Thomas James Macnamara PC (23 August 1861 – 3 December 1931) was a British teacher, educationalist and radical Liberal politician.

Biography

Macnamara was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of a soldier originally from County Clare in Ireland.Robin Betts, ''Dr Macnamara, 1861-1931''; Liverpool University Press, 1999 His family returned to Britain in 1869. He was educated first at the Depot School in

Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock ( cy, Doc Penfro) is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following ...

and then in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. He qualified as a teacher in 1876 at the Borough Road Training College for Teachers. In 1886, he married Rachel Cameron. They had three sons and one daughter.

Teaching

He was active as a teacher until 1892 in Exeter, Huddersfield and Bristol, when he became editor of ''The Schoolmaster''. He was sometime chairman of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

and in 1896 he was appointed president of the National Union of Teachers.

Politics

In 1900 he was elected to the House of Commons for Camberwell North, a seat he held until 1918, and then represented Camberwell North West until 1924. He served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as

Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

from 1907 to 1908 and under

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

and later David Lloyd George as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1908 to 1920 and was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1911. In 1920 Lloyd George appointed him Minister of Labour, with a seat in the cabinet, a position he retained until the government fell in October 1922.

Death

Macnamara died on 3 December 1931, aged 70, of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

Elsie Cameron Elias

His daughter, Elsie Cameron Macnamara was born in 1889. In April 1913 she married Thomas Elias and became known as Elsie Cameron Elias. Her husband was Liberal candidate for

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

in 1923. At the 1924 General Election she stood as Liberal candidate for Southwark South East, finishing third.''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', F. W. S. Craig

Publications

* ''Schoolmaster sketches'' – Cassell, 1896 * ''The Education Bill and its Probable Effects on the Schools, the Scholars and School Teachers'' – Swan Sonnesschein, 1902 * ''The Gentle Golfer'' – Arrowsmith, 1905 * ''School-Room Humour'' - Arrowsmith, 1905 * ''The Education Bill of 1906 Explained and Defended'' – Liberal Publication Dept. 1906 * ''School Room Humour'' – Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, 1907 * ''What Not To Do'' in H Seton-Karr, ''Golf'' – Greening, 1907 * ''The Political Situation: Letters to Working Men'' – Hodder and Stoughton, 1909 * ''Concerning the Navy'' – Liberal Publication Dept. 1910 * ''Dr Macnamara's Messages to Working Men'' – Hodder and Stoughton, 1910 * ''Let London Lead: The Mother City's Duty to the Empire and Herself'' – reprinted with additions from the ''Daily Chronicle'', 1910 * ''The Great Insurance Act: Addresses to Working Men'' – Hodder and Stoughton, 1912 * ''The Great Insurance Act: A Year's Experience'' – Liberal Publication Dept 1913 * ''Success in Industry'' – Harrison, 1920 * ''The Work of the Ministry of Labour'' – National Liberal Council, 1922 * ''Labour at the Crossroads: Two Camberwell Addresses'' – Hodder and Stoughton, 1923 * ''If Only We Would: Some Reflections on our Social Shortcomings and Some Suggestions for their Removal'' – P S King, 1926

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macnamara, Thomas James 1861 births 1931 deaths People from Montreal English educational theorists English people of Irish descent Canadian expatriates in England Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Teachers-sponsored MPs Presidents of the National Union of Teachers UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Deaths from prostate cancer Members of the London School Board National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians Canadian emigrants to England Canadian people of Irish descent Schoolteachers from Devon Schoolteachers from Yorkshire Schoolteachers from Bristol