Sunday, 4 February 2018
1814 Frederick Guest
Constituency : Dorset East 1910, 1910-22, Stroud 1923-4, Bristol North 1924-9, Plymouth Drake 1931-7 ( Conservative )
Frederick took over from Charles Lyell at Dorset East.
Frederick was a younger son of Baron Wimborne and first cousin to Winston Churchill.He was educated at Winchester. He joined the army and saw service in Egypt and the Boer War, rising to the rank of captain. He followed Churchill into the Liberals over Free Trade. In 1905 he married an American heiress. He became Churchill's private secretary in 1906.In 1906 he contested Cockermouth following the death of Wilfrid Lawson but lost out due to the intervention of a Labour candidate.
Frederick was initially disqualified due to election irregularities but his elder brother Henry held the seat until he could stand again in December.
In 1911 Frederick was appointed a whip and was unopposed at the by-election. In 1912 he became Deputy Chief Whip.
When World War One broke out, Frederick returned to active service and became aide-de-camp to Sir John French. In 1916 he served in East Africa but fell ill and was invalided out.
In May 1917 Frederick became chief whip for the Coalition Liberals. He dissuaded Lloyd George from trying to oust Asquith from the Liberal leadership. He was popular across the House.
In 1921 Frederick became Secretary of State for Air. He was again unopposed at the by-election
In 1922, Frederick came third with an Independent Unionist taking the seat.
In 1923 Frederick won at Stroud. In 1924 he switched to Bristol North which Henry had lost to Labour in 1923. Frederick won, aided by the withdrawal of the Unionists.
In 1929 Frederick stood as an Independent Liberal opposed by an official candidate, He came second to Labour.
Frederick then rejoined the Conservatives and won Plymouth Drake for them in 1931 and 1935.
Frederick was a keen polo player and won a Bronze medal at the 1924 Olympics. He spent a lot of time in America where he had property and was a popular socialite. He was also keen on cars, aeroplanes and big game hunting in Africa.
He died of cancer in 1937 aged 61.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment