Maurice Petherick (5 October 1894 – 4 August 1985) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for Penryn & Falmouth from 1931 to 1945, and as

Financial Secretary to the War Office The Financial Secretary to the War Office and for certain periods known as the Finance Member of the Army Council, was a junior ministerial office of the British government established in 1870. In May 1947 the office was unified with that of the P ...

, briefly, in 1945.

Early life

He was born on 5 October 1894, the son of George Tallack Petherick (b. 1860) and Edith Petherick, his wife. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and

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

Military service

During the

Great 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 a Second Lieutenant in the

Royal Devon Yeomanry The Royal Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1920. It participated in the Second World War and now forms a squadron of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry. History Formation Following the experience of the First World W ...

1914 but was invalided out in 1915. He served in

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

, 1916–17; he was recommissioned

Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The regiment's history began in 167 ...

, 1917 and served in France, 1918. In October 1939, he was recommissioned to the General List Army, as a Captain and promoted to Temporary Major.

Parliamentary service

Having contested the parliamentary seat of Penryn & Falmouth in 1929, as a Conservative, he was elected as MP in that division in the General Elections of

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...

He was one of the MPs, who, in 1945, opposed the

Yalta agreement The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

, because of the treatment of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. He was

from 26 May 1945 to 4 August 1945, in the "Caretaker Government". In the

1945 General Election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

, he was defeated by the Labour candidate, Evelyn King.

Other activities

Between 1953 and 1971, he was a Director of the Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. He was

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, oth ...

in 1957. He wrote two novels and a collective biography of "rogues". He died on 4 August 1985. At his death, his residence was Porthpean House,

Lower Porthpean Lower Porthpean is a coastal hamlet in Cornwall, England, UK. It is close to Higher Porthpean and south of St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St ...

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell was ...

, Cornwall. The garden that he developed there is still famous.

Publications

*1932: ''Captain Culverin''. London: Ernest Benn (novel) *1943: ''Victoire: a novel''. London: Macmillan *1951: ''Restoration Rogues''; with plates, including portraits. London: Hollis & Carter (On

Thomas Blood Colonel Thomas Blood (1618 – 24 August 1680) was an Anglo-Irish officer and self-styled colonel best known for his attempt to steal the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London in 1671. Described in an American source as a "n ...

William Bedloe William Bedloe (20 April 165020 August 1680) was an English fraudster and Popish Plot informer. Life He was born at Chepstow in Monmouthshire. He was probably the son of Isaac Bedloe, himself the son of an Irish Army officer, and a cousin of W ...

Ralph Montagu Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (24 December 1638 – 9 March 1709) was an English courtier and diplomat. Background Ralph Montagu was the second son of Edward Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton (1616–1684), and Anne Winwood, daughte ...

Thomas Dangerfield Thomas Dangerfield (c. 165022 June 1685) was an English conspirator, who became one of the principal informers in the Popish Plot. His violent death at the hands of the barrister Robert Francis was clearly a homicide, although whether the ...

Edward Fitzharris Edward Fitzharris (1648? – 1681) was an Anglo-Irish conspirator. His prosecution following the waning of public belief in the Popish Plot hoax became a struggle for jurisdiction involving the courts and the two Houses of Parliament. He was ex ...

Edward Fitzharris (1648?-1681): an Irish Catholic, who advocated the deposition of Charles II in favour of James, Duke of York in 1681 ( DNB) and

Barbara Villiers Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers, – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petherick, Maurice 1894 births 1985 deaths English gardeners People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Politicians from Cornwall Royal Scots Greys officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II People from St Austell Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Penryn and Falmouth High Sheriffs of Cornwall War Office personnel in World War II Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945