Lancelot Dykes Spicer DSO, MC and Bar, (22 March 1893 – 6 December 1979), was a British Liberal Party politician.

Background

He was the youngest son of Rt Hon. Sir Albert Spicer, the Liberal Party politician. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He married in 1920, Iris Cox. They had one son who was killed in action on 31 May 1944. Iris obtained a divorce in 1935. Lancelot's second marriage, in 1951, was to Dorothy Beverley Gwyther.

War service

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was granted temporary commission in the Army in September 1914. He was made T/Captain in July 1916 and Brigade-Major in April 1918. He served with the

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

, was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in October 1917, bar to Military Cross in May 1918 and was made a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in September 1918.

Professional career

He was a director of the family paper-manufacturing business Spicers Ltd, serving as chairman from 1950 to 1959. He served as president of the Stationers' Association of Britain and Ireland.

Political career

In November 1941 he was a founder of the Liberal Action Group, a pressure group inside of the Liberal Party that lobbied for the party to withdraw from the wartime electoral truce.Liberal Crusader: The Life of Sir Archibald Sinclair By Gerard J. De Groot In 1943 he was selected as Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for the

Walthamstow West Walthamstow West was a borough constituency in what is now the London Borough of Waltham Forest, but was until 1965 the Walthamstow Urban District of Essex. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of t ...

Division of Essex and at the 1945 General Election finished second. He was Liberal candidate for the Kensington South Division of London at the

1945 Kensington South by-election The 1945 Kensington South by-election was held on 20 November 1945. The byelection was held due to the elevation to hereditary peerage of the incumbent Conservative MP, Sir William Davison. It was won by the Conservative candidate Richard La ...

where he finished second. KensingtonSouth1918

He did not stand for parliament again.

References

External links

*Sir Archibald Sinclair:https://books.google.com/books?id=J7XiewCEo5wC&pg=PA207&dq=lancelot+spicer+liberal&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GU_WUsIUrKDsBuTlgYAO&ved=0CDYQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=lancelot%20spicer%20&f=false *Liberal Action Group:https://books.google.com/books?id=qps14mSlghcC&pg=PA316&dq=lancelot+spicer+liberal&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9U_WUr29IuTW7Qa4sYAQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=lancelot%20spicer%20liberal&f=false {{DEFAULTSORT:Spicer, Lancelot Dykes 1893 births 1979 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Recipients of the Military Cross Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Younger sons of baronets