Charles Roden Buxton (27 November 1875 – 16 December 1942) 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 ...

philanthropist and radical British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. He survived an assassination attempt during a mission to the Balkans in 1914.

Early life

He was born in London, the third son of

Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet, (26 January 1837 – 28 October 1915), commonly known as Sir Fowell Buxton, was the Governor of South Australia from 29 October 1895 until 29 March 1899. He was the grandson of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, a ...

. His elder brother Noel Buxton was a prominent figure in British politics, as was his cousin Sidney Buxton. He grew up on the family estate in Essex and was educated at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, taking a first in Classics and becoming president of the Cambridge Union. After leaving university he travelled to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, where his father was

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, as well as other locations in France, the Far East, India and America. He took up law and was called to the bar in 1902. He gave lectures at Morley College and was principal there from 1902 to 1910. He wrote articles on various subjects and edited the ''Albany Review'' from 1906 to 1908. In 1904 he married

Dorothy Frances Jebb Dorothy Frances Buxton (née Jebb; 3 March 1881 – 8 April 1963) was an English humanitarian, social activist and commentator on Germany. Life Dorothy Frances Jebb was born 3 August 1881 in Ellesmere, Shropshire, the youngest of three sisters bo ...

. The Jebbs, apart from being a well-off family, also had a strong social conscience and commitment to public service; her mother,

Eglantyne Louisa Jebb Eglantyne Louisa Jebb ( Jebb; 1845/1846 - November 1925) was an Anglo-Irish social reformer. A keen supporter of the arts and crafts movement, in 1884 she founded the Home Arts and Industries Association as a way of reviving country crafts and o ...

, had founded the

Home Arts and Industries Association The Home Arts and Industries Association was part of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain. It was founded in 1884 by Eglantyne Louisa Jebb, mother of Save the Children founders, Dorothy and Eglantyne Jebb and Louisa Wilkins who helped start t ...

, to promote Arts and Crafts among young people in rural areas, her sister Louisa would help found the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...

World War I 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 ...

, and Dorothy and her sister

Eglantyne Jebb Eglantyne Jebb (25 August 1876 – 17 December 1928) was a British social reformer who founded the Save the Children organisation at the end of the First World War to relieve the effects of famine in Austria-Hungary and Germany. She drafted th ...

co-founded the international charity and movement

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. The Buxtons lived a frugal lifestyle - on their walking tours in the south of England, they were sometimes mistaken for tramps - and moved to

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

, a working class area of London. They had two children and later moved to the more affluent area of Golders Green.

Political career

He stood as a Liberal candidate in

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

in 1906 and Ashburton in 1908. Eventually he was elected as a

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 ...

in Ashburton in 1910 but lost his seat in the second election of that year. In 1914 he, along with his brother Noel, was his way to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. They had stopped in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in October 1914. While there, an assassination attempt was made on them, by

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

activist,

Hasan Tahsin Hasan Tahsin was the code name of Osman Nevres (1888 – 15 May 1919), a Turkish nationalist, patriot, and journalist of Dönmeh descent. Hailed as a Turkish war hero, his name has been given by the Turkish Armed Forces to the Information ...

. He was shot through the lung, but survived. His brother also was wounded in the jaw. Tashsin was captured and sent to prison for five years. Boulevard Brothers Buxton in Sofia, Bulgaria

Boulevard Brothers Buxton in Sofia, Bulgaria

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 ...

, he was one of the minority arguing for a negotiated peace and was a founder member of the Union of Democratic Control. In 1917, he left the Liberal Party and joined the Independent Labour Party. As secretary to the Labour Party's delegation to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1920, he was very impressed by what he saw, and wrote a book about it, ''In A Russian Village'' (1922). 1918 he contested

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

for the Labour Party and lost, won the seat in 1922, and lost again in 1923. He won the seat of

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It ha ...

in 1929, but was defeated in 1931 and 1935. Buxton was always much more effective behind the scenes, acting as policy advisor on foreign and colonial issues to the Labour Party. He showed particular interest in the rights of indigenous people of Africa, and travelled widely in the continent. Another of his interests was

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

, becoming president of the international society of Quaker Esperantists.''Enciklopedio de Esperanto''
1933. With Dorothy, he became a member of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

. They were eager campaigners for peace, and were critical of what they perceived as the unfairness to Germany of the

treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II they still argued that peace could be attained by responding to German grievances. The outbreak of war was a great disappointment to them both.

Last years and death

Charles retired from politics in 1939 and lived in his daughter's house in

Peaslake Peaslake, Hoe, and Colman's Hill are in the centre of the Surrey Hills AONB and mid-west of the Greensand Ridge about ESE of Guildford. Surrounded by denser pine and other coniferous forest-clad hills, the three conjoined settlements have a ...

, Surrey, where he died and was buried in 1942. Although he had two children, he left most of his estate to charity.

Notes

References

* * V. A. B. De Bunsen, ''Charles Roden Buxton: a memoir'' (1948) * ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', obituary of Charles Roden Buxton, 17 December 1942

External links

*
Buxton papers at London School of Economics (LSE) Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxton, Charles Roden Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Independent Labour Party MPs Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Union People educated at Harrow School English Quakers 1875 births 1942 deaths UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1929–1931 English Esperantists Younger sons of baronets

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...