  "a  step  backward, a  reversal  of  the  law  of  historical  development" .

He  died  in  1933  aged  90.

1674 Charles Masterman

Constituency : West  Ham North  1906-11, Bethnal  Green  South  West  1911-14, Manchester  Rusholme  1923-4

Charles  took  West  Ham  North  from  the  Tories. He  was  an  important  figure  in  the  party  but  did  have  an  unfortunate  record  of  losing  elections  even  in  apparently  favourable  circumstances.

Charles  was  educated  at  Cambridge  where  he  became  President  of  the  Union. He  became  an  academic. He  was  interested  in  social  reform  and  literature  and  published  a  number  of  essays  before  his  election. He  stood  in  a  by-election  at  Dulwich  in  1903. He  was  a  Christian  Socialist.

Charles  was  a  Radical although  his  solutions  were  rooted  in  Victorian  paternalism.  Charles  got  Asquith's  agreement  to  reshape  the  Local  Government  Board  before  he  became  Parliamentary  Secretary  in  1908.  In  909  he  became  Under-Secretary  to  the  Home  Office.

In  1909  Charles  published  his  best  known  work , The  Condition  of  England  with  a  focus  on  the  working  class. He  worked  with  Churchill  and  Lloyd  George  on  the  People's  Budget. He  encouraged  Lloyd  George  to  be  radical  on  land.He  actually  wrote  much  of  the  legislation  of  this  period.

In  December  1910  Charles's  re-election  was  declared  void  because  his  agent  had  failed  to  make  sure  the  expenses  limit  was  not  breached. Charles's  integrity  was  not  questioned  but  the  Conservative  got  the  result  declared  void  and  Charles  was not  allowed  to  stand  again.

Later  in  the  year , Charles  came  back  in  at  Bethnal  Green  South  West  despite  what  he  called  vicious  libels  by  the  Unionists. He  became  financial  secretary  to  the  Treasury  in  1912  and  was  responsible  for  piloting  the  National  Insurance  Bill  through  the  Commons. He  was  a go-between  for  Lloyd  George  in  his  dealings  with  the Labour  MPs.

In  1914  Charles  was  promoted  to  the  Cabinet  as  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  but  lost  his  seat  in  the  by-election  to  confirm  his  appointment  perhaps  due  to  the  intervention  of  a  Socialist  candidate  John  Scurr. He  was  also  attacked  over  National  Insurance  and  by  Haoratio  Bottomley  over  a  supposed  failure  to  investigate  abuse  in  a  reformatory.  

Charles  was  then  selected  to contest  Ipswich. He  had  misgivings  feeling  that  the  small  employers  there  were  hostile  to  National  Insurance  and  the  Protestants  would  vote  against  him  over  Home  Rule. Lloyd  George  came  to  speak  for  him . Scurr  seems  to  have  had  a  personal  animus  against  Charles   and  stood  there  as  well  although  the  margin  of  defeat  was  greater  than  Scurr's  vote.

Charles  was  in  favour  of  Britain's  entry  into  World  War  One  and  became  head  of  the  War  Propaganda  Bureau  enlisting  patriotic  writers  like  Buchan  and  Conan  Doyle  to  boost  morale  and  feed  the  media, He  commissioned  films  like  The  Battle  of  the  Somme  for  the  home  audience. He  publicised  reports  of  the  Armenian  Genocide. He  also  worked  hard  to  persuade  the  USA  to  enter  the  war. in  1917  Lloyd  George   subsumed  the  Bureau  into  Buchan's  Department  for  Information  and   demoted  Charles  to  Buchan's  deputy.

Lloyd  George  failed  to  help  him  get  re-elected  at  Stratford  West  Ham  where  he  was  beaten  by  a  couponed  Conservative.

In  Februrary  1920  Charles  published  a  plan  for  fusion  of  the  Unionists  and  Coaltion  Liberals  as  the  "New  Democratic  Party"  but  observed  that  the window  od  opportunity  for  launching  it  was  shrinking  as  the  government's  popularity  declined.

 In  1921, Charles  championed  a  radical  programme  put  forward  by  the  Manchester  Liberals  calling  for  a  National  Industrial  Council  , supervision  of  trusts  and  combines  and  nationalisation  of  some  monopolies. He  was  the  main  author  of  the  party's  industrial  policy.

In  1922  Charles  published  the  books  How  England  is  Governed  and  England  after  War.

In  the  election  that  year  Charles  was  invited  by  the  local  Liberals  to  contest  Clay  Cross  in  Derbyshire  which  was  being  defended  by  a  Coalition  Liberal, Thomas  Broad. Labour  won  the  seat  easily  with  57%  of  the  vote  but  Charles  pushed  Broad  into  third  place.

Charles  opposed  reunion  with  the  Coalition  Liberals  and  threatened  to  defect  to  Labour  if  it  happened. In  the  event  he  accepted  it  and  stood  for  Manchester  Rusholme  which  he  took  from  the  Tories,

During  the  1923-24  Parliament,  Charles  rather  ostentatiously  coached  some  of  the  new  Labour  ministers.  His  tactlessness  was  resented .He  opposed  the  loan  to  the  Soviet  government. He  blamed  Macdonald  for  the  collapse  of  Liberal-Labour  co-operation.

Charles  was  easily  defeated  in  1924. He  became  parliamentary  correspondent  to  The  Nation.  He  became  semi-reconciled  to  Lloyd  George  as  the  latter  rejuvenated  party  policy,  writing  that  "When  Lloyd  George  came  back  to  the  party, ideas  came  back  to  the  party ". He  participated  in  the  reviews  on  energy  and  Britain's  industrial  future  ( the  "Yellow  Book ").

Charles  was  prone  to  mood  swings  and  could  come  across  as  cynical  and  self-righteous  which  may  have  been  why  he  lost  so  many  elections.

Charles  had  problems  with  drug  and  alcohol  abuse  and  his  health  declined. He  died  in  1927  aged  54.       

1673 Charles O' Donnell

Constituency : Walworth 1906-10

Charles  took  Walworth  from  the  Tories.

Charles  was  born in  Donegal. He  was  educated  at  Queen's  College, Galway  and  Queen's  University.. He  joined  the  Indian  Civil  Service. He  mainly  worked  in  Bengal  and  rose  to  be  Commissioner  before  retiring  in  1900. He  was  strongly  critical  of  Lord  Curzon  as  Viceroy. He  was  opposed  to  the  partition  of  Bengal.He  was  a  Catholic.

Charles  opposed  the  Irish  Universities  Bill  in  1908. His  contributions  to  Parliament  invariably  concerned  Ireland  or  India.

Charles  stood  down  in  January  1910.

Charles  had  an  interest  in  Celtic  linguistics  and  a  series  of  lectures  at  Oxford  were  named  after  him. J  R R  Tolkein  gave  the  first  in  1954.

He  died  in  1934  aged  85.

1672 John Simon

Constituency : Walthamstow  1906-18, Spen Valley  1922-40  ( from 1931  Liberal National )

John  took  Walthmstow  from  the  Tories. He  is  one  of  the  great  political  villains , in  Liberal circles  for  fatally  splitting  the  party  to  resume  his  ministerial  career  and  on  the  wider  stage  as  one  of  the  chief  architects  of  the  appeasement  policy.

John  was  the  son  of  a  Congregational  minister  from  Manchester. He  was  educated  at  Fettes  College, Edinburgh  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister. He  only  had  a  few  years  experience  before  being  chosen  to  fight  Walthamstow over  a  more  richer  man.

John  became  part  of  Asquith's  social  set. Asquith  referred  to  him  as "the  Impeccable".

John  was a  strong  advocate  of  the  People's  Budget.

In  1910  John  succeeded  Rufus  Isaacs  as  Solicitor-General and  was  knighted. Isaacs  had  moved  to  Attorney-General  and  John  succeeded  him  in  that  post  too  after  the  Marconi  Scandal. Unusually  this  gave  him  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet.

John  had  a  cold  aura  about  him  which  attracted  mistrust  among  his  colleagues. Lord  Halifax  said  of  him,  "he  is  constantly  trying  to  secure  the  friendship  of  other  people  on  terms  more  favourable  to  himself  than  to  them".  

John  had  pacifist  leanings  - arguably  the  only  consistent  principle  of  his  career  - and  led  the  Cabinet  opposition  to  Churchill's  naval  estimates  in  1914. He  contemplated  resigning  on  the  outbreak  of  the  war  but  ultimately  decided  to  remain in  the  government.

When  Asquith  formed  his  coalition  government  in  1915  John  was  offered  but  declined  the Lord  Chancellorship. Instead  he became  Home  Secretary. He  resigned  the  following  year  over  conscription. To  avoid  becoming  too  identified  with  the  hardcore  pacifists  he  enlisted  in  the  Royal  Flying  Corps  and  was  mentioned  in  dispatches.

John  remained  loyal  to  Asquith  and  was  defeated  in  1918  by  a  couponed  Conservative  in  Walthamstow  East.

In  1919  John  decided  to  contest  the  Spen  Valley  by-election  which  had  been  held  by  a  Lloyd  George supporter. Haig  praised  his  war  service  during  the  campaign. Lloyd  George  put  his  own  candidate  up  for  the  government  but  the  consequent  split  in  the  Liberal  vote  let  Labour  in  and  John  pushed  the  Coalition  Liberal  into  third  place. It  was  seen  as  a  major  rebuff  to  the Prime  Minister.

John  concentrated  on  his  legal  work  until  returning  to  the  Commons  for  Spen  Valley  in  1922 coming  out  top  in  a  contest  with  Labour  and  the Tories. He  became  deputy  leader  of  the   party. He  increased  his  majority  in  1923  and  benefited  from  the  Tories  withdrawing  in  1924.

With  Asquith  losing  his  seat, John  resigned  as  deputy  leader  in  1924.

In  1926  John  gave  a  public  legal  opinion  that  the General  Strike  was illegal  and  that  trade  union  members  might  be  personally  liable  if  they  came  out. This  was   a  big  help  to  Baldwin's  government.

Shortly  after  that  John  retired  from  legal  practice  and  was  appointed  chair  of  a  commmission  on  India's  constitution.

John  was  publicly  sceptical  about the  Liberals'  radical  unemployment  policy  in  1929. Baldwin  intervened  to  persuade  the  local  Tories  not  to  run  a  candidate  against  him  in  the election  that  year.  

John  was  opposed  to  Lloyd  George's  policy  of  co-operation  with  Macdonald's  Labour  government  and  the  possibility  of  electoral  reform. In  1930  he  warned  Lloyd  George  that  he  wouldn't  support  the  government  in  a  vote  of  confidence. In  March  1931  he  hinted  that  he  might  be  ready  to  abandon  Free  Trade.

In  June  1931  John  declared  his  resignation  from  the  Liberal  whip  over  Lloyd  George's  support  for  Snowden's  land  taxes. Lloyd  George  described  him  as  having  left  "the  slime  of  hypocrisy"  behind  him.  He  gathered  together a  group  of  like-minded  Liberal  MPs  as  the  "Liberal  Nationals"  who  would  support  the  National  Government  of  Baldwin  even  if  it  abandoned  Free  Trade. In  return, the  Conservatives  would  not  oppose  them  in  their  constituencies. This  split  effectively  ruined  the  Liberal  party  as  a  parliamentary  force.

John  became  Foreign  Secretary  in  the   National  Government  and  was  fiercely  criticised  for  a  speech  in  Geneva  in  1932  in  which  he  failed  to  condemn  the  Japanese occupation  of  Manchuria  and  seriously  undermined  the League  of  Nations. John  felt  that  the  criticism  was  mainly  from  countries who, unlike  Britain, would  not  have  been  called  on  to  do  anything  about  it.  He  was  also  criticised  as  indecisive, a  dep  thinker  rather  than  a  practical  politician.

John's  Liberal  Nationals  served  as  a  political  figleaf   to   maintain  the "National" character  of  the  government  after  Samuel's  Liberal  rump  departed  and  the  ex-Labour  figures  dropped out  of  the  picture. This  sustained  John's  ministerial  career.

John  became  Home  Secretary  under  Baldwin  and  passed  the Public  Order Act  which  constrained  the activities  of  Mosley's  Blackshirts. Baldwin  also  made  him  Deputy  Leader  of  the  Commons. Neville  Chamberlain  was  a  close  political  ally  and  made  John  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  when  he  took  over  in  1937. However  even  Chamberlain  said, "I  am  always  trying  to  like  him  and  believing  I  shall  succeed  when  something  crops  up  to  put me  off". Harold  Nicholson  described  him  as  "a  toad  and  a  worm".

When  Chamberlain  fell in  1940  Churchill  was  faced  with  the  problem  of  what  to  do  with  the  arch-Appeaser.  John  had  been  fingered  as  second  only  to  Chamberlai  himself  in  the  tract  Guilty  Men .  Churchill  raised  him  to  the  peerage  as  Viscount  Simon  and  made  him  Lord  Chancellor  but  excluded  him  from  the  War  Cabinet.  He  gave  up  the  leadership  of  the Liberal  Nationals.

After  the  war, Attlee  excluded  John  from  the  British  delegation  to  the  Nuremberg  War  trials  explicitly  citing  his  pre-war  position  as  the  reason. John  felt  the  Liberal  Nationals  had  served  their  purpose  and  offered  to  join  the  Conservatives  but  Churchill  put  him  off. He  did  not  offer  John  a  return  to  the  Woolsack  in  1951.

John  published  his  memoirs  Retrospect  in  1952. These  were  regarded  as  dull  and  unrevelatory.

John  was  an  accomplished  chess  player.

He  died  of  a  stroke  in  1954  aged  80.

   

1671 Hubert Carr-Gomm

Constituency : Rotherhithe  1906-18  

Hubert  took  Rotherhithe  from  the  Tories.

Hubert  was  the  son  of  a  civil  servant  in  India   and  was  born  there. He  was  educated at  Eton  and  Oxford. He  went  into  publishing. He  was  Secretary  to  the  London  Liberal  Federation.

Hubert  became  Assistant  Private  Secrtetary  to  Campbell-Bannerman.

In  1913  Hubert  divorced  his  wife  on  the  grounds  of  adultery  with  his  friend  and  colleague  Elliott  Crawshay-Williams,  MP  for  Leicester. Churchill  and  Lloyd  George  tried  to  persuade  him  not  to  bring  the  case  to  protect  Crawshay-Williams's  career.

During  the  First  World  War  Hubert  served  as  a  captain  in  France  and  Salonika.

Hubert  was  defeated  in  1918  by  a  couponed  Conservative.  He  wrote  to  The  Times  in  1922  condemning  tjhe  coalition  as  being  based  around  a  personality  rather  than  established  parties  and  ideas.

In  the  1922 election,  he  was  pushed  into  third  place in  Rotherhithe  In  1923  he  made  a  late  decision  to  contest  the  solidly  Conservative  seat  of  Paddington  South  but  was  easily  seen  off.

In  1936  Hubert  published  a  pamphlet  calling  for  the  introduction  of  proportional  representation  in   London's  municipal  elections.

He  died  of  pneumonia  in  Tenerife  in  1939  aged  61.

1670 George Cooper

Constituency : Bermondsey  1906-09

George  took  Bermondsey  from  the  Tories.

George  was  a  GP  in  the  constituency. He  was  elected  to  the  L.C.C.  in  1889.

George  supported  female  suffrage. He  also  backed  the  People's  Budget. He  questioned  Herbert  Gladstone  about  the  conditions  for  imprisoned  suffragettes.

He  died  in  1909  aged  65.

1669 Percy Alden

Constituency : Tottenham 1906-18, Tottenham  South  1923-4  ( Labour )

Percy  took  Tottenham  from  the  Tories.

Percy  was  the  son  of  a  butcher  from  Oxford. He  started  work  as  a  messenger  for  a  local  examination  board  who  encouraged  him  to  study  at  Oxford. He  began  to  train  to  be  a  Congregational  minister. He  began  to  involve  himself  in  social  work . In  1891 he  became  the  first  warden  of  the  Mansion  House  Settlement  in  Canning  Town. He  became  a  member  of  West  Ham  Borough  Council, supporting  but  not  joining  the  Independent  Labour  Group. He  was  a  member  of  the  Fabian  Society  and  the  Rainbow  Circle, a  discussion  group  comprising  Liberals  and  socialists. He  gravitated  towards  the  Quakers  and  contributed  articles  to  their  journal, the  Friend.

Percy  campaigned  for  civil  liberties  and  unemployment  relief. He  favoured  government  assistance  to  trade  union  insurance  schemes  rather  than  a  state  scheme.

Percy  opposed  conscription  on  practical  grounds  , that  denuding  key  industries  of  so  many  men would  negate  any  military  advantage   and  supported  conscientious  objectors. He  supported  the  idea  of  a  League  of  Nations .He  was  not  a  supporter  of  the  coalition  and  was  defeated  by  a  couponed  Conservative  at  Tottenham  North  in  1918.

In  1919  Percy  joined  the  Labour  party  and  came  third  at  Luton  in  1922  allowing  the  Tory  to  take  the  seat. He  won  Tottenham  South  in  1923  but  was  defeated  in  1924.

Percy  became  disillusioned  in  Labour  and  rejoined  the  Liberals  in  1927  attracted  by  the  radical  ideas  on  unemployment  relief. He  became  chairman  of  the  Save  The  Children  Fund  and  supported  educational  and  refugee  charities. He  wrote  a  book  on  unemployment and  supported  movements  back  to  the  land  such  as  garden  cities  and  farm  colonies.

Percy  was  knighted  in  1933.

On  30  June  1944  Percy  was  killed  by  a  V1 flying  rocket  that  landed  in  Tottenham  Court  Road. He  was  79.

1668 James Gibb

Constituency : Harrow  1906-10

James  took  Harrow  from  the  Tories.

James  was  privately  educated  in  Scotland. He  was  a  Congregationalist. He  was  an  insurance  broker  and  underwriter  at  Lloyds.

James  was  a  keen  golfer.

James  stood  down  on  health  grounds  in  January  1910  and  died  a  few  months  later  aged  66.

1667 Vickerman Rutherford

Constituency : Brentford 1906-10

Vickerman  took  Brentford  which  had  been  Tory  since  its  creation  in  1885.

Vickerman  was   a  doctor's  son  educated  at  Royal  High  Schoool, Edinburgh  and  Cambridge. He  became  a  physician  and  practised  in  Newcastle  from  1900 to  1910. In  1900  he  was  the  official  Liberal  candidate  in  Osgoldcross  against  the  Independent  Liberal,  Sir  John  Austin,  but  was  easily  seen  off  in  the  absence  of  a  Tory  candidate.

Vickerman's  parliamentary  contributions  were  all  on  international  affairs  particularly  India. He  pressured  Grey  over  the  constitutional  revolution in  Iran.

Vickerman  was  easily  defeated  in  January  1910  and  didn't  stand  in  December. He  subsequently  practised  in  London  specialising  in  skin  diseases.

In  1918  Vickerman  stood  at  Bishop  Auckland  against  a  couponed  Liberal, Godfrey  Vik  but  came  a  poor  third  with  Labour  taking  the  seat.

Vickerman  then  switched  to  Labour  himself  and  contested  the  Sunderland  by-election  in  1920, coming  second  to  Hamar  Greenwood.

Vickerman  wrote  a  number  of  books  about  India.

He  died  in  1934  aged  73.

1666 Sir William Collins

Constituency : St  Pancras West 1906-10 , Derby  1916-18

William  took  St  Pancras  West  from  the  Tories.

William  was  a  doctor's  son  from  London.He  was  educated  at  University  College  School,  London  and  trained  at  St  Bartholomew's  Hospital. He  held  a  variety  of  positions  there  before  becoming  a  lecturer at  the  University of  London. He  was  noted  for  his  anti-vaccination  views. He  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Vaccination  from  1889 to  1896. He  was  knighted  in  1902. He  was  elected  to  the  L.C.C. in  1892. He  was  chairman  in  1897. In  1904  he  became  chairman  of  the  education committee.

William  was  active  in  promoting  the  Metropolitan  Ambulance  Act  that established  London's  ambulance  service. He  served  on  the  Vivisection  Committee  from  1906-12.

William  served  as  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of  London  from  1907 to 1909  and  again  in  1911-12.

William  held  his  seat  by  10  votes  in  January 1910  then  lost  it  by  9  in  December.

During  the  First  World  War  he was  a  Red  Cross  commissioner in  France  specialising  in  opthalmic  matters.

In  1916  William  came  back  at  Derby, a  seat  that had  selected  Asquith's  doomed  son  Raymond.

William  published  a  number  of  medical  works.

William  was  a  fluent  speaker  with  a  somewhat  lofty  manner.

He  died  in  1946  aged  87.

1665 Philip Wilson

Constituency : St  Pancras  South  1906-10

Philip  unseated  the  Liberal  Unionist  Herbert  Jessel  by  61  votes.

Philip   was  born  in  Kendal. Philip  was  educated  at  Kendal  GRammar  School  and  Oxford.

Philip  was  a  journalist.

Jessel   regained  the  seat  fairly  easily  in  January  1910. Philip  switched  to  Appleby  in  December  but  was  unsuccessful.

Instead,   Philip  became  the  parliamentary  correspondent  for  the  Daily  News. He  wrote  a  number  of  religious  books. He  was  an  opponent  of   Irish  independence  and  promoted  Britain's  case  in  the USA  using  the Civil  War  as  an  example. He  also  wrote  a  weekly  column  in  The  Truth  from  1912  to  1937. He  also  wrote  for  the  New  York  Times.

He  died  in  1956  aged  81.

1664 Willoughby Dickinson

Constituency : St  Pancras  West  1906-18

Willoughby  took  St  Pancras  West  from  the  Tories.

Willoughby  was  the  son  of  the former  Stroud  MP  Sebastian  Dickinson. He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge. He  became  a  Progressive  councillor  and  was  chairman  of  the  L.C.C.  from  1900-1901.

Willoughby  was one  of  the  foremost  supporters  of  female  suffrage  and  made  numerous  attempts  to  get  a  measure  passed  in  the  Commons.He  refused to   criticise  suffragette  militancy. He  was  part  of  the  Speaker's  Conference  on  electoral  reform.

Willoughby  had pacifist  leanings  and  supported  the  League  of  Nations.

In  1918,  Willoughby  was  defeated by  a  couponed  Conservative  due  to  the  intervention of  a  Labour  candidate.

In  1930,  Willoughby  was  created  Baron  Dickinson. He  became  secretary-general  of  the  World  Alliance  for  International  Friendship.

He  died  in 1943  aged  84.