Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

Henry Douglas King, CB,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, DSO, VD, PC (1 June 1877 – 20 August 1930) was a British naval commander and

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 ...

politician. He served under Stanley Baldwin as

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 ...

between 1924 and 1928 and as

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. In 1929, the department took over responsibility for petroleum. In 1940, the department was divided with Geoffrey L ...

between 1928 and 1929.

Early life

King was born in London, the son of Captain Henry Welchman King. He trained as a Merchant Navy officer in HMS ''Conway'' from 1891 to 1893. After Conway he served initially in the mercantile navy, then served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

before joining P & O. He left the sea in 1899 and took up farming for a short while. However, he soon turned to studying law and was called to the Bar,

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 1905. He stood as the Conservative candidate for

Norfolk North Norfolk North was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It was created by the Br ...

in the two general elections of 1910, but was defeated on both occasions. At the outbreak of 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 ...

in 1914 he obtained a commission in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

and served at the Siege of Antwerp and Gallipoli.''Evening Post'', 6 July 1929
/ref> He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

in recognition of his services at Gallipoli in 1915. He was also given the French Croix de Guerre and was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1919.

Political career

At the 1918 general election King once again stood for

and was this time elected. King was named a Unionist candidate in the official list of Coalition Government endorsements, but he wrote to ''

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'' (f ...

'' stating he had left the party before the election and should be classed as an independent. He later rejoined the party. In parliament he initially served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Sir Leslie Wilson ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, Chairman of the National Maritime Board, and then to Sir Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary for Ireland. In 1921 he was appointed a Conservative whip. The following year he was returned to parliament for Paddington South and entered the government under Bonar Law as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of th ...

(government whip), a position he held until January 1924, the last year under the premiership of Stanley Baldwin. When the Conservatives returned to office in November 1924, King was made

and a member of the Army Council. He held this post until 1928, and was then

until the Baldwin administration fell in 1929. The latter year he was also sworn of the Privy Council following the 1929 Dissolution Honours. He had previously been made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1927.

Personal life

King married the only daughter of W. R. Swan, of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Australia. On 20 August 1930 King's cutter yacht ''Islander'' sank in a gale off Fowey,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. All six aboard, including King himself, were lost. His memorial is at All Saints Church, Upper Sheringham, Norfolk. The memorial states that the yacht Islander was 'smashed to pieces' on the rocky coast of Lantivet Bay, Cornwall during a 'fierce summer storm'. It goes on: "At sunset in the calm stillness of a beautiful summer evening, his ashes were, by his own wish, taken out to sea by the Sheringham lifeboat and within sight of his old home scattered over the face of the waters".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Douglas 1877 births 1930 deaths Royal Navy officers of World War I Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deaths due to shipwreck at sea Accidental deaths in England Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I