Colonel William Baring du Pré (5 April 1875 – 23 August 1946) was a British Conservative Party politician.
Du Pré was educated at Winchester and the RMA and was originally commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps but served in the Boer War with 47th Coy., Imperial Yeomanry. He was captured in the "Yeomanry Disaster" at Lindley in May 1900 and held at Barberton p.o.w. camp until released. He later commanded the 2/1 Leicester RHA (Territorials) and served on the Western Front 1915-18.
He was appointed High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1911 (Coronation Medal, 1911) and was a JP for Bucks. Du Pre was elected as Member of Parliament for Wycombe at a by-election in 1914, when the Conservative MP Charles Cripps was elevated to the peerage as Baron Parmoor.
Du Pré was re-elected at the 1918 general election as a Coalition Conservative, but faced a strong challenge at the 1922 general election from the Liberal candidate Lady Terrington. He held his seat with a majority of 4,473, but in December the following year, at the 1923 general election, Lady Terrington took the seat with a majority of 1,682. Du Pré was a strong opponent of the women's rights advocated by Terrington, so his defeat was welcomed by women's groups.[1]
Lt-Col Du Pré, as he was known in the croquet world, was a leading croquet player between the wars. He won the Open Championship twice (1929 and 1934), the Men's Championship on three occasions (1927, 1933 and 1936) and the Champion Cup in 1935.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Cripps |
Member of Parliament for Wycombe 1914–1923 |
Succeeded by Lady Terrington |