Sir Henry Arthur Colefax, KBE, KC (9 July 1866 – 19 February 1936) was a British

patent law A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

yer and

Liberal Unionist 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 politic ...

politician. Colefax was born in Bradford,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, and was the son of J S Colefax, a woollen merchant. He was initially educated at

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school ...

before studying natural science and chemistry at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, and at Merton and Christ Church Colleges at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

.''Obituary: Sir Arthur Colfax K.C.'', The Times, 21 February 1936 In 1894 he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, and quickly became an acknowledged expert on patent law. He was made a King's Counsel in 1912. At the January 1910 general election he was elected as Liberal Unionist

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 Manchester South West, benefiting from a split in anti-Unionist vote between the Social Democratic Federation and

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 ...

candidates. He held the seat for less than a year, and was defeated at ensuing election in December. Much of his work was involved in Anglo-German patents, but this was ended by outbreak of 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 ...

. He became head of the scientific department of the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

for the duration of the war. He was knighted for his wartime services in 1920. In 1918 he was appointed as solicitor-general of the County Palatine of Durham, becoming Chancellor of the Chancery Court of the Palatine in 1930. These offices had been almost entirely ceremonial since 1837. In 1901 he married Sibyl Halsey, and they had two sons. Sibyl Colefax was to become a renowned

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

. Colefax died from pneumonia at his

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home in 1936, aged 69.

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* 1866 births 1936 deaths Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910 Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century King's Counsel People educated at Bradford Grammar School People from Bradford {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1860s-stub