Sir Francis L'Estrange Joseph, 1st Baronet, KBE, DL, JP (1870 – 8 February 1951) was a leading British industrialist and president of the

Federation of British Industries The Federation of British Industries (FBI) was an employers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by the Midlands industrialist Dudley Docker in 1916 as the United British Industries' Association, but renamed later that same year, it was ini ...

Early life

Joseph was born in 1870 in Liverpool, the younger son of Thomas Joseph. Educated at Caledonian School in Liverpool until he was 12 when he left to become a railway messenger, although he continued to attend evening classes. After a number of varied jobs he became a stockbroker, Joseph joined Settle, Speakman & Company and became the chairman and managing director.

Politics and business

He became a member of Liverpool City Council in 1903 until 1913. At the

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in January 1910 he stood for

Liverpool Walton Liverpool, Walton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Dan Carden of the Labour Party. Carden won the highest percentage share of the vote in June 2017 of 650 constituencies, 85.7%. It is th ...

as a Liberal against the incumbent

F.E. Smith Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, (12 July 1872 – 30 September 1930), known as F. E. Smith, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who attained high office in the early 20th century, in particular as Lord High Chan ...

. Despite a record Liberal vote he failed to beat Smith. During the First World War he worked at the War Office becoming an assistant secretary at the Ministry of National Service. In 1918 he was Deputy Director-General of National Labour Supply. In 1918 Joseph unsuccessfully stood for Parliament in the new constituency of Liverpool Fairfield for the Coalition Liberals. Joseph was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918 and in 1922 he was knighted. He was a director of many public companies including the Midland Bank and from 1937 to 1940 was a member of the Royal Commission on the Location of Industry. He was appointed the

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

for 1932. Joseph was promoted to

Knight 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 ...

in 1935 and created a baronet in 1942.

Family

Joseph married in 1917 to Violet Settle and they had two daughters. Joseph died on 8 February 1951 and with no sons the baronetcy became dormant."Sir Francis Joseph." Times ondon, England10 Feb. 1951: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Francis, 1st Baronet 1870 births 1951 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom High Sheriffs of Staffordshire Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Businesspeople from Liverpool Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates