John Rathbone

John Rankin Rathbone (5 February 1910 – 10 December 1940) was a British Conservative Party politician.

From the 1935 general election until his death, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bodmin constituency in Cornwall. After his death, his American-born wife Beatrice was elected unopposed to succeed him as MP.[1]

He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply from July to September 1939, when World War II broke out. A Flight Lieutenant and fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force, he was killed shortly after the Battle of Britain. He was buried at Schoonselhof cemetery, Antwerp, Belgium.[2]

Rathbone was the nephew of Eleanor Rathbone, who had been an independent MP for the Combined English Universities between 1929 and 1946, and a staunch women's rights campaigner. He was a grandson of William Rathbone, Liberal MP for Liverpool and later Carnarvonshire.

His son, also called John Rankin Rathbone, but known as Tim Rathbone, was the Conservative MP for Lewes from 1974 to 1997.

References

  1. ↑ Obituary of Tim Rathbone, from The Times
  2. ↑ CWGC entry
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Isaac Foot		 Member of Parliament for Bodmin
1935–1940 		Succeeded by
Beatrice Wright


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.