Charles Harold Summersby (1882 – 13 August 1961) was a British

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

and Liberal National politician.

Family and education

Summersby was the son of the Reverend B J Summersby, a

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister from

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. He was educated locally until the age of fourteen when he left school and moved to London to serve a four-year apprenticeship in the drapery business.''The Times House of Commons 1931''; Politico’s Publishing 2003, p 26 He and his wife had two sons and a daughter.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007

Career

After his apprenticeship Summersby became a buyer for the Derry & Toms department store in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

and in 1912 started his own business. By 1931 he was the owner of large shop in Muswell Hill.

Politics

Local politics

Summersby was elected to

Hornsey Borough Council The Municipal Borough of Hornsey was a local government district in east Middlesex from 1867 to 1965. History In 1867, a Local Board was formed for part of the civil parish of Hornsey. The rest of the parish was already under South Hornsey Loca ...

in 1921 and was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Hornsey from 1930 to 1931 He was also later a member of

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

for

Harringay Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett's ...

. He won a

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 ...

there on 28 January 1936 standing as a

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

candidate by 485 votes to the 327 gained by his Labour opponent Samuel Campbell. There was only a small turnout because the date coincided with the funeral of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

who had died on 20 January. Summersby also served as

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Parliament

Summersby was selected to fight

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

at the 1931 general election as a Liberal National and defeated the sitting

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP,

Ernest Thurtle Ernest Thurtle (11 November 188422 August 1954) was an American-born British Labour politician. Biography Thurtle worked as an accountant and salesman. He saw service in the army in World War I and was badly wounded at the Battle of Cambrai. ...

. While in 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. ...

Summersby served as a member of the Parliamentary Air Committee. He did not seek re-election at the 1935 general election and was replaced as National Liberal candidate by Mr

Somerset Stopford Brooke Somerset Stopford Brooke (16 June 1906 – 1976) was a Liberal and Liberal National politician. The son of the Liberal MP Stopford Brooke, Somerset Stopford Brooke was the president of the Oxford University Liberal Club and President of the Oxfor ...

, a stock broker, and former Liberal candidate for Guildford in 1929, who was the son of the Liberal MP for Bow and Bromley from 1906 to 1910.''The Times House of Commons 1935''; Politico’s Publishing 2003, p42 Summersby must have known that without the effect of the crisis of 1931 which had helped propel him into Parliament, his seat would be highly vulnerable to Labour Tom Stannage, ''Baldwin Thwarts the Opposition: The British General Election of 1935''; Routledge, 1980 p223 and Stopford Brooke, could not hold the seat against Ernest Thurtle's renewed challenge.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Summersby, Charles Harold 1882 births 1961 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) politicians UK MPs 1931–1935 People from Oxfordshire People from Hornsey People from Muswell Hill Politics of London Municipal Reform Party politicians Members of Middlesex County Council Mayors of places in Greater London