Robert Vaughan Gower

Sir Robert Vaughan Gower FRGS, OBE (10 November 1880 – 6 March 1953)[1][2] was a British solicitor and Conservative Party[3] politician from Kent. He sat in the House of Commons from 1924 to 1945.

Early life

He was the son of Joshua Robert Gower of Tunbridge Wells, and his wife Kate, daughter of John Fagge of Tonbridge. He was admitted a solicitor in 1904.[4] His younger daughter, Pauline Gower, headed the female branch of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War.

Career

Mayor of Tunbridge Wells in 1918-1919, it was announced the King's Birthday Honours List in August 1919 that he was to be knighted for support he had given to a scheme for preserving businesses in the absence of those serving in World War I,[5][6][7] The title was conferred in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 18 August 1919.[8] He had previously been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).[5] He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.[5]

He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney Central at the 1924 general election,[9] a seat which had been held by the Liberal Party since 1906.[3] He did not contest Hackney Central at the 1929 general election,[3] when he was elected as the MP for Gillingham in Kent.[10] He held the seat until he retired from the Commons at the 1945 general election.[2][11]

References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 20. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  4. ↑ Visitation of England and Wales (1908), p. 31; https://archive.org/stream/visitationengla00britgoog#page/n47/mode/1up
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The London Gazette: no. 31501. p. 10218. 12 August 1919. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "List of Past Mayors". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  7. ↑ http://www.thecivicsociety.org/newsletter/06d-3-mayors.html
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 31587. p. 12419. 7 October 1919. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 32996. p. 8527. 25 November 1924. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33508. p. 4113. 21 June 1929. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  11. ↑ Craig, page 226

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Leonard Benjamin Franklin		 Member of Parliament for Hackney Central
1924 – 1929 		Succeeded by
Frederick Charles Watkins
Preceded by
Sir Gerald Hohler		 Member of Parliament for Gillingham
1929 – 1945 		Succeeded by
Joseph Binns