Sir John Cecil Power, 1st Baronet, (21 December 1870 – 5 June 1950) was a
British export merchant, developer and
Conservative politician at national level for 21 years then choosing not to seek re-election at the age of 74.
Working life and legacies
Born at Eldon,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, he was the son of William Taylor Power by his wife, Cecilia ''née'' Burgoyne.
The family moved to
London when he was aged 10. With his brother, Frederick, he entered the family business of Power, Power and Company export
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
s. As a young man he travelled much in Europe and North America.
In 1902 he married Mabel Perks, with whom he had five children.
Power started his own
real estate business, becoming a wealthy developer owning prime property in central London including
Adastral House
Television House is the former name of a building on Kingsway (London), Kingsway in London. From 1918, it was the base of the Air Ministry, and later from 1955, was the headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion/Rediffusion London, Independent Televi ...
in the redeveloped
Kingsway.
Power became known for his generous financial gifts to various institutions.
Of £24,000 collected to allow the construction of the
Institute of Historical Research in 1921, Power gave £20,000 (). In 1923 he gave a large donation that allowed for the purchase of the site of
Chatham House as the headquarters of the
Institute of International Affairs
Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...
;
Power was Honorary Treasurer of that institute from 1921 to 1943.
He was also an active member of the
League of Nations Union, sitting on its executive for seven years and also on various committees.
He was a committee member of the
Royal Humane Society and donated a site for the first headquarters of the
British Council.
In 1924, Power was created a
baronet,
of Newlands Manor,
Milford Milford may refer to:
Place names Canada
* Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia
* Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia
* Milford, Ontario
England
* Milford, Derbyshire
* Milford, Devon, a place in Devon
* Milford on Sea, Hampshire
* Milford, Shro ...
, Hampshire, reflecting his buying of that manor house from
George Cornwallis-West
Major George Frederick Myddleton Cornwallis-West (14 November 1874 – 1 April 1951) was a British officer of the Scots Guards. George Cornwallis-West was noted primarily for his marriages, the first to Jennie Jerome, mother of Winston Churchil ...
.
In the
general election in the same year he was elected as
Member of Parliament for
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, holding the seat until his retirement due to ill health 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 ...
.
Lady Power died suddenly in the same year, a loss that affected him deeply. His retirement years were spent at his
Hampshire home and a villa at
Grasse on the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
. He had sold Newlands Manor house before his death. He died in France in 1950, aged 79.
Sir John was succeeded in the baronetcy by his elder son, Ivan McLannahan Cecil Power, a
London County Councillor and director of various companies. Ivan had, by his first wife Nancy, daughter of
Rev.
The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...
John Griffiths: John Power (3rd baronet) and Hilary, later
Lady Cardoss then from 1984 therefore Countess of Buchan settled at
Newnham House, Hampshire.
References
External links
*
www.thePeerage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, John Cecil
1870 births
1950 deaths
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
UK MPs 1924–1929
UK MPs 1929–1931
UK MPs 1931–1935
UK MPs 1935–1945