Valentine Stapleton (died 16 July 1911) was an English local politician who served as Vice-Chairman of

Kesteven County Council Kesteven County Council was the county council of Parts of Kesteven in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at the County Offices in Sleaford. It was amalgama ...

and Mayor of

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

Career

Stapleton was admitted a solicitor in 1863 and practised in and around the

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

town of Stamford for over 40 years, eventually as a partner in Stapleton and Son. He was clerk to Law and Hutcheson's Charity in

King's Cliffe King's Cliffe (variously spelt Kings Cliffe, King's Cliff, Kings Cliff, Kingscliffe) is a village and civil parish on Willow Brook, a tributary of the River Nene, about northeast of Corby in North Northamptonshire. The parish adjoins the count ...

and to the village's schools. He also owned

Market Deeping Market Deeping is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, on the north bank of the River Welland and the A15 road. The population of the town at the 2011 census was 6,008. History The town's mark ...

Brewery, which he eventually sold, and went to live in Deeping around 1898. Stapleton was a staunch

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and took an active role in local politics. For many years, he sat on Stamford's borough council and served as the town's Mayor in 1893. At parliamentary elections, he supported Sir

John Lawrance Sir John Compton Lawrance, PC (30 May 1832 – 5 December 1912) was an English judge and Conservative Party politician. He was Conservative MP for South Lincolnshire from 1880 to 1885 and for Stamford from 1885 until 1890, when he was appointe ...

, Sir

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was Un ...

Henry Cust Henry John Cockayne-Cust, JP, DL (10 October 1861 – 2 March 1917) was an English politician and editor who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Unionist Party. Origins He was a son of Henry Cockayne-Cust, a younger grandson o ...

, William Younger,

Lord John Joicey-Cecil Lord John Pakenham Joicey-Cecil (3 March 1867 – 25 June 1942) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Joicey-Cecil was the fourth son of William Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Exeter, and his wife Lady Georgina Sophia, daughter ...

and Hon. Claud Willoughby. After Hay's electoral victory, a violent crowd of Liberal supporters took to the streets of Stamford and began damaging the property of local Conservatives; Stapleton stood in his doorway and asked them to stone him rather than disturb his family by vandalising his home; the crowd instead cheered him for his courage and moved along. Stapleton also sat on

as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

. He unsuccessfully contested the Stamford St George division at the Council's inception in 1889, but was elected an alderman at the Council's first meeting in February 1889, finishing joint sixth with 24 votes; he would have to stand again in 1895. He was duly re-elected in 1895, 1901, and 1907. He was elected its Vice-Chairman in 1904, following the death of

Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 3rd Baronet Sir Hugh Arthur Henry Cholmeley, 3rd Baronet, DL, JP (18 October 1839 – 14 February 1904) was a British soldier, landowner, and Liberal politician. Career Cholmeley was the eldest son of Sir Montague John Cholmeley, 2nd Baronet and Lady Georg ...

. As his health began to deteriorate, he stepped down in 1909, being succeeded by

Sir Charles Welby, 5th Baronet Sir Charles Glynne Earle Welby, 5th Baronet, (11 August 1865 – 19 March 1938) was a British civil servant who became a Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1900 to 1906, and then had a long career in local govern ...

. He tendered his resignation from the Council entirely, although other members implored him to remain, which he did. He was largely inactive on the Council for the last couple of years of his life. Described as a "fluent speaker" with "sound business judgement" whose "opinions, especially on financial matters, invariably carried great weight", Stapleton died at his home in Market Deeping on 16 July 1911, aged 72, leaving a widow, Sarah Ellen. His son, Valentine George Stapleton (died 1929), was a solicitor and Coroner for Stamford and Rutland; his other sons were Harvey and Arthur Leslie Stapleton, and his daughter was Ellen August Stapleton. His estate was valued at over £8,000."Death of Mr. Valentine Stapleton"
''Grantham Journal'', 22 July 1911, p. 6"Death of Mr. V. G. Stapleton of Stamford"
''Grantham Journal'', 26 October 1929, p. 11

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Valentine 1911 deaths English politicians Members of Kesteven County Council Mayors of places in Lincolnshire