Frank Hansford-Miller (26 November 1916 – 21 February 2008) was a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and prolific author in both

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Australia. Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, Hansford-Miller studied at Colfe's Grammar School before serving in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, he studied statistics at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and King's College London. His studies were interrupted by

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

of the spine.Brenton R. Clarke,
An Interview with Frank Hansford-Miller
", ''SSAI Newsletter'', Number 101 (November 2002) He began working as a maths teacher, and engaged in a lengthy dispute over the rejection of his PhD by the

University of London External Programme The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the federal University of London. All courses are branded as simply ...

. In 1969, he instead gained a PhD from the "National University of Canada", a

degree mill A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake ...

. He was also elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

. In 1966, Hansford-Miller founded the

John Hampden New Freedom Party English National Party has been the name of various political parties of England, which have commonly called for a separate parliament for England. The original ENP History The English National Party (ENP) was founded as the John Hampden New ...

David Boothroyd, ''Politico's Guide to the History of British Political Parties'', pp.87-88 and, during the 1970s, he wrote a biography of

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of t ...

. In 1974, Hansford-Miller renamed the group the "

English National Party English National Party has been the name of various political parties of England, which have commonly called for a separate parliament for England. The original ENP History The English National Party (ENP) was founded as the John Hampden New ...

", intending to parallel the success of

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

and the Scottish National Party. He stood unsuccessfully under this label in numerous elections. The party achieved greater prominence in 1976, when it was joined by

John Stonehouse John Thomson Stonehouse (28 July 192514 April 1988) was a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician and cabinet minister under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Stonehouse is remembered for his unsuccessful attempt at faking his own death i ...

, a Labour Party

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 o ...

who had faked his own death and spent time on remand in prison. Hansford-Miller welcomed the press to his garden shed and served them home brewed beer. During this period, he organised

St George's Day Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia. Sai ...

rallies in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

, which he addressed while wearing a Beefeater costume, and attempted to get an English national dress selected. However, he left the party around 1980, following internal disputes.Stephen Edwards,
Dr Frank Hansford-Miller MSc PhD FRGS FSS
, ''The Patriot'', No.55 (Summer 2008) At the 1981 Greater London Council election, Hansford-Miller and his wife instead stood for the Abolition of Rates Coalition. Around this time, Hansford-Miller emigrated to Australia,Australian man begs to be cloned
", ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 15 March 2001 settling in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, where he began tutoring at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, Murdoch University and Curtin University. He took up marathon running and

race walking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

, setting a state record for the over-85 2000 metres walk. He also wrote prolifically, publishing more than 50 books,Cloning Frank
", ''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

'',

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

, 18 April 2002 learned to play the

digeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

, and recorded music under the stage name "Frisky Frank". Hansford-Miller never had children, and attracted attention in 2001 by campaigning to be

cloned Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, ...

, complaining that, while "reproductive technology" for women was available, there was no help available for him to reproduce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansford-Miller, Frank 1916 births 2008 deaths Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London Alumni of King's College London Alumni of University College London British emigrants to Australia English nationalists English politicians People educated at Colfe's School Royal Artillery soldiers British Army personnel of World War II British political candidates