Frederick Halsey

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The Right Honourable Frederick Halsey
Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire
In office 1874 – 1885
Prime Minister	Benjamin Disraeli William Gladstone
Preceded by	Henry Brand
Succeeded by	Constituency Abolished
Member of Parliament for Watford
In office 1885 – 1906
Prime Minister	Marquess of Salisbury William Gladstone Marquess of Salisbury William Gladstone Earl of Roseberry Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Preceded by	new constituency
Succeeded by	Nathaniel Micklem

Born	9 December 1839
Died	12 February 1927
Political party	Conservative

Sir Thomas Frederick Halsey, 1st Baronet PC (9 December 1839–12 February 1927) was an English politician.

Halsey came from one of the most prominent families of Hertfordshire, whose seat was at Gaddesden Place, near Hemel Hempstead. His father, Thomas Plumer Halsey, was Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire from 1847 to 24 April 1854, when he, his wife and his younger son were drowned in the shipwreck of the steamer Ercolano in the Gulf of Genoa. Frederick survived as he was at Eton at the time. He progressed from there to Christ Church, Oxford.

After graduating in 1861, he took up the life of a county notable in Hertfordshire, obtaining a commission in the North Hertfordshire Yeomanry and becoming a Justice of the Peace. In 1874 he was elected Conservative MP for Hertfordshire and served in the post until 1885, when the constituencies were reorganised. He was then elected for Watford and served until 1906, when he lost his seat to the Liberals. In 1899 he was elected Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Orders Committee, and for service in this role was appointed to the Privy Council, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable".

After his parliamentary defeat he once more devoted himself to county affairs, serving as chairman of the St Albans Quarter Sessions from 1908 to 1918 (having served as deputy chairman from 1889 to 1908). No decision of his court was ever appealed. He was an alderman of Hertfordshire County Council from 1888, and was particularly interested in the Hertfordshire Constabulary. He finally retired from the Hertfordshire Yeomanry with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, having served as second-in-command, and then joined the county Territorial Force association, becoming its chairman. He was an active Freemason, and served as Deputy Grand Master of England and Second Grand Principal of the Supreme Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch from 1903.

He was created a baronet in the 1920 Birthday Honours.^[1]

Halsey's fourth son was Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by (constituency created from Hertfordshire constituency)	Member of Parliament for Watford 1885–1906	Succeeded by Nathaniel Micklem
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by creation	Halsey of Gaddesdon, Hertfordshire 22 June 1920 – 12 Feb 1927	Succeeded by Sir Walter Johnston Halsey, 2nd Baronet