George Rennie Thorne (12 October 1853 – 20 February 1934) was a British solicitor and

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 ...

politician.

Family and education

Thorne was educated at

Tettenhall College Tettenhall College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in the Wolverhampton suburb of Tettenhall in England. History The college was founded in 1863 by a group of prominent local businessmen and industrialists, most ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

and became a solicitor in 1876 . In 1886, he married Susan Mary Jones and they had two daughters. He went on to become senior member of the law form G R Thorne & Sons of Wolverhampton and London.

Local politics

Thorne entered local politics in Wolverhampton being a Borough Councillor for many years and later an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

. He was

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of Wolverhampton in 1902-03 representing the

Liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, and Chairman of South Staffordshire Joint Smallpox Hospital from its formation. He also served as a Justice of the Peace.

Wolverhampton East by-election, 1908

Thorne had stood unsuccessfully for election twice in the South and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

divisions of Wolverhampton before getting elected in 1908 at

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 5 May to succeed

Sir Henry Fowler Sir Henry Fowler, (29 July 1870 – 16 October 1938) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Midland Railway and subsequently the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Fowler was born in Evesham, ...

who had been made a peer. In nearly every way Thorne seemed the stereotypical Liberal of his day; a pronounced

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

,The Times, 6.5.08 in a constituency where there were many nonconformist voters. In his election meetings and literature he declared himself a supporter of Free Trade, the proposed Bill on Old Age Pensions, restricting to eight the hours that miners could be made to work daily, women's suffrage, Irish Home Rule and any necessary reform of the House of Lords. He was also strongly in favour of temperance and a supporter of the disestablishment of the Church of England. Thorne won the by-election by a majority of just eight votes from the Unionist candidate

Leo Amery Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery, (22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955), also known as L. S. Amery, was a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. During his career, he was known for his interest in military preparedness, ...

. One of reasons it was such a narrow margin was the policy of the Suffragettes at this time to oppose the candidates of the Liberal government because they would not bring in a Bill to provide votes for women. This was despite the individual views of the candidates, many of whom, like Thorne, were pro-women's suffrage. In this election, a Mrs Lois Dawson, who had incorrectly been placed on the electoral register as Louis Dawson, was allowed to vote by a very surprised polling station presiding officer, as she was clearly on the electoral roll. Her vote was allowed to stand, although had there been a court scrutiny of the election result it would almost certainly have been rejected.

Member of Parliament

Thorne held his seat at every general election after the by-election before announcing he would stand down in 1929. In 1919 he was appointed joint Chief Whip of the Independent Liberals led by H H Asquith (who was not a member of the House of Commons at the time, having lost his seat at the General Election) and held the post until 1923. In that year he was the vice-chairman of Liberal Parliamentary Party.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007)

References

External links

Image links

George Rennie Thorne at the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, George Rennie Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Wolverhampton Aldermen of Wolverhampton People from Wolverhampton UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 1853 births 1934 deaths People of the Victorian era Liberal Party (UK) councillors English justices of the peace