Sir Frederick Fergus Graham, 5th Baronet

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

TD (10 March 1893 – 1 August 1978) was a Conservative Party politician 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

Graham was a "member of one of the most distinguished Border families". He was the son of Sir Richard James Graham, 4th Baronet, and Lady Mabel Cynthia Duncombe, who were first cousins. His younger siblings included Richard Graham-Vivian (who married Audrey Emily Vivian, daughter of Maj. Henry Wyndham Vivian) and Daphne Graham (who married Sir Kenneth Barnes). His maternal grandparents were

William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham William Ernest Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham (28 January 1829 – 13 January 1915), known as The Lord Feversham between 1867 and 1868, was a British Conservative politician. Biography Duncombe was the son of William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Fever ...

and Mabel Violet Graham. His paternal grandparents were Sir Frederick Graham, 3rd Baronet and Lady Jane Hermione Stewart (a daughter of

Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset Edward Adolphus St. Maur, 12th Duke of Somerset, (20 December 180428 November 1885), styled Lord Seymour until 1855, was a British Whig aristocrat and politician, who served in various cabinet positions in the mid-19th century, including that ...

). His paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were siblings, both children of the prominent British statesman

Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet Sir James Robert George Graham, 2nd Baronet (1 June 1792 – 25 October 1861) was a British statesman, who notably served as Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty. He was the eldest son of Sir James Graham, 1st Baronet, by Lady Ca ...

, who served as

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

and

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

Career

Graham served from 1914 to 1918 during the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as Captain of the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

, where he was severely wounded, and mentioned in despatches, "leading a charge at

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in February, 1915." After he recovery, he served as aide-de-camp to his father-in-law, Gen. Reade and, later, to Gen. Fielding. "After the War he returned to Oxford and took a course in agriculture" and became a tenant farmer in North Cumberland. He was first elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in 1926 in the North Cumberland constituency. The sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Donald Howard had succeeded to the peerage as

Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, of Mount Royal in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, and of Glencoe in the County of Argyll, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1900 for the Scottish-born Canadian ...

, and Graham held the seat comfortably. He represented the constituency for nine years, until his defeat at the 1935 general election by the Liberal candidate

Wilfrid Roberts Wilfrid Hubert Wace Roberts (28 August 1900 – 26 May 1991) was a radical British Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. Personal life Roberts was born in York to Charles Henry Roberts, who became Liberal MP for Lincoln, ...

. Graham returned to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1951 general election, when he was elected as MP for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, defeating the sitting Labour MP David Hardman. Graham held his seat until he retired at the 1959 general election. In 1932, he succeeded his father to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, becoming the 5th Baronet Graham, of Netherby. He was

Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland. From 1765 to 1974, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Cumberland. * Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon 20 August 1586 – 14 December 1595 *''Likely ...

from 1958 to 1968. During the 1930s Graham's wife supported the local branch of the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

Personal life

In 1918 he married Mary Spencer Revell Reade, the only child of Major-General Raymond Northland Revell Reade and Rose Frances Spence. They had two children, one son and one daughter: * Major Sir Charles Spencer Richard Graham, 6th Baronet (1919–1997), who married Isabel Susan Anne Surtees, daughter of Maj. Robert Lambton Surtees. * Cynthia Mary Graham (1923–1927), who died young. Sir Fergus died on 1 August 1978 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

References

* * * ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Fergus 1893 births 1978 deaths People educated at Eton College People educated at Summer Fields School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Graham, Fergus, 5th Baronet Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Lord-lieutenants of Cumberland UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Knights_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire