Joseph Montague Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi (7 March 1886 – 8 October 1953), was a Liberal and then a Labour Party

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 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Education and naval service

Strabolgi was born at Leamington in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

and educated at the Eastman's Royal Naval Academy at Northward Park in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and as a cadet on H.M.S. Britannia. He joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

in 1902 and served for seventeen years. During 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, ...

, he was for a short but critical period in the Plans Division of the

Admiralty War Staff The Admiralty War Staff was the former senior naval staff operational planning organisation within the British Admiralty that existed from 1912 to 1917. It was instituted on 8 January 1912 by Winston Churchill in his capacity as First Lord of t ...

. He left for an appointment in the Mediterranean which enabled him to see the latest developments of war on seaborne commerce at close quarters. He returned to the Grand Fleet in time to be present at the final surrender of German sea power. He resigned from the Navy in 1920 to enter Parliament. "That Kenworthy stayed t the Naval Stafffor only five months was probably the result of factors beyond the need to employ invalid staff. A reading of his service record and his memoirs suggest that he was a man who was neither easy to work with nor necessarily very competent. His memoirs are particularly unreliable. Of the 244 executive officers for whom it has been possible to find their Sub-Lieutenant examination results, twenty-three failed an exam (9 per cent), and Kenworthy was one of these. From his service record it is possible to see that: in 1907 he was refused permission to qualify for a navigation course; in 1911 he failed the signals course for command of a Torpedo boat; in 1912 HMS ''Bullfinch'', of which he was in command, struck HMS ''Leopard'', and Kenworthy was 'cautioned to be more careful'; in 1914 he was sacked from HMS ''Bullfinch'' 'on account of unsatisfactory conduct'. The Admiral Commanding Orkneys and Shetlands concluded that Kenworthy was 'not a fit person to be in command of a destroyer'. (ADM 196/50, p. 286.) It should be added in mitigation that collision between ships was not that uncommon. In any case, it is not any of these events that is telling, but the combination. Kenworthy's memoirs make no reference to his departure from HMS ''Bullfinch''. (Kenworthy, ''Sailors)'' He merely wrote that when he left the ship the crew cheered. His entry in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' has also failed to address these inconsistencies. (Grove, E., 'Kenworthy, Joseph Montague', in ''ODNB'', Oxford 2004, vol. 31, 337–8.)"

Politician

Kenworthy first tried to enter Parliament at the 1918 general election contesting

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

as a Liberal but finished in third place. He was soon given another chance though when he was selected to contest Central Hull at a by-election in 1919. Anti-Coalition government sentiment was riding high and he was duly elected

for the Liberals. Kenworthy was one of the more energetic supporters of

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 ...

in Parliament and never lost his hostility to

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

. During the 1924-29 parliament which was dominated by a Conservative majority, he worked closely with a group of radical Liberal MPs that included:

William Wedgwood Benn William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary ...

, Percy Harris, Frank Briant and Horace Crawfurd to provide opposition to the government.Forty Years in and out of Parliament by Sir Percy Harris When Lloyd George became Leader of the Liberal Party in 1926, despite the party taking on a more radical hue, Kenworthy resigned from the party and joined Labour. He also resigned his seat in the House of Commons and fought and won a by-election in Central Hull, standing for Labour. He retained the seat until 1931. He was an active supporter of the movement for the independence of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. In 1934, he succeeded his father as

Lord Strabolgi Baron Strabolgi (pronounced "Strabogie") is a title in the Peerage of England supposedly created in 1318 for Scottish lord David of Strathbogie, 10th Earl of Atholl. Despite lack of evidence supporting its existence, it was called out of abeyan ...

and was the opposition chief whip in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

from 1938 to 1942. He was disappointed not to be given a position in the postwar Labour government (1945–51).

Personal life

Lord Strabolgi married twice. Firstly, in 1913, he married Doris Whitley, daughter of his fellow Liberal MP,

Frederick Whitley-Thomson Sir Frederick Whitley-Thomson (2 September 1851 – 21 June 1925) was a British Liberal Party politician and businessman. Background He was the son of Jonathan Thomson, merchant of Glasgow, and Emma Whitley of Halifax. He was educated at Glas ...

. They had four children, and divorced in 1941. Later that year, he married Geraldine Francis. When he died in 1953 aged 67, he was succeeded by his eldest son,

David Montague de Burgh Kenworthy, 11th Baron Strabolgi David Montague de Burgh Kenworthy, 11th Baron Strabolgi (pronounced "Strabogie") (1 November 1914 – 24 December 2010), was a Labour Party peer. Education Strabolgi was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and the Chelsea School of Art. Appo ...

, another left-wing politician and member of the Labour Party.

Writer

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he wrote numerous articles on the war, especially the war at sea. These include ''Secret Weapons'' in ''Modern World'' (27 April 1940) and ''What’s Wrong with the British Army?'' in ''Colliers magazine'' (22 August 1942).

Books by Lord Strabolgi

His books include – *''Peace or war?'' (with a foreword by H.G. Wells, Boni & Liveright, New York, 1927) *''India, A Warning'' (E. Mathews & Marrot, London, 1931) *''The Campaign in the Low Countries: the first full-length account of the epic struggle in Holland and Belgium'' (London 1940) *''The Battle of the River Plate'' (Hutchinson & Co., London, 1940) *''Freedom of the Seas'' (jointly with Sir George Young) *''Our Daily Pay: the Economics of Plenty'' *''Sailors, Statesmen and Others: an Autobiography'' *''The Real Navy'' *''Narvik and After'' *''From Gibraltar to Suez: a study of the Italian Campaign'' *''Singapore and After'' *''Sea Power in the Second World War''

Appointments

* Chairman of the

English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organistation. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skill ...

* Vice-President of ''The Air League of The British Empire''

Sources

Strabolgi at thepeerage.com
nbsp;– 10 October 1953
Speech at the Empire Club of Canada, 1947
Entry by Eric J Grove in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', OUP 2004–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strabolgi, Joseph Kenworthy, 10th Baron 1886 births 1953 deaths Barons in the Peerage of England Kenworthy, Joseph Kenworthy, Joseph Kenworthy, Joseph Kenworthy, Joseph Kenworthy, Joseph Kenworthy, Joseph Kenworthy, Joseph UK MPs who inherited peerages Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Royal Navy officers British non-fiction writers People educated at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy British male writers 20th-century non-fiction writers Male non-fiction writers 20th-century English nobility People from Leamington Spa