Commander Robert Tatton Bower (9 June 1894 – 5 July 1975) was a Royal Navy officer and a

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 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life

Bower was the only son- with two sisters- of Major Sir Robert Lister Bower, KBE, CMG, of The West House,

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, Chief Constable of the North Riding of Yorkshire, late of the 60th Rifles, and sometime of the 7th Battalion,

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, and Annette Norah, daughter of Henry Haswell Head, MD, of Thornhill, Bray,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, Ireland. The Bower family were minor landed gentry, of Welham Hall,

Malton, North Yorkshire Malton is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 13,000 ...

Political career

At the 1931 general election he was elected 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

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. 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 his defeat at the 1945 general election by the Labour Party candidate George Willey. On 4 April 1938, Bower was involved in a House of Commons incident when he interrupted Jewish Labour MP

Emanuel Shinwell Emanuel Shinwell, Baron Shinwell, (18 October 1884 – 8 May 1986) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) f ...

, telling him to " go back to Poland". Shinwell walked across the floor of the House and struck Bower in the face, before turning to the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, apologising and walking out of the chamber to calls from MPs of "Get out! Get Out!". Bower, who on being struck had merely "folded his arms and stared" Shinwell down, also then apologised to the Speaker. No disciplinary action was taken against either MP. Although the open-handed blow from Shinwell was initially viewed as a "slap in the face", it struck Bower on the ear, resulting in internal bleeding between the layers of the left eardrum which was discovered four days later; a blood clot formed, causing the eardrum to burst. According to a report in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine, Bower was described to be in "serious condition". The context of this violent confrontation was a series of questions being put by Labour MPs to the Foreign Office minister R.A. Butler, challenging the government's apparent recognition of the

Duke of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by G ...

as a diplomatic representative of

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

's nationalist forces, who were then in the midst of a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

against Spain's Republican government. Shinwell had described Butler's answers as "humbug" and "hypocrisy" and was being reprimanded by the Speaker for unparliamentary language at the moment Bower made his own intervention. The Speaker, Capt.

Edward Fitzroy Edward Algernon FitzRoy (24 July 1869 – 3 March 1943) was a British Conservative politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1928 until his death in 1943. Early life FitzRoy was the second son of the 3rd Baron Southampto ...

, took the view that: "Both were so thoroughly disorderly, that I propose to ignore them if the hon. Members will apologise."

Personal life

On 24 September 1922, Bower married Hon. Henrietta May Caribbea (1903-1975), daughter of

Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland, (24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940) was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the ...

, and Lady Edeline, daughter of

Reginald Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr Reginald Windsor Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr (21 February 1817 – 5 January 1896), styled The Honourable Reginald West until 1843, as The Honourable Reginald Sackville between 1843 and 1870 and known as the Lord Buckhurst between 1870 and 1873 ...

and maternal granddaughter of the politician

Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, 1st Baron Lamington Alexander Dundas Ross Cochrane-Wishart-Baillie, 1st Baron Lamington (24 November 1816 – 15 February 1890), better known as Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, was a British Conservative politician perhaps best known for his association with Young Englan ...

.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1076 The couple had four children together: * Anne Cecilia Maud, Mrs Doyne-Ditmas (1923-2012) * Robert Paul Bower (c. 1925-2011) * Marianna Laetitia, Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley (1929-2022) * Elizabeth Mary Lois de Mauny Wainwright (1933-2018) Robert Tatton Bower also had a daughter, Monica Juanita Bower, later Mrs Fane de Salis.

References

External links

The Papers of Commander Robert Bower
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

, Cambridge 1894 births 1975 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 People from Bray, County Wicklow Politicians from County Wicklow Royal Navy officers of World War I {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1890s-stub