1633 Charles Roberts

Constituency : Lincoln 1906-18, Derby  1922-23

Charles  took  Lincoln  from  the  Liberal  Unionist  Charles  Seely  , helped  by  a  Conservative  in  the  field  as  well.

Charles  was  a  vicar's  son  from  Sussex. He  was  educated  at  Marlborough  College  and  Oxford.  He  taught  at  Exeter  College, Oxford  from  1889  to  1895. He  stood  for  Wednesbury  in  1895  and  Lincoln  in  1900.

Charles  was  a  radical  and  a  temperance  reform  enthusiast. He  supported  female  suffrage. He  supplied  a  large  slice  of  the  Lincoln  party's  income.

Charles  retained  his  seat  in  January  1910  when  Seely  slipped  to  third  and  narrowly  in  December  when  Seely  didn't  stand.

Charles  served  as  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  India  from  1914  to  1915. He  then  became  Comptroller of  the  Household. He  was  chairman  of  the  National  Health  Insurance  Joint  Committee  from  1915  to  1916.

Charles  went  out  of  office  with  Asquith  then  came  third  in  1918  when  the  Conservative  got  the  coupon.

Charles  came  back  in  1922  at  Derby  coming  second  to  Labour's  Jimmy  Thomas. He lost  heavily  in  1923  swapping  places  with  Labour's  William  Raynes  who'd  come  fourth  in  1922.

Charles  was  married  to  the daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  and  he  retired  to  Cumberland. He  became  involved  in  job  creation  schemes  in  the  area. He  was  chairman  of  Cumberland  County  Council  from 1938  to  1958 . He  also  chaired  the  Cumberland  branch  of  the  N.F.U. and  the  county's  wartime  agricultural  committee.

He  died in  1959  aged  93. His  son  Wilfrid  became  a  Liberal  MP  in  1935.

1632 Carlyon Bellairs

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.

1631 Alexander Boulton

Constituency : Ramsey  1906-10

Alexander  took  the  normally  solid  Tory  seat  of  Ramsey.

Alexander  was  a  barrister  from  Canada.

Alexander  supported  the  compulsory  purchase  of  land  for  allotments. He  opposed  the  Roman  Catholic  Disabilities  Removal  Bill  in  1909  due  to  Jesuit  activity  in  Quebec.

Alexander  was  narrowly  defeated  in  the  two  1910  elections.

Alexander  helped  found  the  English-speaking  Union.

Alexander  re-surfaced  in  the  1923  election  when  he  was  narrowly  defeated  by  the  Tories  in  New  Forest  and  Christchurch. In  1924,  a Labour  candidate  stood  and  Alexander  was  much  further  behind.

He  died  in  1949  aged  86.

1630 Leslie Renton

Constituency : Gainsborough  1906-10  ( from  1907  Liberal  Unionist )

Leslie  took  Gainsborough  from  the  Tories.

Leslie  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Sandhurst. He  joined  the  army  in  1888  and  served  in  the  Boer  War. He  travelled  in  Africa  and  Central  Asia. He  stood  for  Dorset  South  in  1900.

Once  in  Parliament  Leslie  was  taken  aback  by  the  reforming  zeal  of  the  government  and  in  1907  crossed  over  to  sit  with  the  Liberal  Unionists. He  decried  the  Licensing  Bill  of  1908  at  a  demonstration in  Hyde  Park. He  described  proposals  for  reform  of  the  Lords  as  "meddling ".

In  January  1910,  Leslie  switched  seats  but  failed  to  unseat  Rufus  Isaacs  at  Reading.

Leslie  served during  World  War  One.

He  died  in  1947  aged  78.

1629 Edwin Montagu

Constituency : Chesterton  1906-18, Cambridgeshire  1918-22

Edwin  took  Chesterton  from  the  Tories.

Edwin  was  the  son  of  the  former  Whitechapel  MP , Samuel  Montagu  and  cousin  to  Herbert  Samuel. He  was  educated  at  Clifton  College  and  Cambridge  where  he  became  president  of  the  Union. He  was  Jewish. He  had  a reputation  as  a  thoughtful  and  impressive  orator. He  was  a  radical  who  supported  the  direction  of  travel  towards  social  reform. He  wrote  a  book  called  Canada  and  the  Empire. He  refused  to  become  a  barrister  which  enraged  his  father.

Once  in  Parliament , Edwin  became Asquith's  parliamentary  private  secretary and part  of  his  social  set  although  the  latter  gave  him  the  charmingly  racist  nickname "The  Assyrian"  in  correspondence. He  was  a  fairly  quiet  member  at  first  but  was  observed  supporting  Asquith  and  his  ability  slowly  began  to  be  recognised.  He  also  made  enemies  of  Charles  Dilke  over  taxation  and  Rosebery  over  land  reform. In  1910  he  was  made  under  secretary  of  state  for  India.

In  1912  Edwin  holidayed  in  Sicily  with  Asquith. The  PM  was  accompanied  by  his  daughter  Violet  who  brought  along  her  friend  Venetia. Both  men  became  obsessed  with  her. While  Asquith  channelled  his  desire  into  incessant  correspondence  Edwin  proposed  to  her  the  following  year. She  declined  partly  because  he  had  to  marry  into  the  Jewish  faith  to  keep  his  inheritance  and  she  was  unwilling  to  convert.

In  1914  Edwin  was  promoted  to  Financial  Secretary  to  the  Treasury. He  briefly  relinquished  it  when  promoted  to  the  Cabinet  as  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  but  soon  took  it  up  again.

In  1915  Venetia  finally  accepted  Edwin's  proposal  and   converted  to  Judaism  before  they  were  married.

In  1916  Edwin  took  over  from  Lloyd  George  as  Minister  of  Munitions. When  Lloyd  George   became  Prime  Minister,  Edwin  was  in  a  difficult  position, wanting  to  continue  his  career  yet  not  happy  about  deserting  his  friend. Lloyd  George  initially  helped  him  out  by  not  considering  him  for  office  but  he  had  a  powerful  advocate  in  Maurice  Hankey, the  Cabinet   Secretary  and  in  1917  he  rejoined  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  State  for  India.

Edwin  was  not  afraid  to  speak  his  mind  and  strongly  opposed  the  Balfour  Declaration  which  he  regarded  as  anti-semitic. In  a  memo  to  Cabinet  he  wrote  that  "Jews  will  hereafter  be  treated  as  foreigners  in  every  country but  Palestine". He  managed  to  modify  the  wording.

In  1918  Edwin  switched  to  Cambridgeshire  and  had  an  easy  victory  over  an  Independent  Labour  candidate.

Edwin  went  to  the  Paris  Peace  Conference  to  speak  for  India's  interests  and  opposed  plans  for  dismemberment  of  Turkey, fearing  the  effects  of  this  policy on  India's  Muslim  population.

Edwin  was  an  enlightened  administrator  and  dealt  with  the  rise  of  Gandhi  calmly. He  came  up  with  a  reform  plan  embodied  in  the  Government  of  India  Act  1919  leading  towards  dominion  status. He  was  viciously  attacked  in  anti-semitic  terms  by  his  supposed  Conservative  allies  in  the  Commons.

In  1922  Edwin   resigned  in  frustration  at  the  slow  pace  of  reform. In  the  election  that  year  he  came  third.

By  that  time,  Edwin's health  was  in  decline. He  died  in  1924  aged  45  possibly  from  encephalitis.

1628 Stanley Buckmaster

Constituency : Cambridge 1906-10,  Keighley  1911-15

Stanley  took  Cambridge  from  the  Tories.

Stanley  was  educated  at  Aldenham  and  Oxford. He  became  a  barrister.

Stanley  was  defeated  in  January  1910  and  failed  to  recapture  the  seat  in  December.

Stanley  supported  female  suffrage.

In  1911  Stanley  returned  to  the  Commons  for  Keighley.  He  became  counsel  to  the  University  of  Oxford. He  was  appointed  to  Solicitor-General  in  1913  and  comfortably  retained  the  seat  in  the  by-election. He  was  knighted  at  the  same  time.

In  1915  the  Tories  made  the  removal  of  Haldane  as  Lord  Chancellor  a  condition  of  joining  the  wartime  coalition. Stanley  was  chosen  as  his  replacement  and  created  Baron  Buckmaster  for  the  purpose. He  served  until  Asquith's  resignation  in  1916.

Stanley  was  chairman  of  the  Political  Honours  Review  Committee  between  1924  and  1929.

Stanley  was  upgraded  to  a  viscount  in  1933.

He  died  in  1934  aged  73.

1627 George Faber

Constituency : Boston 1906-10

George  took  Boston  from  the  Tories.

George  was  from  London. He  was  an  insurance  underwriter  specialising  in  marine  insurance. He was on  the  committee  of  Lloyd's of  London  and  The  Times  regarded  him  as  a  potential  chairman.

George's  most substantial  contribution  to  the  House  was  a  short  speech  in  favour  of  reductions  in  military  expenditure.

George  stood  down  after  one  term.

He  died  in  April  1910  aged  70.