Charles Alfred Cripps, Vanity Fair, 1902-04-10

Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor, (3 October 1852 – 30 June 1941) was a British politician who

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

from the

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 in ...

to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...

and of

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causes.

Family and early career

Cripps was born in 1852 in West Ilsley,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, the third son of Henry William Cripps, a wealthy barrister and

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from

. He attended

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 ...

from 1866 and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

, from 1871, both on scholarships, and won four first classes at

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. At the end of his undergraduate years he was awarded a Fellowship at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...

, which he held for six years. He was called to the Bar from the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1877 and went into practice as a barrister. In 1890 he became a

and in 1893 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 ca ...

of the Middle Temple. He was appointed as Attorney-General to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

in 1895, an appointment he retained until 1914 under two further Princes, the future George V in 1901 and the future Edward VIII in 1910; his personal service to the Royal family was rewarded in 1908 with a knighthood in the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, ...

Parliament

Cripps later claimed to have been a supporter of the Liberal Party, but in deference to his die-hard Conservative father, he declined to get involved in politics. However he sided with the Unionists over the issue of home rule for Ireland and was elected as a Unionist to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

for

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

in 1895, where he was a member of the South Africa Commission (investigating the Jameson Raid). He lost his seat in 1900, but soon returned in a by-election as MP for

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and n ...

. As a devout Anglican of the

high church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originat ...

tradition, Cripps was very active in church affairs and was appointed

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in 1900 and of

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in 1902. He again lost his seat in the Liberal landslide victory of 1906, but was elected for Wycombe (the constituency which included the family home) in 1910. He received a peerage from the Liberal government in 1914 and took the title Baron Parmoor, of Frieth in the County of Buckingham, from the family estate. 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 fig ...

he headed a committee determining compensation for damage caused by German air raids. Although not a judge, he was specially appointed to the Privy Council and to its Judicial Committee, and was among the members of it which ruled on the case of ''The Zamora'' (1916),Privy Council, The Zamora, On Appeal from the High Court, Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division. (In Prize.) Powers of King in Council – Royal Prerogative – Extent to which Orders in Council are binding – Inherent Powers of the Court – Preservation of Property in Specie – Neutral Cargo – Contraband – Seizure as Prize – Requisition before Adjudication – Validity – Prize Court Rules
at uniset.ca concerning the owner's rights on requisition of a neutral cargo ship, which he later considered, when sitting as a member of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords on the government's appeal concerning an owner's entitlement to compensation for requisition of a London hotel, in the case of '' A-G v De Keyser's Royal Hotel Ltd'' (1920).

Great War

Parmoor considered that his elevation to the peerage in a semi-judicial role had removed any previous political affiliations. The war had a profound effect on Parmoor's political views, as he considered the decision to go to war a disaster. He opposed conscription and sympathised with

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to obje ...

s, who he thought were subject to excessive punishment. In the aftermath of war, he became very active in international causes, setting up the 'Fight the Famine Council' which had as its secondary objective the establishment of a League of Nations. The organisation was non-partisan but several

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

and senior members of the Labour Party took part. When the National Church Assembly was established in 1920 to govern the

, Parmoor was elected to the House of Laity and became its first chairman.

Labour Party

Parmoor approved of the statement on peace in the Labour Party's 1923 election manifesto. After the election, with a Labour government in prospect, he received a letter from Ramsay MacDonald inviting him to join it. Parmoor wrote that he "should rejoice in the formation of a Labour Government under your leadership". He was made Lord President of the Council and joint

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

with Viscount Haldane, with the difficult job of piloting government legislation through a House in which it had minimal support. Although the government lost practically every vote, Parmoor was able to persuade the opposition that they would lose support by wrecking the whole legislative programme. Macdonald, who was serving as his own

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 ...

, also chose Parmoor as British representative to the Council of the

, and to its Assembly in September 1924. After the end of the Labour government, Parmoor remained active in the House of Lords, and when Haldane died in 1928, was elected Leader of the Labour Peers. He served again as Lord President of the Council with special responsibility for League of Nations affairs in the second Labour government of 1929–1931, despite his advanced age of 76 at reappointment. He remained with the Labour Party when MacDonald formed the

National Government A national government is the government of a nation. National government or National Government may also refer to: * Central government in a unitary state, or a country that does not give significant power to regional divisions * Federal governme ...

in August 1931, disapproving of MacDonald's actions on constitutional grounds, but stepped down as Leader of the Labour Peers at the dissolution of Parliament on 7 October.

Family

In 1881 Charles Cripps married Theresa Potter, daughter of the Radical MP Richard Potter and sister of Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, and Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith. Of the four sons of the marriage, the elder two, Alfred and Frederick, succeeded in turn to the peerage, and the youngest,

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in ...

, became a prominent political figure in the 1930s and 1940s. Theresa died in 1893. In 1919 Lord Parmoor married Marian Ellis; there were no children of the marriage. Lord Parmoor died in June 1941, aged 88. His second wife died in July 1952.

Arms

References

External links