Samuel Pattinson

Samuel Pattinson (17 December 1870 – 15 November 1942)^[1] was a British businessman and Liberal politician.

Family and education

Samuel Pattinson was the son of William Pattinson, a Justice of the Peace from Ruskington in Lincolnshire. He was educated at Abingdon House School in Northampton. In 1897 he married Betsy Sharpley Bainbridge from Lincoln. They had one son and a daughter.^[2]

A Liberal family

The Pattinson family had strong Liberal political connections. The husband of Samuel Pattinson’s sister, Annie, was Richard Winfrey who was Liberal MP for South West Norfolk from 1906–1923 and for Gainsborough from 1923-24. His own brother, Robert Pattinson, who was knighted in 1934, was Liberal MP for Grantham from 1922-23.^[3]

Career

The Pattinson family ran a successful builder’s merchants in Sleaford, Lincolnshire,^[4] of which Samuel was a director. He was also a director of Bainbridge’s Ltd in Lincoln, his wife’s father’s company.

Politics

Local politics

Pattinson was an Alderman of Kesteven County Council and later for Lincolnshire County Council, on which he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee. He was also Justice of the Peace for the County.^[2]

Parliamentary politics

He first contested a Parliamentary seat at the 1918 general election when he stood as Liberal candidate in Horncastle.^[5] As a supporter of H H Asquith he was not given the government coupon which was granted to Coalition Unionist William Weigall. Pattinson tried again at Horncastle at the by-election of 1920 which was called when Weigall was appointed Governor of South Australia but he lost by 1,413 votes to the Coalition Conservative, Stafford Vere Hotchkin.

Member of Parliament for Horncastle

Pattinson was eventually elected to the House of Commons at the 1922 general election, beating the Conservative candidate by 1,639.^[6] He held the seat at the 1923 general election with a majority of 1,819 ^[7] but he could not retain it in 1924 losing to Conservative candidate Henry Cobden Haslam, a science researcher from Cambridge University, by 1,169 votes ^[8]

Bonar Law

Despite his Liberal affiliations, Pattison was obviously an admirer of Tory leader Andrew Bonar Law. In December 1922 he informed his constituents in Horncastle that Bonar Law was ‘the finest leader the House of Commons had seen for a very long time. [He]..held the House of Commons in the hollow of his hand”. Pattinson said although he differed in political viewpoint from Bonar Law, he admired him greatly and believed he honestly wished to do his best for the country.^[9] By this time of course Bonar Law was prime minister having replaced David Lloyd George when his Liberal-Conservative coalition fell after the Carlton Club meeting of 19 October 1922. As an Asquithian Liberal, it is unlikely Pattinson had much regard for Lloyd George and his view of Bonar Law might have been coloured by this. By December 1922, the general election was over, so Pattison had no need to flatter Bonar Law to his constituents to try and earn Conservative votes.

References