Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Edward Fremantle,

OBE 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 ...

, DL, FRCS, FRCP (29 May 1872 – 26 August 1943) was a British

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who served as 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 of ...

(MP) for

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

from 1919 until his death.

Early life

F E Fremantle was the fourth son of the Very Rev.

William Henry Fremantle Sir William Henry Fremantle, (28 December 176619 October 1850) was a British courtier and politician. He served as Treasurer of the Household from 1826 to 1837. Background Fremantle was the son of John Fremantle, of Aston Abbots, Buckinghamsh ...

Dean of Ripon The Dean of Ripon is a senior cleric in the Church of England Diocese of Leeds. The dean is the head of the chapter at Ripon Cathedral – his predecessors were deans of the same church when it was previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Ripo ...

. Following education at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford 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 f ...

, he went to study medicine at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He received his doctorate in 1898.''Obituary: Sir Francis Fremantle, Medicine and Politics'', The Times, 28 August 1943, p. 7

Medicine

In 1902 he was appointed county medical officer of health for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, a post he held until 1916. He was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1910, and subsequently served on the organisation's council. Fremantle held a commission as a surgeon-captain in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry, and served as a medical officer with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. He then travelled to the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to work as a plague medical officer from 1903 – 1904. 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 fightin ...

he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, serving in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

Politics

After the war, Fremantle entered politics. In March 1919 he was elected to the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

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 ...

councillor for

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...

. Later in the year,

Hildred Carlile Sir Edward Hildred Carlile, 1st Baronet, (10 July 1852 – 26 September 1942) was an English businessman and Conservative Party politician. Early life Born in Richmond, Surrey, in 1852, Carlile was educated at St Albans School and abroad. He ...

, the Conservative MP for

, resigned from the House of Commons due to ill-health. Fremantle was selected as the Coalition Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election held in December, and was elected despite a strong challenge from the Labour Party. Fremantle became a frequent speaker in parliament, being recognised as a spokesman for the medical profession, and was chairman of the Parliamentary Medical Committee from 1923 to 1943. He held the St Albans seat for the Conservatives until his death, and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1932, for "political and public services". In 1926 he became a Deputy Lieutenant of

Marriage and death

In 1905 he married Dorothy Chinnery, and they had one son. He died suddenly at his home, Bedwell Park, near Hatfield in August 1943.Deaths, ''The Times'', 28 August 1943, page 1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fremantle, Francis Edward 1872 births 1943 deaths UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of London County Council Royal Army Medical Corps officers Deputy Lieutenants of Hertfordshire Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Hertfordshire Yeomanry officers Municipal Reform Party politicians