Major Herbert Paton Holt, MC, (10 December 1890 – 1 June 1971) was a British-Canadian politician and army officer. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for

Upton Upton may refer to: Places United Kingdom England * Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974) * Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury * Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough * Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambridge ...

from 1924 to 1929.

Early life and army service

Holt was born in Canada, the eldest son of Sir Herbert Samuel Holt, a prominent Canadian engineer and businessman. He was educated at St Albans School in England and then at the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

. In 1910, he was commissioned in the

3rd Dragoon Guards The 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) ...

, promoted to Lieutenant in September 1911, and served with his regiment during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which time he was promoted to Captain. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for "conspicuous gallantry and fine leadership of his squadron" under heavy fire, during which time he was severely wounded, in October 1918. He retired from the Army in 1920. He would later write a history of the regiment's service during the war.

Political career

Holt was elected for

at the 1924 general election. This election showed a strong swing towards the Conservatives, and Holt took the seat from the Labour incumbent

Benjamin Gardner Benjamin Gardner (24 October 1896 – 6 April 1956) was a British trade unionist. Born in Salford, Gardner worked making scientific instruments and became active in the Scientific Instrument Makers' Trade Society. He served with the Royal ...

with 54% of the vote, but his position was greatly helped by the absence of a Liberal candidate. He did not speak often in Parliament; his maiden speech in 1925 argued for supporting emigration schemes to the Dominions, and in 1926 he spoke in defence of traditional horsed cavalry, arguing against further reduction of the numbers of cavalry regiments - "in any circumstances, no matter where the next war may be — unless in the meantime there is a very great development of mechanical traction — it will be necessary to have as a nucleus of at least as many cavalry as we have now". In July 1926 he spoke on a local government bill which had arisen out of disputes in West Ham, his constituency area, quoting a number of cases which he argued showed fraud and corruption in the way relief payments were made, and claiming that the board of guardians was controlled by the "Soviet rule" of trades unions. His last major action was to introduce a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in early 1927 to prohibit "seditious and blasphemous teaching to children", targeting among others the

Socialist Sunday School Socialist Sunday Schools (SSS) were set up to replace or augment Christian Sunday Schools in the United Kingdom, and later the United States. They arose in response to the perceived inadequacy of orthodox Sunday schools as a training ground fo ...

movement. This proceeded to a committee stage but did not progress to a third reading. Holt does not appear to have spoken after 1927, and did not stand for reelection at the 1929 general election, when the seat was won back by Gardner.

Later life and family

During the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

Holt returned to military service, as a Major attached to the Pioneer Corps in the British Expeditionary Force. He returned from France in February 1940, and was invalided out of the service in September. In the early 1920s, the Holts had lived at Jaggards House, near Corsham, Wiltshire. In 1927, Holt moved to Lackham House, in

Lacock Lacock is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Chippenham, and about outside the Cotswolds area. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust a ...

, Wiltshire, buying it for £78,000. In 1940, the estate was requisitioned for military use, later serving as a US Army headquarters, and following the war was sold to the county council for use as an agricultural college, now part of

Wiltshire College Wiltshire College & University Centre is a tertiary college of education founded in 2002 by the merger of Chippenham Technical College, Lackham College and Trowbridge College. Consolidation was completed with the merger of Salisbury College, whi ...

. In 1935-36 he was appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire. He married Aileen Elizabeth Cains, of Montreal; they had one son and two daughters. Their son George was killed in action in Italy in November 1944, aged 21. One of their two daughters, Elizabeth, married John Vavasseur Fisher, 3rd Baron Fisher. Aileen Holt died in 1945, and the following year Holt remarried to Opal Eree M'Ilhenny, an American. He died on 1 June 1971; Opal Holt survived him and died in March 1980.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Herbert Paton 1890 births 1971 deaths 3rd Dragoon Guards officers High Sheriffs of Wiltshire UK MPs 1924–1929 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Royal Pioneer Corps officers