Colonel William Baring du Pré, (5 April 1875 – 23 August 1946) was a British

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. He was a descendant of James Du Pré and likewise lived at

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and oversea ...

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

from 1896 to 1911; the family subsequently moved to

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is th ...

House,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Military and Political career

Du Pré was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, and was originally commissioned into the

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 ...

, from which he resigned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, he re-commissioned as a lieutenant in the 47th Company,

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...

, on 21 February 1900. He was captured in the "Yeomanry Disaster" at Lindley in May 1900 and held at Barberton

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

camp. He later commanded the 2/1st Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery (Territorials) and served on the Western Front 1915–18. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. High Sheriff, Sheriff is the olde ...

and deputy lieutenant of the county in 1911 (Coronation Medal, 1911) and was a JP for Bucks. Du Pré was elected as MP for Wycombe at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in 1914, when the Conservative MP

Charles Cripps Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor, (3 October 1852 – 30 June 1941) was a British politician who crossed the floor from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England ...

was elevated to the peerage as Baron Parmoor. He was re-elected at the 1918 general election as a

Coalition Conservative The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...

, but faced a strong challenge at the 1922 general election from the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate Lady Terrington. He held his seat with a majority of 4,473, but in December of the following year, at the 1923 general election, Lady Terrington took the seat with a majority of 1,682. Du Pré was a strong opponent of the women's rights advocated by Terrington, so his defeat was welcomed by women's groups.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Lady Terrington

Sporting interests

Lt-Col Du Pré, as he was known in the

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

world, was a leading croquet player between the wars. He won the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

twice (1929 and 1934), the Men's Championship on three occasions (1927, 1933 and 1936) and the Champion Cup in 1935. Du Pré represented England in three MacRobertson Shield tournaments, winning on one occasion. As an administrator Du Pré served on the Council of the

Croquet Association The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897, is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole of the Unit ...

from 1911 to 1940 and was Chairman of Council from 1933 to 1935.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Pre, William Baring 1875 births 1946 deaths Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Winchester College British prisoners of war of the Second Boer War UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Leicestershire Yeomanry officers Deputy Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire English croquet players British sportsperson-politicians