Sir Charles Edward Mallet (2 December 1862 – 21 November 1947), was a British historian 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 ...

politician. He was knighted in 1917.

Life

He was the only son of the activist Louisa (born Udny) and Charles Mallet, a civil servant. He was educated at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, Oxford, and was admitted to

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 ...

on 21 May 1886. He was Called to the Bar on 3 July 1889. He first stood for parliament at the 1900 General Election when he was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the Conservative seat of Salford West. Mallet was returned to Parliament for Plymouth in 1906. In 1908 he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Walter Runciman who was

President of the Board of Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Ca ...

. In February 1910 Asquith was considering him as a possible Chief Whip but was dissuaded by the outgoing Chief Whip Jack Pease who felt he was out of sympathy with many leading Liberals over the Lords. In March 1910 Prime Minister

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

appointed him

Financial Secretary to the War Office The Financial Secretary to the War Office and for certain periods known as the Finance Member of the Army Council, was a junior ministerial office of the British government established in 1870. In May 1947 the office was unified with that of the ...

, a position he held until he was defeated in the December general election of the same year. He sought a return to parliament at the 1917 Salford North by-election as a Coalition Liberal candidate but was defeated by an Independent Labour candidate. He did not contest the 1918 General Election. He was Honorary Secretary of the

Free Trade Union The Free Trade Union, later known as the Free Trade League, was a British trade organisation extant between July 1903 and the 1970s. It was founded in opposition to the campaign for Imperial Preference which had been launched by Board of Trade ch ...

. He became a supporter of the official Liberal party that opposed the Coalition Government. He sought to make a return to parliament standing as Liberal candidate for South Aberdeen, in 1922 without success. He tried again in 1923 without success. He had published two works on Liberal politicians; Mr Lloyd George, a Study (1930) and Herbert Gladstone, a Memoir (1932). His book on Lloyd George was entirely devoted to the shortcomings of the Liberal Leader.The Downfall of the Liberal Party by Trevor Wilson

References

Links

* * 1862 births 1947 deaths Knights Bachelor Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plymouth Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub