Robert Mark Gentry (1885 – 19 March 1951) was a British politician and

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

, who served as Mayor of Fulham and stood repeatedly for Parliament. Gentry completed an elementary education before becoming a baker and confectioner. He also joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP), becoming Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

ILP. Active in the

Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1847 in Manchester, it represents workers in the food industry. History The union dates its origin to 1847. The Manchester Friendly Association ...

, he was appointed as the union's full-time London District Secretary, and was named by Paul Thompson as the ILP's leading London-based trade unionist in the 1900s. Through the ILP, Gentry was active in the Labour Party, and was elected to

Fulham Metropolitan Borough Council The Metropolitan Borough of Fulham was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith to form the London Borough ...

, serving as the first Labour Mayor of Fulham, from 1919 to 1921. Following his stint as mayor, he became secretary of the Metropolitan Labour Mayor's and Ex-Mayor's Association. Gentry also stood for the Labour Party in

Fulham West Fulham West was a borough constituency based in the London district of Fulham. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1955. At the 1918 general election the previous Fulham cons ...

at general elections in 1918, 1922, 1923 and 1924, taking second place on each occasion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentry, Robert Mark 1885 births 1951 deaths English trade unionists Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Mayors of places in Greater London People from Fulham