Frank Nelson (British politician)

Air Commodore
Sir Frank Nelson
KCMG
Air Commodore Sir Frank Nelson KCMG
Born	5 August 1883
Died	11 August 1966

Sir Frank Nelson

KCMG

(5 August 1883 – 11 August 1966) was a British civil servant, intelligence officer and politician.

Life

Nelson was born at Bentham, near Brockworth, Gloucestershire, to Henry Ellis Hay Nelson and Catherine Haviland.^[1] He attended Bedford School and Neuenheim College, Heidelberg. After leaving school he travelled to India with the firm of Symons, Barlow and Co, eventually becoming a senior partner.^[1]

First World War and political career

During the

First World War he served as an officer with the Bombay Light Horse. In 1922 he was appointed chairman of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, and was made President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India and Ceylon in 1923.^[2]

Nelson served on the legislative council of Bombay from 1922 to 1924. He received a knighthood in 1924 and moved back to England, where he was elected

resigned his seat

in May 1931.

Second World War and the SOE

At the outbreak of the

Second World War he was the Consul to Basel, working in intelligence, but as Germany invaded France in 1940, he was driven by Richard Arnold-Baker, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), to the mouth of the Gironde where the Nariva took them back to London so that he could take over the Special Operations Executive or SOE. He was appointed as its chief by order of the War Office.^[3]

Nelson, despite the government's objections, urged the war ministry to allow the SOE to support resistance groups in Europe.[1]

Personal life

He wore himself out establishing the organisation, and retired in 1942 due to ill health. He had married in 1911 Jean, daughter of Colonel Patrick Montgomerie; they had one son. She died in 1952 and he then married Dorothy Moira Carling. He died in Oxford on 11 August 1966. His second wife survived him.^[3]

References

^
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35198
. Retrieved 10 September 2021.

^ "Who's Who". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Obituary: Sir Frank Nelson". The Times. No. 56709. 13 August 1966. p. 10.

Obituary at the Stroud History Website taken from The Times

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Frank Nelson

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Freddie Guest	Member of Parliament for Stroud 1924 – 1931	Succeeded by Walter Perkins

S.O.E. CD1 - The Life and Times of Sir Frank Nelson by Mike Palmer: Date of publication 5 August 2018.

[:0-1] 
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35198
. Retrieved 10 September 2021.

[2] "Who's Who". Retrieved 6 October 2014.

[:1-3] "Obituary: Sir Frank Nelson". The Times. No. 56709. 13 August 1966. p. 10.

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