Sir Martin Archer-Shee CMG DSO (5 May 1873 – 6 January 1935) 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 ...

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer and Conservative Party politician.

Background

He was the son of Martin Archer-Shee (1846–1913) and his wife Elizabeth Edith Dennistoun (1851–1890) (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Pell) of New York who married in 1872 at Piccadilly. His maternal grandfather was the American insurance executive

Alfred Shipley Pell Alfred Shipley Pell (April 27, 1805 – May 21, 1869) was an American insurance executive who co-founded the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Early life Pell was born in Westchester County, New York, on April 27, 1805. He was the second ...

. His father was a bank manager of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, was the grandson of the painter

Martin Archer Shee Sir Martin Archer Shee (23 December 1769 – 13 August 1850) was an Irish portrait painter. He also served as the president of the Royal Academy. Early life He was born in Dublin, of an old Irish Roman Catholic family, the son of Martin Shee ...

. His half-brother was

George Archer-Shee George Archer-Shee (6 May 1895 – 31 October 1914) was a Royal Navy Naval cadet, cadet whose case of whether he stole a five Shilling (British coin), shilling postal order was decided in the High Court of Justice in 1910. Archer-Shee was ...

, whose notable acquittal of the accusation of theft became the basis of the play ''

The Winslow Boy ''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Background Set against the strict cod ...

'' by

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...

Royal Navy

Archer-Shee was educated at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Catholic Church, Catholic boarding and day school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, England. F ...

before entering the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as a cadet in 1886. After two years on the training ship HMS ''Britannia'' he became a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

on , part of the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...

, later transferring to . He later joined The Castaways' Club to keep in touch with his former service.

Boer War

In 1890 he resigned from the navy in order to enter the

Royal Military College Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a British military academy for training infantry and cavalry officers of the British and Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, but moved in October 1812 ...

and to become an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He obtained a commission as second lieutenant in the

19th Hussars The 19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, created in 1858. After serving in the First World War, it was amalgamated with the 15th The King's Hussars to form the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussar ...

on 15 March 1893, and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 7 February 1897. He served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

1899–1902, where he took part in operations in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, including the

defence of Ladysmith Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, then in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

from July to November 1900. The award of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) (dated 29 November 1900) for his services during the early part of the war, was announced in the September 1901 South African Honours list. In February 1902, he was wounded near Kromdraal when he captured enemy soldiers (

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

25 April 1902), and he was invalided home in May that year, shortly before the official end of hostilities. Following the war he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 15 August 1902, and received the rank of brevet

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

a week later on 22 August 1902. He resigned from the army in 1905. In the same year he married Frances Pell (1878-1959), born in Manhattan to Alfred Walden and Mary Kirkland (Tracy) Pell. Frances's aunt Frances Louisa Tracy married the banker

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. As the head of the banking firm that ...

. At their wedding in Highland Falls, New York, Morgan gave the bride away.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

attended the wedding. Martin and Frances Archer-Shee had seven children: * John Pell Archer-Shee, 1906–1980. *Richard Martin Archer-Shee, 1907–1963. *Edith Frances Archer-Shee, 1908–1989. *Kathleen Winifred Archer-Shee, 1908–1985. *Lucy Mary Archer-Shee, 1910–1988. *Philip Archer-Shee, 1911–1993 *Robert Alfred Archer-Shee, 1912–1988.

Member of Parliament for Finsbury Central

At the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

he was elected to 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 ...

as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Finsbury Central, winning the seat for the Conservatives and unseating the Liberal-Labour MP, W. C. Steadman. In parliament he was an advocate of

Tariff Reform Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

and argued for the case for an enlargement of the navy. Archer-Shee was able to use his political connections to secure the services of

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...

in the court case involving his half-brother, George.

First World War

With the outbreak of war in 1914, Archer-Shee rejoined the army. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and commanded three different infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s during the conflict: the

12th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (Bristol's Own) The 12th (Service) Battalion (Bristol's Own) of the Gloucestershire Regiment was a 'Pals battalion' of 'Kitchener's Army' raised immediately after the outbreak of World War I through the initiative of the City of Bristol. It saw action at the Som ...

, the 2/4th Battalion

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...

and the 10th Battalion

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

. He was mentioned in dispatches four times, and was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

for his services. Following an altercation in Parliament,

Noel Pemberton Billing Noel Pemberton Billing (31 January 1881 – 11 November 1948), sometimes known as Noel Pemberton-Billing, was a British aviator, inventor, publisher and Member of Parliament for Hertford. He founded the firm that became Supermarine and promoted ...

offered Archer-Shee a duel by

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

in public for charity; Archer-Shee declined.

Member of Parliament for Finsbury

At the 1918 general election Archer-Shee was elected MP for the new constituency of

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...

, parliamentary boundaries having been altered by the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

. He held the seat at the 1922 general election, and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1923. He was defeated in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

by his Labour Party opponent,

George Masterman Gillett Sir George Masterman Gillett (1870 – 10 August 1939) was a British people, British banker and politician. Life Born in Islington, he was the son of George Gillett, a banker and member of a well-known Quakers, Quaker family. He was educated at ...

. He attempted to re-enter parliament in the following year, but failed to be elected at

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

. This was to be his last electoral contest: although his name was proposed when a vacancy occurred at Fulham East in 1933, he chose not to stand in the ensuing

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. Archer-Shee died at his home Ashurst Lodge,

Sunninghill, Berkshire Sunninghill is a village in the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the England, English county of Berkshire. Location It is south west and about from Heathrow Airport and from Central Lond ...

in January 1935, aged 61, after a long illness. Following a

requiem mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

South Ascot South Ascot is a village just south of and down the hill from the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, Ascot in the England, English county of Berkshire. It is bounded on the west by the Kingsride area of Swinley Woods, on the north by the Reading to ...

Friary he was buried in Sunninghill.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Archer-Shee, Martin 1873 births 1935 deaths UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at The Oratory School 19th Royal Hussars officers Gloucestershire Regiment officers York and Lancaster Regiment officers King's Own Scottish Borderers officers People from Sunninghill Burials in Berkshire 19th-century Royal Navy personnel