Deryck Robert Endsleigh Abel (9 September 1918 – 13 February 1965) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, who was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

to Frederick and Beryl Abel. He came from a family of teachers, craftsmen and clerks; he and his parents moved to

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

when he was a small boy.

Biography

Abel studied first at Tottenham County School, the pioneering co-educational grammar school in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

,A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5
pp. 364-76 and then at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. He was unusual in his generation of men in that women teachers influenced him profoundly in the sixth form and at the LSE, notably the prominent social and economic historian, Professor Eileen Power.'' ''The Times'' Guide to the House of Commons'' (1951), p.102 He fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, losing a leg in 1940.Richard Mullen,
Betty Abel, 1916-1996
, ''

Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals intent on promoting their v ...

'', April 1996 While convalescing at the Sussex home of Francis W. Hirst, he prepared ''A History of British Tariffs, 1923-42'',London, 1945.

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

br>''A History of British Tariffs, 1923-42''
/ref> which became the standard work on the subject. He was a founder of the

Society for Individual Freedom The Society for Individual Freedom (SIF) is a United Kingdom-based association of libertarians, classical liberals, free-market conservatives and others promoting individual freedom. It has links to the British intelligence community. Earl ...

, which met at the Individualist Bookshop.Deryck Abel, ''Ernest Benn - Counsel for Liberty'' (London, 1960), pp. 99-113, 147 With Sir Ernest Benn, and others, Abel was co-author of the ''Individualist Manifesto'' (1942), a response to the prevalence of dictatorship in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

.John Benn, "Foreword" to Deryck Abel, ''Ernest Benn - Counsel for Liberty'' (London, 1960), pp. 7-8 The manifesto argued that it was imperative that civil liberties and individual responsibility be rapidly restored in Britain after the war and not eroded further by an ever-expanding bureaucracy. The Manifesto also contended powerfully against restrictive practices by trade unions and the collusion between the state and big business that negated the goal of a wide diffusion of wealth in a property-owning democracy.

Political activity

From the sixth form onwards, Abel was active in the

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 ...

, standing unsuccessfully in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

at the 1950 general election and

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

. He shared the ambition of other activists like Lord Rea, Nancy Seear, Sir

Andrew McFadyean Sir Andrew McFadyean (23 April 1887 – 2 October 1974) was a British diplomat, economist, Treasury official, businessman, Liberal politician, publicist and philosopher. He was born at Leith in Scotland and died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington ...

and Leonard Behrens of reshaping and reviving the Liberal Party by leaving behind the internecine divisions of the inter-war period and making the case for a reconciliation of traditions of Gladstonian fiscal policy, individualism and the welfare state collectivism of

Sir William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Progressivism, progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role ...

. In 1945, he resigned as Secretary and Editor of the Individualist Society to become Secretary of the

Free Trade Union The Free Trade Union, later known as the Free Trade League, was a British trade organisation extant between July 1903 and the 1970s. It was founded in opposition to the campaign for Imperial Preference which had been launched by Board of Trade cha ...

. He also became editor of the ''Free Trader'', for which he wrote regularly. He authored four books, including a centennial business history (''The House of Sage 1860-1960'').''The House of Sage 1860-1960'', London, 1960. He campaigned for a Liberty of the Subject Bill, and was Honorary Treasurer of the Freedom Defence Fund in the Willcock Identity Card case (1951)."Obituary: Deryck Abel", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 15 February 1965 As a free-lance journalist, he contributed to diverse newspapers and other publications, that included ''

'', ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

'', the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'', ''

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Ox ...

'', ''

Journal of Politics A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

'' and '' Far and Wide''."Some of Our Authors", ''Contemporary Review'', vol. 205, no. 1182, July 1964, p. 339 During the 1950s Abel was a leading proponent of the construction of a

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

, linking Britain with France, and published a book on the history and engineering of the tunnel project. He was Chairman of the ''Liberal News'', a regular publication for liberal activists. He served as Vice-Chairman of the Liberal Party Organisation (1956-7), then as Chairman of the Liberal Party Executive (1957-9), and Vice-President of the Liberal Party Organisation (1960-2), when he played a major part in the move of Lord Ogmore from the Labour to the Liberal Party. In 1959, he headed the poll in the election for the Liberal Party Executive.John Meadowcroft and Jaime Edwards,
Liberals and the New Right
, ''Journal of Liberal History'' (2005) He also stood unsuccessfully in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

at the 1959 general election and served as an official of the

National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...

. Meanwhile, the election in 1956, of

Jo Grimond Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, (; 29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993) was a British politician, leader of the Liberal Party for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976. Grimond was a long-term supporter of ...

as party leader reanimated the Liberal Party, ushering in a partial revival and foreshadowing a still-continuing struggle to establish a viable three-party system. In 1959, Abel resigned from the Free Trade Union and the ''Free Trader'', following their takeover by supporters of

Oliver Smedley William Oliver Smedley (19 February 1911 – 16 November 1989) was an English businessman involved in classical liberal politics and pirate radio. In 1966, he killed Reginald Calvert, in what was judged to be an act of self-defence. Early life ...

who, contending that the Conservative Party was pseudo-socialist, sought to promote right-wing ideas through the Liberal Party. Between 1962 and 1965, he worked with the prominent publishing house of Messrs. Longman, Green and Co. Ltd. Abel had contributed articles and book reviews to the monthly Liberal publication ''

'', for which his second wife was an editor, since 1941. Succeeding the eminent Liberal historian of European politics and diplomacy, Dr G.P. Gooch, Abel served as editor of the ''Contemporary Review'' from 1960 to 1965.Frank Eyck, ''G. P. Gooch: A Study in History and Politics'', Palgrave, 1982. He encouraged articles on such diverse themes as economic integration and the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, civil liberties, liberal internationalism, proportional representation and the suffrage, employee shareholding, and worker representation on the boards of enterprises.Magazine Data: Page 83
/ref> He also expanded coverage of literary themes.

Personal life

In 1944, Abel married a school friend, Gertrude Kent, a teacher and musician, with whom he had one son and one daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1962. He then married Betty Edwards, a college lecturer and member of the editorial staff of the ''

''. He died prematurely at 46, his health never having recovered from his wartime experiences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Deryck 1918 births 1965 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics British magazine editors Chairs of the Liberal Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates