Sir Alfred Bakewell Howitt CVO (11 February 1879 – 8 December 1954) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

medical doctor who became a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician.

Early life and medical career

Howitt was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, the youngest son of Dr Francis Howitt, a doctor from an old Quaker family whose relatives included the anthropologist Alfred William Howitt. He was schooled at

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orph ...

and then graduated in natural sciences from

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, before training as a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. After several years as a hospital doctor in London, he served during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, before returning to London in 1919 and practising as a physician in

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

Political career

Howitt first stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 1929 general election in Preston, where he failed to win either of the two seats. He was unsuccessful again at the Preston by-election in July 1929. Howitt entered the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

on his third attempt, when he was elected at the 1931 general election as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

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in Berkshire.Craig, op. cit, page 222 He was re-elected in 1935 and held the seat until he stood down at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

. In Parliament, Howitt worked with doctors in other political parties, and was chairman of the Parliamentary Medical Committee in 1943.

Honours

He was made a

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

in April 1928, and knighted in the 1945 New Years Honours List, for political and public services.

References

External links

*
National Archives : Howitt family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howitt, Alfred 1879 births 1954 deaths English Quakers Politicians from Nottingham Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Bachelor People educated at Epsom College Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I