Sir Colin Norman Thornton-Kemsley, (2 September 1903 – 17 July 1977) was 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 in ...

and

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was the

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 o ...

(MP) for Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire from 1939 to 1950, and for

North Angus and Mearns Angus North and Mearns was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. It was unsucces ...

from 1950 until his retirement at the 1964 general election.

Early life

Thornton-Kemsley was born in 1903 and grew up in a London suburb. He was educated at

Chigwell School Chigwell School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition located in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It consists of a pre-prep (ages 4–7), Junior School (ages 7–11), Sen ...

, and graduated from

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

. Whilst he had a Scottish grandfather, he had no real connection to Scotland until 1930, when he married Alice Thornton; his second cousin and the granddaughter of prominent Dundee lawyer, Sir Thomas Thornton, who had purchased Thornton castle in

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

in 1893, and at the time of the wedding Thornton was the owner and resident of the property.

Political career

Thornton-Kemsley was an active member of the Conservative

constituency association An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...

for the London suburb of Epping, where he lived. He also served as the Honorary Treasurer of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

Provincial Area, National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. As a member of the Epping constituency party he made a name for himself in Conservative Party circles as a Neville Chamberlain loyalist who was central to bringing about a censure of

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 during the Second World War, and again from ...

by the Epping Conservative Association. In 1939

Malcolm Barclay-Harvey Sir Charles Malcolm Barclay-Harvey, KCMG (2 March 1890 – 17 November 1969) was a British politician and Governor of South Australia from 12 August 1939 until 26 April 1944. The only child of James Charles Barclay-Harvey, of Dinnet House, Abe ...

, the incumbent Unionist Member of Parliament for Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire, was offered the position of Governor of South Australia. Thornton-Kemsley, due to his previous role in trying to bringing about a censure of Churchill by the Epping Conservative Association, was offered the candidacy. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in 1939, Kemsley apologized. Churchill's reply was characteristic: ''"I certainly think that Englishmen ought to start fair with one another from the outset in so grievous a struggle, and so far as I am concerned the past is dead."'' (See Thornton-Kemsley, “Winston Secures his Base” in Through Winds and Tides, 1974, pp. 26–36.) Having joined the Territorial Army (TA) before the war on 31 July 1925, where he was commissioned into the 85th (East Anglian) Field Artillery Brigade of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, Thornton-Kemsley served during the war. His unit, now the 85th (East Anglian) Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery, was mobilised but went to attend the British Army Staff College at Camberley, from where he graduated and then served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

with

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. The Scottish District was comman ...

and later Eastern Command.

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
* 1903 births 1977 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British surveyors Knights Bachelor Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{Conservative-UK-MP-1900s-stub