Robert Alstead (23 October 1873 – 9 September 1946) was a self-made businessman in the clothing trade and a

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politician in the

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Family and education

Alstead was born in

Upholland Up Holland (or Upholland) is a village in Skelmersdale and is a civil parish in the West Lancashire district, in the county of Lancashire, England, west of Wigan. The population at the 2011 census was 7,376. Geography The village is on a sma ...

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, the son of a joiner and carpenter. He was educated at

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Elementary School and Wigan Mining Technical College.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007 In 1896, he married Sarah Ann Deakin of Wigan. He and his wife had 7 children, 6 boys and a girl.

Career

Alstead started life as a newsboy on a railway book stall at the age of 10. He became a self-made businessman. He was a sauce and pickle manufacturer in the 1890s, then moved into the clothing trade, eventually owning a chain of shops tailoring for men in the Wigan area and founding Robert Alstead, Ltd, woollen manufacturers and clothing manufacturers.Who was Who, OUP 2007

Politics

Local politics

Alstead was an elected member of Wigan Town Council from 1913 to 1929 and was

Mayor of Wigan The Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is the first citizen, chairperson of the Wigan Council and elected representative of the Wigan Borough and the Council. Duties of the mayor and its origins The mayoralty of Wigan goes back to i ...

in 1926–27. He was a

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Wigan Grammar School and a governor of the Wigan Mining Technical College between 1913 and 1932. He also served as a Justice of the Peace.

Parliament

Alstead unsuccessfully contested the Wigan parliamentary constituency at the 1918 general election. He next contested

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

at the 1922 general election. The Liberals had not contested Altrincham at the previous election in 1918 when a Labour candidate challenged the sitting Unionist. Despite this disadvantage, Alstead was easily able to push the Labour candidate into third place; Another General Election took place a year later, fought on the issue of Free trade v Protectionism. Across the country there was a swing away from the Unionists and in Altrincham this helped Alstead, as the only challenger, to take the seat. He was the first Liberal to win Altrincham since January 1910. With only a Labour minority government in office, another General Election was called a year later. With the Unionists regaining ground across the country, Alstead was defeated at Altrincham. After 4 years of Unionist majority government which included a General Strike, the Liberal Party, now led by David Lloyd George, were challenging strongly again and Alstead had hopes of regaining Altrincham. However, this time, Alstead faced a Labour candidate as well as a Unionist, making winning the seat too difficult. He did not contest the 1931 general election, when Atkinson was returned unopposed as a supporter of the National Government. Alstead did not stand for Parliament again, although he was prospective Liberal candidate for Preston in 1934–1935, but pulled out the month before the 1935 election.

Honours

He received the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 1939 New Year's Honours List.

Death

Alstead died at Gathurst, near Wigan, on 9 September 1946, aged 72 years.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alstead, Robert 1873 births 1946 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1923–1924 Politics of Cheshire People from Up Holland Councillors in Greater Manchester Mayors of Wigan Officers of the Order of the British Empire