Sir Alexander Nairne Stewart Sandeman, 1st Baronet (12 October 1876 – 23 April 1940) was a Conservative Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was elected at the 1923 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Middleton and Prestwich Middleton and Prestwich was a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency centred on the Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton and Prestwich districts of Greater Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), ...

, and held the seat until his death in 1940, aged 63.

Early life and career

He was born in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

in 1876, the son of Col. Frank Stewart Sandeman of Stanley, Perthshire, and Laura Condie; he was educated

Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond, Perth and Kinross, River Almond near the village of Methven, Pert ...

and married Evelyn F. J. Bell. His eldest sister, Laura, became a doctor and also stood as a Conservative Party candidate. Lawyer Condie Sandeman was his elder brother. After completing his education Sandeman worked for four years at the North British Mercantile Insurance Company in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

."Obituaries." ''Times'' ondon, England24 April 1940: 9. ''The Times Digital Archive''. Web. 23 Apr. 2019. Gale Document Number: CS153433752 From there he went on to work for Frank Steward Sandeman and Sons Ltd, a company specialising in the spinning of

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. It was an association he had for the remainder of his business career. He is recorded in 1928 as a director of British Talking Pictures Limited as well as Dawnay Day and Co. Ltd. In the

1929 King's Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1929 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King. The ...

, he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Kenlygreen,

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, Fife.

Political career

Sandeman surprised many when he took the seat of Middleton and Prestwich at the 1923 General Election. He defeated the incumbent, Sir W. R. D. Adkins K.C., who had held the seat since 1918. Sandeman described his approach to the election as one of being a "red hot

Protectionist 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. ...

". He was opposed to the Government of India Act and as a member of the India Defence League is recorded as having supported an

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

calling for the rejection of the act. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, Sandeman was a strong supporter of

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republ ...

and the fascists, serving on the Friends of National Spain committee.

Road Accident

In March 1935 he was knocked down by a car in

Old Palace Yard Old Palace Yard is a paved open space in the City of Westminster in Central London, England. It lies between the Palace of Westminster to its north and east and Westminster Abbey to its west. It is known as the site of executions, including tho ...

at the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. Sandeman was badly injured in the accident, receiving a frontal fracture of the

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

(which caused

brain damage Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common ...

), a severe

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

, a broken

elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

and damage to his

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

. In a subsequent legal action Sandeman was awarded £2,350 in

compensation Compensation may refer to: *Financial compensation *Compensation (chess), various advantages a player has in exchange for a disadvantage *Compensation (essay), ''Compensation'' (essay), by Ralph Waldo Emerson *Compensation (film), ''Compensation'' ...

. The compensation was awarded in an action against the owners of the car, J. Collett Limited. The company admitted liability but the court proceedings recorded the events of the evening. As Sandeman was leaving Parliament at 19.10 on 25 March he was knocked down. Giving evidence Sandeman said that on leaving Parliament he stepped into the road and waited for vehicles to pass. As the defendant's vehicle approach he states he said, "My goodness, that man is not leaving me very much room". Initially, Sandeman thought he had been only lightly injured and attended an engagement that evening. However, the more serious wounds became apparent later."King's Bench Division." ''Times'', 27 Nov. 1935, p. 4. ''The Times Digital Archive'', Retrieved 23 April 2019. Gale Document Number: GALE, CS67579259 Sandeman spent two weeks in a dark room and was unable to get up from bed for three and a half. He offered to resign his seat after sustaining these injuries but his constituents declined the offer.

Personal life

In 1902 he married Evelyn Frances Jarvis, who was the daughter of Thomas Bell and Sandeman added the name Stewart to the family by royal license 1929. Sandeman had a brother, Frederick D. Stewart Sandeman, whom he served as

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

at Frederick's

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

to Alexandra Hamilton Fraser in 1932. Nairne went on to give away his

niece In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

, Anne Helen Stewart Sandeman at her wedding following the death of her father. He acted in the same capacity for his other niece, Bethea Stewart Sandeman, at her wedding in 1936. He played

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and participated in the Calcutta Cup tournament played over the New Course at St. Andrews in 1935.(FROM OUR GOLF CORRESPONDENT). "Golf." ''Times'', 10 Sept. 1930, p. 6. ''The Times Digital Archive'', Retrieved 23 April 2019. His

golf handicap A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's ability, or potential ability, that is used to enable players of different abilities to compete against one another. Better players are those with the lowest handicaps. Historically, rules relat ...

was noted at the time of his accident in 1935 as being eight. Sandeman fell ill at 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 ...

and died on route to

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

. He left a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

but no children and his baronetcy ended with him.

Notes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart Sandeman, Nairne 1876 births 1940 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 People educated at Glenalmond College Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British anti-communists British people of the Spanish Civil War