Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott (8 May 1858 – 13 December 1926) was a British businessman and

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politician.

Background and education

The eldest surviving son of Thomas Emmott, of Brookfield,

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, he was educated at Grove House,

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, and at the

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. He became a partner in Emmott and Walshall, cotton spinners, of Oldham.

Political career

In 1881, Emmott entered the Oldham Municipal Borough Council and was mayor of the town between 1891 and 1892. In a by-election in 1899 he was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for

, a seat he held until 1911. It was a two-member seat, and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, who started his political career there, was the other member from 1900 to 1906. Emmott served as Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons) from 1906 to 1911 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1908. In October 1911 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies by

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

and the following month he was raised to the peerage as Baron Emmott, of Oldham in the County Palatine of Lancaster. He remained at the Colonial Office until 1914 and was then a member of Asquith's cabinet as First Commissioner of Works between 1914 and 1915. Emmott was also Director of the War Trade Department between 1915 and 1919, chaired the Royal Commission on Decimal Coinage between 1918 and 1920 and was President of the Royal Statistical Society between 1922 and 1924. He was a churchman, but his education at the Friends' School and his ancestry led him to sympathize with nonconformists. He was appointed a GCMG in 1914 and a GBE in 1917. In his approach to politics, Emmott was a strong supporter of the government's social reforms. This was arguably reflected in 1910 when Emmott, in response to Conservative critics who attacked the Liberals as "socialistic", retorted that "so far as we have gone in the direction of Socialism, so-called, whether it be in regard to free and compulsory education, whether it be in regard to old age pensions, or in respect of any other reform, we have not diminished, but rather added to the liberty of the individual."

Family

Lord Emmott married Mary Gertrude, a daughter of J. W. Lees, in 1887, and they had two daughters. Lady Emmott was a Justice of the Peace for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In February 1926, aged 67, Lord Emmott died very suddenly, from

angina pectoris Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of part ...

, at his home in London, on a day when he was engaged to speak at a Liberal Party rally. The barony became extinct on his death, as he had no son.

Arms

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emmott, Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron 1858 births 1926 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of London Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs who were granted peerages Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Lancashire Barons created by George V