Samuel Galbraith JP OBE (4 July 1853 – 10 April 1936) was a

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 Trade Unionist in the United Kingdom.

Background

Galbraith was born in Ballydrain,

Comber Comber ( , , locally ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards, at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It is situated in the townland of Town Parks, the civil parish of Comber and the historic barony of Cas ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, a son of Samuel Galbraith. He was self educated. In 1886, he married Helen King Petty. In 1917 he was awarded 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 ...

Career

Galbraith started work as a checkweighman at Browney colliery. He worked as a Miners' Agent from 1900 to 1915. He became a Secretary of the

Durham Miners' Association The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford beca ...

Politics

Galbraith was an elected member of

Durham County Council Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...

from 1888 to 1900 and an appointed

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

from 1900 to 1936. He was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Mid Durham Mid Durham was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) by the first ...

at a

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 ...

in 1915, sponsored by the Durham Miners' Association. When that constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election, he was selected for the new

Spennymoor Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe. In 2011 the paris ...

seat and again sponsored by the Durham Miners. The Coalition Liberal Chief Whip,

Freddie Guest Frederick Edward Guest, (14 June 1875 – 28 April 1937) was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party, 1917–1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air between 1921 a ...

regarded him as a supporter of the Coalition government. However, the Coalition government did not endorse him or his Labour opponent, but he was still easily re-elected; After the election he sat on the Liberal benches in opposition to the Coalition government. He did not contest any further elections, and retired from

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1922 general election, aged 69. He served as a Justice of the Peace for the County of Durham.(1 December 2007). Galbraith, Samuel, (4 July 1853 – 10 April 1936), MP (L) Mid-Durham, 1915–18; Spennymoor Division, 1918–22. WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Ed. Retrieved 27 Mar. 2019, from http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-209806.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galbraith, Samuel 1853 births 1936 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire