Valentine George Crittall, 1st Baron Braintree, (28 June 1884 – 21 May 1961) was a British politician and businessman who served briefly as a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Member of Parliament before later joining the Conservatives.

Background

Crittall was born at Braintree, the son of Essex businessman Francis Henry Crittall, founder of the Crittall window company, and Ellen Laura Carter. Crittall was educated at Framlingham College in Suffolk.

Political career

Crittall was elected as

Member of Parliament for the Essex constituency of

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

in the 1923 general election by a majority of only 49 votes over the sitting Conservative MP Lt Col

Edward Ruggles-Brise Colonel Sir Edward Archibald Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet (19 September 1882 – 12 May 1942) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Early life The son of Archibald Weyland Ruggles Brise (1857-1939), he was born at W ...

, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Thomson, the Minister of Air. He was defeated by Ruggles-Brise in the 1924 general election, and knighted in 1930. He was elevated to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

in 1948, as Baron Braintree, of Braintree in the County of Essex, and was a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

from 1948 to 1955. He was also a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

( magistrate) for Essex.

Silver End

In 1926, Crittall founded the model Village of

Silver End Silver End is a village in Braintree, Essex, in England. It was conceived as a model village by the industrialist Francis Henry Crittall who established a Crittall Windows Ltd factory there to manufacture components for metal windows. History C ...

, near Braintree in Essex. Built as a "garden village" to provide accommodation for the people who worked in the Crittall family's growing factories, the village has been described as "a wonder of its tim

its motto is "Why not?"

Family

Crittall was married three times: to Olive Lillian MacDermott, in 1915; to Lydia Mabel Revy in 1933; and to Phyllis Dorothy Cloutman, in 1955. He died aged 76 in 1961, without male children, and his

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

y therefore became extinct.

Arms

References

'Class Traitors': Conservative Recruits to Labour, 1900-30

*

External links

* 1884 births 1961 deaths Knights Bachelor Crittall, Valentine Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Crittall, Valentine UK MPs who were granted peerages People from Braintree, Essex Crittall, Valentine Barons created by George VI {{UK-baron-stub