Captain Harold Thomas Cawley (12 June 1878 – 23 September 1915) was a British barrister,

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 and soldier.

Background

Born at

Crumpsall Crumpsall is an outer suburb and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, bordered by Cheetham Hill, Blackley, Harpurhey, Broughton, Greater Manchester, Broughton ...

, he was the second son of Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley and his wife Elizabeth Smith, daughter of John Smith. His younger brother was

Oswald Cawley Oswald Cawley (7 October 1882 – 22 August 1918), styled The Honourable from January 1918, was a British soldier and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. He was the fourth and youngest son of Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley and ...

. Cawley was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and then at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

. He was called to the Bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1902 and went to the Northern Circuit, working in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Two years later he joined the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment.

Career

In 1910, Cawley entered the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

for Heywood, and a year later he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary

Reginald McKenna Reginald McKenna (6 July 1863 – 6 September 1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admira ...

. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914 he served with his

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

battalion (now the

6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor sixth ...

and became aide de camp to Major-General William Douglas, the officer commanding

42nd (East Lancashire) Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignat ...

Death

The 42nd Division went to

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

in 1915. During September the Turks exploded a series of

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

in front of the British trench known as the 'Gridiron' and damaging its defences. Repairs after one mine on 22 September were covered by a

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

party of 1/6th Battalion Manchester Regiment who held the lip of the crater. The same day the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

exploded a counter-mine and the Manchesters rushed the crater and built a barrier across it. Captain Cawley, serving with 1/6th Bn, was killed that night by a Turkish sniper, and the crater became known as 'Cawley's Crater'. Before his death, he sent a letter to his father, at that time representative of

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester, north of Salford and south of Bury. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ...

in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. As a Member of Parliament the letter was not subject to military censorship, and it reported the mishandling of the Dardanelles campaign in some detail. Cawley is buried at Lancashire Landing Cemetery in Gallipoli. Cawley War Memorial in Eye Church - geograph

Cawley War Memorial in Eye Church - geograph

It was in memory of Harold and two other sons – Oswald and John – who died in the war that their father endowed a ward at

Ancoats Hospital The Ancoats Hospital and Ardwick and Ancoats Dispensary (commonly known as Ancoats Hospital) was a large inner-city hospital located in Ancoats, to the north of the city centre of Manchester, England. It was built in 1875, replacing the Ardwick ...

, Manchester, in 1919 at a cost of £10,000. All three brothers are commemorated on the

Parliamentary War Memorial The Parliamentary War Memorial, also known as the Recording Angel Memorial, is a stone sculpture in Westminster Hall, unveiled in 1922, which commemorates the members of both Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom who died in the First Wo ...

in Westminster Hall. Harold and Oswald, on Panel 8, are among the 22 MPs that died during World War I to be named on that memorial. John, included on the memorial as the son of an MP, appears on Panel 2 of the memorial. Harold Cawley is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber. A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * Illuminated (song), "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also

book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes short biographical accounts of the life and death of the Cawley brothers.

References

External links

*
Church memorials
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cawley, Harold Thomas 1878 births 1915 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I British MPs who died in office

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...

English barristers Manchester Regiment officers Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People educated at Rugby School UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Younger sons of barons 19th-century English lawyers Territorial Force officers Volunteer Force officers Military personnel from Manchester