William Audley Bowdler (7 September 1884 – 20 February 1969) was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

who served briefly as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the early 1920s.

Background

He was born in

Kirkham, Lancashire Kirkham aka Kirkam-in-Amounderness Hundred, Amounderness is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England, midway between Blackpool and Preston, Lancashire, Preston and adjacent to the ...

, the son of W. H. Bowdler and E. A. Richards, of

Clifton, Lancashire Clifton is a village in the English county of Lancashire and in the district of Fylde. The village is part of the civil parish of Newton-with-Clifton. It is situated on the A583 road, approximately west of its post town, Preston, and eas ...

. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

. In 1918 he married Marguerite Parkes, of

Woldingham Woldingham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish high on the North Downs between Oxted and Warlingham in Surrey, England, within the M25 motorway, M25, southeast of London. The village has 2,141 inhabitants, many of whom co ...

. They had one son and three daughters.

Political career

He started his parliamentary career in March 1922 when he was selected as the Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for the Holderness division of East Yorkshire. As a Lancastrian, he was an outsider to the constituency not expected to defeat the sitting Unionist MP Arthur Wilson who had held the seat for 22 years. During the 1922 general election campaign held in November, ''The Times'' were happy to write off his prospects of victory; "The Conservatives hold on Holderness is not believed to be seriously endangered. The farmers may be cross, but many of them have voted Conservative all their lives, and will not easily break with their political traditions.""Col. F. S. Jackson Opposed." Times ondon, England2 Nov. 1922: 12. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 10 Aug. 2014. His victory, on a swing of 16% was therefore a surprise; Another General Election came around a year later and despite the Liberal Party experiencing something of a revival, Bowdler lost his seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1923 general election, to a new Conservative candidate

Samuel Savery Sir Samuel Servington Savery (March 1861 – 27 December 1938) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Holderness from 1923 to 1938. He was also founder and the first Headmaster of Bramcote ...

, He did not stand again.

References

1884 births 1969 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1922–1923 People educated at Rossall School {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub