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George Morgan Trefgarne, 1st Baron Trefgarne (né George Garro-Jones; 14 September 1894 – 27 September 1960), was a Welsh Liberal and later
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
politician, barrister, businessman and editor of the ''Daily Dispatch''.


Background

George Garro-Jones was born in Haverfordwest, Wales, on 14 September 1894. He was a "child of the Manse" as his father was the Congregationalist Minister at Zion's Hill Chapel, Spittal. His father, Reverend David Garro-Jones, trained for the ministry at
Brecon College Brecon Congregational Memorial College was a Congregational college in Brecon, Powys, Mid Wales. The college graduated ministers and missionaries who were posted to Africa and India. There were classes in biblical literature, chemistry, classic ...
and served Congregational churches across Wales. The walk from the Manse in Spittal towards Zion's Hill chapel has views across a deep gorge to Treffgarne Rocks and it is understood this is where the titled name of Lord Trefgarne originated.


Political career

Garro-Jones was private secretary to Sir Hamar Greenwood from 1919 to 1922 while Greenwood was firstly
Secretary for Overseas Trade The Secretary for Overseas Trade was a junior Ministerial position in the United Kingdom government from 1917 until 1953, subordinate to the President of the Board of Trade. The office was replaced by the Minister of State for Trade on 3 Septembe ...
and then
Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...
. Greenwood was a Liberal Minister in the Coalition Government led by David Lloyd George. This close association led Garro-Jones into standing as a candidate for National Liberals at the 1922 general election. He was selected to contest Bethnal Green North East, where the sitting Liberal member, who also supported the Coalition Government, was retiring. However, Garro-Jones's task of holding the seat became harder when the National Liberals coalition partners, the Unionists, decided to end the coalition and he found a Unionist intervening against him. To make matters worse, he could not count on the support of the local Liberal Association when an opposition Liberal supporter of
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
also entered the contest. As a result, he was listed last in the election results. After the election, the divisions in the Liberal ranks between the supporters of Asquith and Lloyd George was healed. Garro-Jones was chosen as Liberal candidate at the 1923 general election for the Unionist seat of Hackney South. No Liberal candidate had fought in the constituency at the previous election, so it was not considered a particularly good prospect. The Labour candidate won, but Garro-Jones was still able to poll more votes than the sitting member who came third. Garro-Jones only had to wait another year for the opportunity to stand for parliament again. Once again, he was chosen as Liberal candidate for Hackney South. However, this time, there was no Unionist candidate and he was able to gain the seat from his Labour opponent. His victory was rare in an election which saw a very many Liberals lose their seats. He stood down at the 1929 election and shortly afterwards joined the Labour Party. He was elected Labour MP for Aberdeen North at the 1935 general election, holding the seat until 1945. Garro-Jones was raised to the peerage as Baron Trefgarne, of Cleddau in the County of Pembroke, on 21 January 1947. In 1954, he assumed by
deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...
the surname of Trefgarne in lieu of his patronymic. He was succeeded by his son David, a Conservative government minister.


Electoral history


Arms


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trefgarne, George, 1st Baron Trefgarne 1894 births 1960 deaths Hackney Members of Parliament Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Aberdeen constituencies Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1935–1945 Barons created by George VI