George Trefgarne, 1st Baron Trefgarne

George Garro-Jones

George Morgan Trefgarne, 1st Baron Trefgarne (14 September 1894 – 27 September 1960), known as George Garro-Jones until 1947, was a British Liberal, then Labour Party politician, barrister, businessman and editor of The Daily Dispatch.

Background

George Garro-Jones was born in Haverfordwest, Wales on 14 September 1894.

Political career

Greenwood

Garro-Jones was private secretary to Sir Hamar Greenwood from 1919-22.[1] This was while Greenwood was firstly Secretary for Overseas Trade and then Chief Secretary for Ireland. Greenwood was a Liberal Minister in the Coalition Government led by David Lloyd George.

This close association led Garro-Jones into standing as a candidate for National Liberals at the 1922 General Election. He was selected to contest Bethnal Green North East, where the sitting Liberal member, also a supporter of the Coalition Government, was retiring. However, Garro-Jones's task of holding the seat was made hard when the National Liberals coalition partners, the Unionists, decided to end the coalition and he found a Unionist intervening against him. To make matters worse, he could not count on the support of the local Liberal Association when an opposition Liberal supporter of H. H. Asquith also entered the contest. As a result, he finished bottom of the poll;

Bethnal Green N.E. in the County of London, boundaries in 1922
General Election 1922: Bethnal Green North East[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Garnham Edmonds 5,774 36.1
Communist Walter Windsor 5,659 35.3
Unionist Eric Alfred Hoffgaard 2,806 17.5
National Liberal George Morgan Garro-Jones 1,780 11.5
Majority 115 0.8
Turnout 27,262 58.8
Liberal gain from National Liberal Swing N/A

After the election the divisions in the Liberal ranks between the supporters of Asquith and Lloyd George was heald. Garro-Jones was chosen as Liberal candidate at the 1923 general election for the Unionist seat of Hackney South. No Liberal candidate had fought here at the previous election, so it was not regarded as a particularly good prospect. The Labour candidate won but Garro-Jones was still able to poll more votes than the sitting member who came third;

Hackney South in the county of London, boundaries in 1924
General Election 1923: Hackney South[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Herbert Stanley Morrison 9,578 42.8 -5.8
Liberal George Morgan Garro-Jones 6,757 30.2 N/A
Conservative Clifford Erskine-Bolst 6,047 27.0 -24.4
Majority 2,821 12.2 +29.6
Labour gain from Conservative

He only had to wait another year for the opportunity to enter parliament came again. He was again chosen as Liberal candidate for Hackney South. However, this time, there was no Unionist candidate and he was able to take the seat from his Labour opponent;

General Election 1924: Hackney South[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal George Morgan Garro-Jones 13,415 53.5 +23.3
Labour Herbert Stanley Morrison 11,651 46.5 +3.7
Majority 1,761 7.0 +19.2
Liberal gain from Labour

His victory was rare in an election which saw a large number of Liberals lose their seats. He stood down at the 1929 election and shortly afterwards joined the Labour Party. He was elected Labour MP for Aberdeen North at the 1935 general election, holding the seat until 1945.

Garro-Jones was raised to the peerage as Baron Trefgarne, of Cleddau in the County of Pembroke, on 21 January 1947.[5] In 1954 he assumed by deed poll the surname of Trefgarne in lieu of his patronymic.[6] He was succeeded by his son David, a Conservative government minister.

References

  1. ↑ The Times House of Commons, 1935
  2. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. ↑ "The General Election: First Returns, Polling In The Boroughs, Liberal Gains". The Times. 7 December 1923. p. 6.
  4. ↑ "The General Election: First Returns, Polling In The Boroughs". The Times. 30 October 1924. p. 6.
  5. ↑ "No. 37860". The London Gazette. 21 January 1947. p. 411.
  6. ↑ "No. 40099". The London Gazette. 12 February 1954. p. 956.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Herbert Morrison		 Member of Parliament for Hackney South
1924 – 1929 		Succeeded by
Herbert Morrison
Preceded by
John George Burnett		 Member of Parliament for Aberdeen North
1935 – 1945 		Succeeded by
Hector Hughes
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Trefgarne
1947 – 1960 		Succeeded by
David Garro Trefgarne
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