Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale

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William Jocelyn Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale , CBE CH (* the thirtieth August 1897 in Eastbourne , East Sussex , † December 19 and 20th December 1974 ) was a British politician of the Conservative Party long, the intermittently total of 29 years Was a Member of the House of Commons . The since its participation in the war as a captain of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry at the Battle of the Somme on July 23, 1916 blind Fraser was the first Briton, who due to the Life Peerages Act 1958 on 1 August 1958 as a Life Peer member of the House of Lords was .

Life

First World War, blindness and social engagement

Named after Ian Fraser, the Ian Fraser House of the St Dunstan's Blind Assistance Organization in Ovingdean

Fraser was a son of the South African merchant William Percy Fraser, who had a significant influence on the development of Johannesburg , and spent his childhood in South Africa. He completed his education at the St Cyprian's School in his native Eastbourne and at Marlborough College . After a subsequent training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst he joined the King's Shropshire Light Infantry as an officer and was transferred as a captain to France during the First World War , where he was seriously injured during the Battle of the Somme on July 23, 1916 and thereby went blind in both eyes.

Through his blindness he came into contact with the publisher and founder of the Daily Express , Arthur Pearson , who was himself blind and was President of the Royal National Institute of Blind People. In the following years Fraser got involved in the St Dunstan's founded by Pearson, today's Blind Veterans UK, a facility to support soldiers who went blind during the war. After Pearson's death, he became chairman of St Dunstan's in 1921 and headed that charity for over 52 years until his death in 1974. His experiences with his blindness and his social commitment he processed in two autobiographies.

Member of the House of Commons and House of Lords

In the mid-1920s, Fraser began his political involvement in the Conservative and Unionist Party and was first elected to the House of Commons in the general election on October 24, 1924 , in the constituency of St Pancras North with a narrow majority of 793 votes was able to prevail against the previous constituency holder James Marley of the Labor Party . However, he lost his lower house mandate in the subsequent general election on May 30, 1929 to Marley, who this time received 17,458 votes, while Fraser was able to unite 14,343 votes.

In the general election of October 27, 1931 Fraser was able to prevail again in the constituency of St Pancras North against Marley, this time with a clear majority of 10,233 votes. For his social commitment to the St Dunstan's aid organization for the blind, he was beaten to a Knight Bachelor degree on January 1, 1934 , and from then on carried the suffix "Sir". After he was appointed governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), he had to resign on January 14, 1937, his seat. Successor in this constituency was then at a by-election ( by-election ) on 4 February 1937 his party colleague Robert Grant Harris . At the same time, he has been a member of the advisory board of Fraser Ltd, his family's company in South Africa, since the mid-1930s.

After David Lindsay after the death of his father David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford on March 8, 1940, his title heir as 28th Earl of Crawford and therefore resigned his seat in the House of Commons, Fraser was in a by-election on April 12, 1940 in the constituency of Lonsdale again elected unopposed candidate to the House of Commons, where he was able to maintain his function as governor of the BBC due to the start of the Second World War in the public interest. Between 1947 and 1958 he also served as national president of the war veterans' organization Royal British Legion .

After the constituency of Lonsdale was dissolved and reorganized into the new constituency of Morecambe and Lonsdale in the general election on February 23, 1950 , Fraser was elected the first MP of this new constituency, receiving 60.3 percent of the vote. In the subsequent general election on October 25, 1951 and May 26, 1955 , he received 69.5 and 71.2 percent of the vote, respectively, and was able to clearly prevail against the respective candidates of the Labor Party.

With a letters patent dated August 1, 1958, Fraser, who in 1953 became a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor (CH) consisting of a maximum of 65 people , became the first British person to become a life peer with the title Baron Fraser under the Life Peerages Act 1958 of Lonsdale , of Regent's Park in the County of London , member of the House of Lords and belonged to it until his death. Successor as a member of the lower house in the constituency of Morecambe and Lonsdale was in a by-election on November 6, 1958 Basil de Ferranti , who at the age of 28 was the youngest member of the lower house and thus Baby of the House .

On October 14, 1976, a plaque was unveiled in his honor at Westminster Abbey for his commitment to the blind.

Publications

  • Whereas I was Blind: Autobiography Hodder & Stoughton, 1942
  • My Story of St Dunstan's , Harrap, 1961

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34066, HMSO, London, January 1, 1934, p. 4223 ( PDF , accessed October 16, 2013, English).
  2. ^ Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 41545, HMSO, London, November 11, 1958, p. 6877 ( PDF , accessed October 16, 2013, English).
  4. ^ Ian Fraser, Lord Fraser of Lonsdale on the homepage of Westminster Abbey
personal data
SURNAME Fraser, Ian, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fraser, William Jocelyn Ian, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British entrepreneur and politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Eastbourne , East Sussex
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1974 or December 20, 1974