Frank Walter Raffety OBE (1875 – 8 September 1946) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and

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politician. He was the son of Charles Walter Raffety, of

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and attended the

Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe , established = , closed = , type = Selective Grammar SchoolAcademy , head_label = Headmaster , head = Philip Wayne , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder ...

. In 1898 he was called to the bar at the

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, and practised on the Northern Circuit.''Obituary: Mr F W Raffety'', The Times, 11 September 1946, p.7 He developed an interest in politics, and became honorary secretary of the Social and Political Education League. The organisation was established to provide political education to the general public, and in particular to promote moderation over revolution. He was also an active member of the

Eighty Club The Eighty Club was a political London gentlemen's club named after the year it was founded, 1880 (much like the later 1900 Club and 1920 Club). It was strictly aligned to the Liberal Party, with members having to pledge support to join. Somew ...

, an educational group within the Liberal Party. He was selected as Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for Stamford for a general election expected to take place in 1915. He unsuccessfully contested the Lewisham West by-election in September 1921; In March of the following year he was elected to the

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, as a (Liberal-backed)

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councillor for Islington West;''LCC Elections'', The Times, 3 March 1922, p.12 At the general election in November 1922 he failed to win Bristol West; A further general election was held in 1923, and Raffety was elected Liberal

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(MP) for Bath; His membership of the

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was brief, as he was defeated when a further

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was called in 1924; He again stood as a Liberal candidate at

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; and

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in 1935, but failed to be elected; Raffety remained active in Liberal party politics, as a speaker. He became the Chairman of the Industrial Co-Partnership Association. In 1943 he was granted the

freedom of the borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of High Wycombe, of which he had been honorary

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since 1905. In 1945 he was made an Officer of the Order of British Empire. He died at his home in

Bramley, Surrey Bramley is a village and civil parish about three miles (5 km) south of Guildford in the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, south east England. Most of the parish lies in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Within its bounda ...

in August 1946, aged 71.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raffety, Frank Walter Members of London County Council Members of the Middle Temple 1875 births 1946 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe UK MPs 1923–1924 Politics of Bath, Somerset Progressive Party (London) politicians