Alfred Lafone (13 February 1821 – 26 April 1911) of Hanworth Park,

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, was a British leather merchant and

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 in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was the

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 of ...

(MP) for Bermondsey from 1886 to 1892, and from 1895 to 1900.

Origins

Lafone was born in the

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West ...

area of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, the fourth son of Samuel Lafone. His half-brother was

Samuel Fisher Lafone Samuel Fisher Lafone (Liverpool, 1805 – Buenos Aires, April 30, 1871) was a British-born Uruguayan businessman. Lafone developed an important economic activity in Montevideo and Argentina. He established a settlement at Hope Place on the sou ...

(1805-1871), a powerful and influential businessman based in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, dealing in cattle and hides, the wealthiest British resident in South America who in 1843 made a spectacular land purchase in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and had purchased a large estate on East Falkland.

Career

He was educated privately, and moved to Bermondsey in London where he joined the leather and hide factors business of Boutcher, Mortimore and Company. He was elected in 1870 as a member of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

, and was re-elected in 1873. In 1873 he purchased the large mansion house and estate of Hanworth Park, near London. At the 1885 general election he unsuccessfully contested the new Bermondsey division of Southwark, losing by only 83 votes (1.2% of the total) to the sitting

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Thorold Rogers James Edwin Thorold Rogers (23 March 1823 – 14 October 1890), known as Thorold Rogers, was an English economist, historian and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1886. He deployed historical and statistical method ...

. He had been selected by the local Conservative Association in preference to John Dumphreys, who had been put forward as a Conservative working man's candidate. However, he defeated Rogers at the 1886 election, taking the seat with a

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

of 3.4%. In 1888, he chaired a committee set up to raise funds for the establishment of a series of South London Polytechnics. The first of the three institutes was

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

in New Cross, which opened in 1891, followed in 1892 by the Borough Road Polytechnic, of which Lafone became a governor. By 1892 he had become a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

(JP) for

, but at the 1892 general election he lost his seat in Parliament to the Liberal Party candidate

Reuben Barrow Sir Reuben Vincent Barrow (27 April 1838 – 13 February 1918) was an English magistrate and Liberal Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bermondsey from 1892 to 1895. Barrow was elected at the 1892 general election as MP ...

, on a swing of 7.9%. He stood again in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

, with the active support of the local

Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

. On election day, his campaign was assisted by many loans of carriages, including from the Duke of Norfolk, the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor dynasty, Tudor and House of Stuart, Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was ...

, the

Earl of Yarborough Earl of Yarborough is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1837 for Charles Anderson-Pelham, 2nd Baron Yarborough. History The Anderson-Pelham family descends from Francis Anderson of Manby, Lincolnshire. He marrie ...

Lord Iveagh Earl of Iveagh (pronounced —especially in Dublin—or ) is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1919 for the businessman and philanthropist Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, Edward Guinness, 1st Viscount Iveagh. He was ...

, and

Baroness Burdett-Coutts Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

. The sitting Liberal MP, Reuben Barrow, was supported by processions of workingmen, but Lafone regained the seat with a majority of 360 votes (4.4% of the total). Lafone retired from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1900 general election, on account of his "advanced age"; he was by then 79 years old.

Marriage and progeny

In 1852 Lafone married Jane Boutcher, daughter of William Boutcher of

Grateley Grateley is a village and civil parish in the north west of Hampshire, England. The name is derived from the Old English ''grēat lēah'', meaning 'great wood or clearing'. The village is divided into two distinct settlements, apart: the old vi ...

in Hampshire. She died on 9 April 1885.

Death

He died aged 90 on 26 April 1911, at his mansion house Hanworth Park having been ill for about four months.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafone, Alfred 1821 births 1911 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1895–1900 Politics of the London Borough of Southwark People from Bermondsey People associated with London South Bank University Members of the London School Board