Frederick William Verney (26 February 1846 – 26 April 1913) was a younger son of the long-established Verney family in Buckinghamshire. He became a Church of England clergyman, a barrister, a Siamese diplomat, and a Liberal Party politician, serving as a member of both the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and London County Councils, and from 1906 to 1910 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

Early life

Verney was the youngest of four sons of Sir Harry Verney, 2nd Baronet and his first wife Eliza Hope, daughter of Admiral Sir George Hope-Vere. His father had been born Harry Calvert, inheriting the baronetcy from his father General Sir Harry Calvert, 1st Baronet, and had changed his surname to Verney in 1827 when he inherited the Verney family's estate in Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, including the John Adam-designed Claydon House. Sir Harry was a Liberal MP for a total of over 35 years. Frederick was educated at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

and then at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He first became a Church of England clergyman for three years, serving as secretary and chaplain to the Archbishop of York, William Thomson, but gave up the church in 1873, and after training as a barrister he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1875. In 1883 he took up the post of English Secretary and Counsellor to the

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

in London of Siam, which was at that time a buffer state between the parts of South of Asia controlled by France and those under British rule. The Kingdom of Siam honoured him for his diplomatic services by appointing him as a Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant.

Political career

The Local Government Act 1888 created County Councils in England, and Verney became a councillor in the first elections, in 1889. He was a Buckinghamshire County Councillor for 18 years (from 1889 to 1907) and a Progressive Party member of the London County Council (LCC) from 1898 to 1907, for Peckham. He had unsuccessfully contested the 1895 LCC elections in Norwood. He stood for Parliament four times before winning a seat. He was unsuccessful in Tunbridge at the 1885 general election, in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

at the 1886 general election, in Norwich at the 1895 general election, and in

Liverpool Exchange Liverpool Exchange was a borough constituency within the city of Liverpool in England, centred on Liverpool Exchange railway station. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, ele ...

at the 1900 general election. He was elected at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...

as MP for Buckingham (or Northern) division of Buckinghamshire. The seat had been held from 1885 to 1886 and from 1889 to 1891 by his older brother Sir Edmund Hope Verney, who was expelled from the House of Commons in 1891, and at various times between 1832 and 1885 by their father Sir Harry. Frederick's main interest in Parliament was agriculture, and in particular supporting the creation of smallholdings. He was appointed in November 1909 as a member of a Royal Commission on the selection of Justices of the Peace (magistrates), which reported in July 1910. The Commission's recommendations included the appointment of local committees which would monitor the effectiveness of magistrates and report of whether more magistrates were needed, and proposals to remove political bias from the selection process. However, Verney signed the report with a note dissociating himself from the proposal that "the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Lieutenants should refuse to receive any unasked-for recommendations from members of parliament or candidates for such membership in their own constituencies, or from political agents or representatives of political associations"; he claimed that this was outside the scope of the commission. Verney was re-elected in Buckingham in January 1910, but at the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the History of the United Kingdom during the First World War, First Wo ...

he stood aside from Buckingham to allow his nephew

Sir Harry Verney, 4th Baronet Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Harry Calvert Williams Verney, 4th Baronet, DSO (7 June 1881 – 23 December 1974), was a British Liberal politician. Political career Verney stood as Liberal candidate for Basingstoke at the 1906 General Election. Shortl ...

to contest the seat. Sir Harry held the Buckingham seat, but Frederick was unsuccessful in Christchurch.Craig, page 97 On 26 April 1913, Verney died aged 67 at his London residence of 12 Connaught Place, after a short illness.

Family

Through his father's second wife, Parthenope Nightingale, Fred Verney was related to Florence Nightingale, and corresponded copiously with her

In 1870 he married Maude Sarah Williams (died 1937), the daughter of Sir John Hay Williams, 2nd Baronet, whose sister

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

had married Fred's older brother Edmund two years previously. They had three children: Ralph (1879–1959), and two daughters: Gwendolen Verney (1881–1932) and Kathleen (1883–1966). Ralph fought in the Second Boer War and in World War I, became secretary to the Viceroy of India and to the Speaker of the House of Commons; he was knighted in 1928 and made a baronet in 1946.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verney, Frederick William 1846 births 1913 deaths Frederick People from Buckinghamshire 19th-century Church of England clergy Members of the Inner Temple Councillors in Buckinghamshire Members of London County Council Members of Buckinghamshire County Council Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Younger sons of baronets Progressive Party (London) politicians