Sir Harry Ralph Selley (9 December 1871 – 24 February 1960) was a British

master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...

and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He served as the

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 of ...

(MP) for Battersea South in London from 1931 to 1945.

Career

Selley was born in Topsham, Devon, and became a builder's apprentice. He rose to run his own business, and estimated that he had been responsible for the building of more than 25,000 houses in London and its suburbs. Selley stood unsuccessfully in the

1919 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 6 March 1919. It was the tenth triennial election of the whole Council. The size of the council was increased to 124 councillors and 20 aldermen. The councillors were elected for elector ...

in Balham and Tooting.London Municipal Notes - Volumes 18-23, London Municipal Society In 1925, he was elected to the council as a member of the majority

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

, representing Battersea South. He was appointed chairman of the council's Housing Committee and of the Hospitals Planning and Development Sub-Committee. He was re-elected to the council in 1928, 1931 and 1934. In the latter year the Municipal Reformers, who were allied to the parliamentary

, lost control to the Labour Party. He retired from the council at the 1937 elections. Selley first stood for Parliament at the Battersea South by-election in February 1929, when he lost by 2.1% of the votes to the Labour Party candidate,

William Bennett William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...

. He contested the seat again at the general election in May 1929, cutting Bennett's majority to only 1.1%, and at the 1931 general election he defeated Bennett with a majority 36.2%. He was re-elected in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

, and held the seat until he retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1944. In May 1945, aged 73, he won a bet with housing minister

George Hicks George Hicks may refer to: * George Hicks (trade unionist) (1879–1954), British trade unionist and politician * George Hicks (footballer) (1902–?), English footballer * George Elgar Hicks (1824–1914), English painter * George Hicks (RAF off ...

by building a four-course wall of 200 bricks in the Commons Courtyard at the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

in less than an hour, whilst wearing a

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

. His intention was to demonstrate his belief that the Ministry of Works's target for bricklayers to lay between 200 and 300 bricks per day was inadequate, and after completing the wall he pronounced that 800 was a more reasonable target. An editorial in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' praised the achievement as "one to warm the heart with admiration". He was national president of

Federation of Master Builders The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is a UK trade association established in 1941 to protect the interests of small and medium-sized building firms. The group is independent and non-profit. It works to lobby for members' interests at both n ...

from 1945 to at least 1951, when he celebrated his 80th birthday by laying the 80th brick in a wall built in his honour at the

Connaught Rooms The Freemasons' Tavern was established in 1775 at 61-65 Great Queen Street in the West End of London, West End of London. It served as a meeting place for a variety of notable organisations from the 18th century until it was demolished in 1909 t ...

Family

Selley was married in 1896 to Eleanor Kate Westcott, daughter of Thomas Westcott. They had a son and a daughter, and after her death in 1935 he got married again, in 1939, to Margaret Avelyn (Sheila), the widow of Joseph Hendrick. After his death in 1960, at the age of 88, his estate was valued at £63,204.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selley, Harry 1871 births 1960 deaths UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor Members of London County Council British construction businesspeople Municipal Reform Party politicians