Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke

Sir Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke (17 February 1863 – 16 April 1925) was an English Liberal Party politician.

Family and education

Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was the son of Thomas Chatfeild-Clarke, who was a Fellow of both the Royal Institute of British Architects and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and his wife Ellen (née Nettlefold) from Birmingham. Thomas Chatfeild-Clarke was the Liberal candidate for Poole in Dorset^[1] and later for Hammersmith,^[2] which he contested unsuccessfully at the 1885 general election. He was also a member of the London School Board^[3] and was closely connected to Liberal political causes such as The Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control^[4] and franchise reform.^[5] He was connected with the Unitarians, as was his wife's family, and built the 1886 headquarters for the denomination on the site of the original Essex Street Chapel.^[6]

Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was educated at King's College School and privately in Dresden in the German state of Saxony. He was a cousin of Joseph Chamberlain.^[7] He never married.^[8]

Career

Chatfeild-Clarke seems to have been a man with a

House of Commons on behalf of the Surveyors' Institution, for the registration of the profession and to protect the public from employing unqualified personnel as surveyors, land agents or auctioneers.^[11] However the Bill failed to pass as Chatfeild-Clarke did not achieve a sufficiently high placing in the Private Members' Ballot but the seed of future regulation of the profession had been sown.^[12]

Politics

Local politics

Chatfeild-Clarke did however inherit his father's political inclinations. He was first elected to the

Justice of the Peace, a member of the Isle of Wight Education Committee and as a member of the IoW Advisory Committee re the appointment of Magistrates.^[8]

He was an officer of the Island Liberal Federation, being its President in 1920.[13]

Parliament

1922

Chatfeild-Clarke stood for

deposit gaining 11.2% of the poll. The Conservative vote was also badly split by the intervention of an Independent Conservative candidate, who took 21% of the poll. This allowed Chatfeild-Clarke to top the poll with a majority of 1,582 votes.^[14]

1923

Chatfeild-Clarke decided that he did not wish to stand again for Parliament again. He cited poor health as his reason for standing down [7] but there was speculation that he was standing aside to make way for the former MP, Jack Seely, to get back into the House of Commons.^[15] Seely held the seat in 1923 – but only just, securing a majority of 90 votes or 0.3% of the total number of votes cast. Labour again lost their deposit.^[14]

Other honours and appointments

Chatfeild-Clarke was

knighted in 1913^[16] and was appointed a deputy governor of the Isle of Wight in 1920.^[17]

Death

Chatfeild-Clarke died on 16 April 1925 of influenza at his home in Wooton on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 62.^[7]

References

^ The Times, 21 July 1884 p7
^ The Times, 21 May 1885 p6
^ The Times 25 April 1891 p6
^ The Times,14 January 1885 p7
^ The Times, 22 July 1884 p10
^ "The History of Essex Hall by Mortimer Rowe B.A., D.D. Lindsey Press, 1959". Archived from the original on 16 January 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Times, 17 April 1925 p12
^ ^a ^b Who was Who, OUP 2007
^ http://www.woottonbridgeiow.co.uk/Churches/St%20Michael%20and%20All%20Angels.htm^{[permanent dead link]}
^ The Times, 25 May 1914 p30
^ The Times, 12 April 1923 p8
^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2017.
^ The Times, 18 June 1920 p13
^ ^a ^b F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p379
^ The Times, 28 November 1923 p7
^ The Times, 12 June 1913 p11
^ "No. 32004". The London Gazette. 3 August 1920. p. 8092.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Douglas Bernard Hall	Member of Parliament for the Isle of Wight 1922 – 1923	Succeeded by John Seely

[1] The Times, 21 July 1884 p7

[2] The Times, 21 May 1885 p6

[3] The Times 25 April 1891 p6

[4] The Times,14 January 1885 p7

[5] The Times, 22 July 1884 p10

[6] "The History of Essex Hall by Mortimer Rowe B.A., D.D. Lindsey Press, 1959". Archived from the original on 16 January 2012.

[The_Times,_17_April_1925_p12-7] The Times, 17 April 1925 p12

[Who_was_Who,_OUP_2007-8] Who was Who, OUP 2007

[9] ttp://www.woottonbridgeiow.co.uk/Churches/St%20Michael%20and%20All%20Angels.htm^{[permanent dead link]}

[10] The Times, 25 May 1914 p30

[11] The Times, 12 April 1923 p8

[12] "Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2017.

[13] The Times, 18 June 1920 p13

[S_Craig,_p379-14] F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p379

[15] The Times, 28 November 1923 p7

[16] The Times, 12 June 1913 p11

[17] "No. 32004". The London Gazette. 3 August 1920. p. 8092.

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