Air Commodore Alfred Cecil Critchley, (23 February 1890 – 9 February 1963) was a military commander, entrepreneur and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

in the United Kingdom. He served as a

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 in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) from 1934 to 1935.

Early life and military career

Critchley was born in Calgary, Northwest Territories (now Alberta), Canada in 1890 and brought to England at the age of nine and attended St Bees School in Cumberland. .. His first career was a military one, initially in

Lord Strathcona's Horse Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH C is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and is Canada’s only tank regiment. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechani ...

, a Canadian military regiment and, towards the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

(RFC). He was seconded to the RFC on 4 March 1918 with the temporary rank of brigadier general at the age of only 28. Remaining in the RFC and then

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

to the end of the war, Critchley played a senior role in organising training, commanding the RFC and then

RAF's Cadet Brigade The Royal Flying Corps brigades were organizational formations of British military aircraft and personnel during World War I that typically controlled several wings. The air brigade system was introduced into the Royal Flying Corps in late 1915 a ...

. By the end of the war he had become the youngest brigadier general in the British Imperial forces and had married Maryon Galt, the cousin of the wife of the press baron Sir Max Aitken, later

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

Business and politics

After the war Critchley involved himself in a number of business ventures in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

before returning to the UK where he became a director of Associated Portland Cement. In 1926 he helped form the private company, the

Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...

(GRA). Under the auspices of this company he became a significant sporting entrepreneur in the UK. The company introduced greyhound racing to the UK in Belle Vue,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in 1926. The success of this initial trial led the company to purchase the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ca ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The GRA subsequently built both the

Harringay Stadium Harringay Stadium was a major greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway venue in Harringay, north London. It was built and opened in 1927 and closed in 1987. Construction Harringay Stadium was the third greyhound racing stadium to open in Br ...

and

Harringay Arena Harringay Arena was a sporting and events venue on Green Lanes in Harringay, North London, England. Built in 1936, it lasted as a venue until 1958. Construction Harringay Arena was built and owned by Brigadier-General Alfred Critchley under ...

. He was married for a second time in London to Miss Joan Foster of Mount Street, London on 22 December 1927. Critchley contested the 1929 general election as a Conservative in the

Manchester Gorton Manchester Gorton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Labour's Afzal Khan, who was elected at the 2017 general election. It is the safest Labour seat in Greater Manchester by numerical majority and ...

constituency, a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combina ...

for the Labour Party where he was heavily defeated. In February 1931, he contested the Islington East by-election as a candidate for the

Empire Free Trade Crusade The Empire Free Trade Crusade was a political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Lord Beaverbrook in July 1929 to press for the British Empire to become a free trade bloc. The group was founded to oppose both the Labour minority g ...

and the United Empire Party, which both sought to make the British Empire a free trade bloc. The Empire Crusade had won the Paddington South by-election in October 1930, and hoped to repeat its success. Critchley came second, with 27.2% of the votes, and the Empire Crusade never won another seat. He rejoined the Conservative Party, and won the Twickenham by-election on 22 June 1934. Nevertheless, he did not contest the 1935 general election. He was a director general of the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the pass ...

from 1943 to 1946. In 1953 he suffered a severe infection which caused him to go blind. In 1954 he was involved in the publishing deals of

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, Parliament of the United Kingdom, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early i ...

Sport

In addition to his interest in greyhound racing, Critchley was a keen sportsman, and was a leading amateur golfer. He also took part in bobsleigh events with his son John Galt Critchley, who went on to claim a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

at the FIBT World Championships 1939.

References

External links

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore A C Critchley
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Alfred Cecil 1890 births 1963 deaths British people of Canadian descent Canadian military personnel from Alberta Canadian military personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at St Bees School People from Calgary People in greyhound racing Royal Air Force generals of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Flying Corps officers UK MPs 1931–1935 Lord Strathcona's Horse soldiers

Early life and military career

Business and politics

Sport

Further reading

References

External links