Francis Walter Stafford McLaren (16 June 1886 – 30 August 1917) was a British Member of Parliament killed in the First World War in a flying accident.

Career

A younger son of

Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway Charles Benjamin Bright McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, (12 May 1850 – 23 January 1934), known as Sir Charles McLaren, 1st Baronet, between 1902 and 1911, was a Scottish jurist and Liberal Party politician. He was a landowner and industriali ...

, he attended

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Balliol College 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 ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Entering politics, he was elected as

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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 Spalding in January 1910. Between 1910 and 1915, he served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. Histor ...

Lewis Vernon Harcourt Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born Reginald Vernon Harcourt; 31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922), was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet post of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. Lord ...

Family

On 20 July 1911, he married Barbara Jekyll, daughter of Colonel Sir Herbert Jekyll (KCMG) and the artist Dame

Agnes Jekyll Dame Agnes Lowndes Jekyll, ( Graham; 12 October 1861 – 28 January 1937) was a Scottish-born British artist, writer and philanthropist. The daughter of William Graham, Liberal MP for Glasgow (1865–1874) and patron of the Pre-Rapha ...

; they had two children: * Major Martin John McLaren (1914–1979) * Guy Lewis Ian McLaren (8 November 1915 – 18 August 1978), married Maryse Jubin and had issue

Military service and death

He volunteered at the outbreak of war and was commissioned with the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

. He served with

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

's Armoured Car Division at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. He contracted dysentery there and was eventually invalided out of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

on 30 December 1916. However, he appealed and returned to the RFC. McLaren was a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and trainee pilot in Number 18 Training Squadron (RNVR) when he died on 30 August 1917, following a flying accident during training at

RAF Montrose Royal Air Force Montrose or more simply RAF Montrose is a former Royal Air Force station in Forfarshire (now more commonly called Angus) in Scotland. It became the first operational military aerodrome to be established in the United Kingdom on 2 ...

. His aeroplane, an

AVRO 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

A, nosedived into the sea off Montrose. He was pulled unconscious from the wreckage but died of internal injuries. He was buried in

Busbridge Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverley ward of '' Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe''. It was until the Tudor period often recorded ...

churchyard, Godalming, Surrey on 5 September. His widow married

Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. Freyb ...

in 1922.

Memorials

Francis McLaren headstone and memorial 01

He is commemorated on Panel 8 of the

Parliamentary War Memorial The Parliamentary War Memorial, also known as the Recording Angel Memorial, is a stone sculpture in Westminster Hall, unveiled in 1922, which commemorates the members of both Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom who died in the First Wor ...

in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs that died during the First World War to be named on that memorial. McLaren is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber. A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of McLaren. McLaren's grave at St John's Church, Busbridge is marked by a carved oak headboard, designed by

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

. The headboard is a Grade II listed building in its own right. He is buried alongside members of the Jekyll family. The Jekyll Memorial was also designed by Lutyens and is Grade II listed. He is commemorated on

Spalding War Memorial Spalding War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the gardens of Ayscoughfee Hall (pronounced ) in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in eastern England. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The proposal for a memorial to Spalding ...

. The First World War memorial in the gardens of

Ayscoughfee Hall Ayscoughfee Hall is a grade I listed building and modest associated parkland in central Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, and is a landmark on the fen tour. History The house, currently a museum, was built for a local wool merchant, trad ...

in Spalding,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, was also designed by Lutyens. The proposal came from Barbara McLaren and most of the cost came from members of the McLaren and Jekyll families. It is listed Grade I.

References

External links

thePeerage.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Francis Walter Stafford 1886 births 1917 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Scotland British military personnel killed in World War I Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

People educated at Eton College Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1917 Younger sons of barons Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War I British Army personnel of World War I Burials in Surrey