Arthur Comyns Carr
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Sir Arthur Strettell Comyns Carr (19 September 1882 – 20 April 1965) was a British
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 ...
politician and lawyer.


Family and education

Comyns Carr was the son of
J. Comyns Carr Joseph William Comyns Carr (1 March 1849 – 12 December 1916), often referred to as J. Comyns Carr, was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager. Beginning his career as an art critic, Car ...
, a dramatist and art critic. His mother,
Alice Comyns Carr Alice Vansittart Comyns Carr (née Strettell; 1850–1927), was a British costume designer whose work is associated with the Aesthetic dress movement. Family Alice Vansittart Strettell (referred to in succeeding sections as "Carr") was a daug ...
(1850–1927), was a costume designer for the theatre. He was born in
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
and educated at
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
and
Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...
. In 1907, he married Cicely Raikes Bromage, the daughter of a
clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
. They had three sons including Richard Strettell Comyns Carr, the second husband of the avant garde English novelist Barbara Comyns Carr.
Roy Douglas Richard Roy Douglas (12 December 1907 – 23 March 2015) was an English composer, pianist and arranger. He worked as musical assistant to Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, and Richard Addinsell, made well-known orchestrations of works su ...
, "Sir Arthur Comyns Carr", Brack et al. (eds.) ''Dictionary of Liberal Biography''; Politico’s 1998, pp. 84-85


Career

In 1908, Comyns Carr was
called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
at
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
. He became a
King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
in 1924, a
Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...
of the Inn in 1938, and, eventually, Treasurer in 1951. Comyns Carr's reputation as a barrister was confirmed in a libel action brought by
Horatio Bottomley Horatio William Bottomley (23 March 1860 – 26 May 1933) was an English financier, journalist, editor, newspaper proprietor, swindler, and Member of Parliament. He is best known for his editorship of the popular magazine ''John Bull (maga ...
against an associate named Reuben Bigland. Carr's cross-examination of Bottomley and another key witness destroyed his case and was instrumental in Bottomley's eventual imprisonment on charges of fraud and his expulsion from 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. ...
. Comyns Carr later began to specialize in the law relating to
local taxation A comparison of tax rates by countries is difficult and somewhat subjective, as tax laws in most countries are extremely complex and the tax burden falls differently on different groups in each country and sub-national unit. The list focuses on ...
and as a result of appearing in landmark rating appeals he was engaged as counsel to government departments. He also became an expert in the subject of
national insurance National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famil ...
. Much later Comyns Carr was a prosecutor in trials of German and Japanese war criminals, including serving as senior prosecutor at the
trial of Erich von Manstein Erich von Manstein (24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a prominent commander of Nazi Germany's World War II army ( Heer). In 1949 he was tried for war crimes in Hamburg, was convicted of nine of seventeen charges and sentenced to eighteen y ...
in 1949, and he was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
for this work in 1949.


War service

At the outbreak of the First World War Comyns Carr he joined the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
and later served on the staff at 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 of ...
. He also acted as an adviser to the
Ministry of Reconstruction The Ministry of Reconstruction was a department of the United Kingdom government which existed after both World War I and World War II in order to provide for the needs of the population in the post war years. World War I The Ministry of Recons ...
. In the last months of the war he joined the army as a private soldier but did not serve overseas.


Politics

Comyns Carr's expertise in National Insurance led him to co-author a book on the subject in 1912 to which
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
wrote the preface. He was a member of the Liberal land inquiry committee of 1912 and also sat on the land acquisition committee in 1917. His ambition to become a Liberal
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) led Comyns Carr to stand for Parliament on eleven occasions in all. He first stood for election in
1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...
in St Pancras South West against a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
opponent who had received
the Coalition Coupon The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...
and fought the same seat again in
1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
. At the 1923 general election Comyns Carr had his only success, becoming Liberal MP for
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 ...
turning a Unionist majority of nearly 4,000 into a Liberal majority of 1,632 but he lost the seat at the general election of 1924 like many other Liberals swept away as British politics seemed to be reverting to its traditional two party model. In 1928, he was Liberal candidate at the
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
for the constituency of Ilford and fought the seat again in the general election of the following year. In 1930, Comyns Carr published an influential and controversial booklet, ''Escape from the Dole'', which gained him significant public attention. In it he queried the policy of spending large sums of money supporting the unemployed when the government could be investing in providing work for them. He then challenged
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
in his constituency at
Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...
in the 1931 general election and in
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...
he suffered his heaviest defeat ever at
Nottingham East Nottingham East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Nadia Whittome of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Constituency profile On average earners' incomes are slightly lower than the ...
. In June 1936, he was elected to serve on the Liberal Party Council. He stood again in
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...
when he lost at
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
. In October 1945, he was a candidate at another by-election, this time in the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
.


Other public appointments

In later life Comyns Carr served as chairman of the Foreign Compensation Commission (1950–1958) and was a president of the Institute of Industrial Administration and of the Association of Approved Societies. He was also
President of the Liberal Party This is a list of people who served as President of the British Liberal Party. The Liberal Party merged into the Liberal Democrats in 1988. The post was established in 1877 as President of the National Liberal Federation. In 1936, this body was r ...
in 1958–59. Comyns-Carr was also one of the British prosecutors at the
Tokyo Trials The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conv ...
.


Death

He died in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
on 20 April 1965, aged 82. A memorial service was held for him in the chapel of Gray's Inn on 24 May 1965.''The Times'', 25 May 1965.


Ancestry


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comyns Carr, Arthur 1882 births 1965 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1923–1924 British Army personnel of World War I Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK) Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford People educated at Winchester College Prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Knights Bachelor 20th-century King's Counsel