Alfred Baldwin Raper (8 May 1889 – 30 April 1941) was a British businessman, air force officer and Conservative politician. Born in London, he was the son of Walter and Maud Raper of

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and St ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. Educated at Merchant Taylor's School and in Brussels, he entered business as a partner in a firm of timber merchants. He travelled widely in connection with his work in Europe and the Middle East. He was a liveryman of the

Worshipful Company of Woolmen The Worshipful Company of Woolmen is one of the livery companies in the City of London. It is known to have existed in 1180, making it one of the older livery companies of the City. It was officially incorporated in 1522. The company's original ...

. In World War One he obtained a commission in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, qualifying as a pilot in December 1916. He undertook special mission in German-occupied Finland, for which he was awarded the Russian

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

. In 1917 he was adopted as prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Bethnal Green North East. He subsequently contested

Islington East Islington East was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United ...

at the 1918 general election as a Coalition Conservative and was elected to the Commons. He sat as a member of parliament for a single term, and did not contest the next election in 1922. On leaving parliament Raper concentrated on his business interests, much of it involving business in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. He was awarded the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 1926 for his work in the promotion of Anglo-Finnish trade. When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out, Roper made himself available to promote the British cause in neutral countries. In 1940 he made a trip to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on behalf of

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

, the

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

. He went on to make a speaking tour of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He died aged 51 on his voyage back to Britain, when the SS '' Nerissa'' on which he was a passenger, was torpedoed by the German submarine,

U-552 German submarine ''U-552'' was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' for service during World War II. She was laid down on 1 December 1939 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as yard number 528, launched on 14 September 1940, and ...

. He was twice married: in June 1922 he married Elizabeth Marchioness Conyngham of Australia. Following their divorce he married Renée Angêle Rosalie Benoist of France in 1928. He had one daughter from the second marriage, which also broke down.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raper, Alfred Baldwin 1889 births 1941 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 Lords of the Admiralty People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Royal Flying Corps officers British civilians killed in World War II People lost at sea