John Massie (3 December 1842 – 11 November 1925) was a British academic, educationalist and

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 ...

politician who served as

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

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

from 1906 to 1910.

Education and academic career

Massie's initial renown was as a

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

and theologian. He was educated at Atherstone Grammar School, Warwickshire, and at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. In 1869 he was appointed Professor of Classics at Spring Hill Theological College in Birmingham, and stayed there for 17 years until the institution was moved to

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist (Protestantism), Non ...

, where he was appointed the Yates Professor of New Testament Exigesis. He contributed to both ''

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible ''Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible'' was a five-volume Biblical encyclopaedia published 1898–1904. First edition The full title was ''A Dictionary of the Bible, dealing with the Language, Literature and Contents, including the Biblical Theology ...

'' and ''

Encyclopedia Biblica ''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encyclopedia ...

''.

Political career

Massie was first elected as a Councillor to Leamington Borough Council in 1878. He was then appointed by the council as an alderman and served until 1887. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Executive of the

National Liberal Federation The National Liberal Federation (1877–1936) was the union of all English and Welsh (but not Scottish) Liberal Associations. It held an annual conference which was regarded as being representative of the opinion of the party's rank and file and ...

. He sat on that body until he was elected to parliament. Despite not having a financial background he served as national

Treasurer from 1903–06. He was a committed supporter of

Disestablishmentarianism Disestablishmentarianism is a movement to end the Church of England's status as an official church of the United Kingdom. Anglican disestablishment Irish church The campaign to disestablish the Anglican Church of Ireland began in the 18th century ...

and was President of the

Liberation Society The Liberation Society was an organisation in Victorian England that campaigned for disestablishment of the Church of England. It was founded in 1844 by Edward Miall as the British Anti-State Church Association and was renamed in 1853 as the Soci ...

which campaigned for the removal of state patronage and control from schools. He opposed the Unionist Government's

Education Act 1902 The Education Act 1902 ( 2 Edw. 7 c. 42), also known as the Balfour Act, was a highly controversial Act of Parliament that set the pattern of elementary education in England and Wales for four decades. It was brought to Parliament by a Conservat ...

. In protest against the act he passively resisted paying the local education rate.Ian Machin, ‘Massie, John (1842–1925)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 28 March 2015
/ref> He was elected to 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 general election in 1906, but was defeated at the January 1910 general election by the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

candidate

Thomas Calley Major-General Thomas Charles Pleydell Calley (28 January 1856 – 14 February 1932) was a British military officer and Liberal Unionist politician. Military career Calley was the son of Henry Calley, JP, DL, of Burderop Park, Wiltshire, and was ...

. Massie did not stand for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

again. In 1910 he was re-elected to the executive of the National Liberal Federation and sat on that body until his death.

Theological Works

*''The Century Bible: Corinthians''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massie, John 1842 births 1925 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cricklade People educated at Atherstone Grammar School, Warwickshire