Sir Charles Thomas-Stanford, 1st Baronet (3 April 1858 – 7 March 1932), born Charles Thomas, was a

British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician from

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. He sat in the House of Commons from 1914 to 1922.

Early life and family

The son of David Collet Thomas, from Hove, he was educated at the

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

and at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, where he graduated with a BA degree in 1881. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the Inner Temple in 1882, but did not practice. In 1897 he married Ellen Stanford, the daughter and heiress of William Stanford of Preston Park, Sussex, and widow of Vere Benett-Stanford, the former MP for Shaftesbury. In the same year he changed his name by royal licence to Thomas-Stanford.

Career

Thomas-Stanford became a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

(J.P.) for Brighton, and served as

Mayor of Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronz ...

in 1910–11 and 1912–14, becoming an alderman by 1914. Thomas-Stanford was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for

in June 1914 at an unopposed by-election following the resignation of the Conservative MP John Gordon. He was re-elected in

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

as a Coalition Conservative (i.e. a supporter of the

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

led by the Liberal David Lloyd George), and stood down from Parliament at the 1922 general election. In 1922 he donated Lewes Castle to the

Sussex Archaeological Society The Sussex Archaeological Society, founded in 1846, is one of the oldest county-based archaeological societies in the UK. A registered self-funding charity whose charitable aims are to enable people to enjoy, learn about and have access to the he ...

, of which he was a long-serving chairman. Thomas-Stanford was made a baronet on the

1929 New Year Honours The 1929 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 26 February 1929.United Kingdom and Briti ...

and the title was conferred on 8 May 1929. He died aged 73 on 7 March 1932 at his home Preston Manor, Brighton, which was bequeathed to Brighton Corporation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas-Stanford, Charles 1858 births 1932 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English justices of the peace UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People from Brighton Councillors in East Sussex Mayors of places in East Sussex Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Highgate School Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford