The Honourable Francis Walter Stafford McLaren (16 June 1886 – 30 August 1917) was a British Member of Parliament killed in World War I.

Career

A younger son of Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway

Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway

Charles Benjamin Bright McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, PC, QC, JP , known as Sir Charles McLaren, 1st Baronet between 1902 and 1911, was a Scottish jurist and Liberal Party politician. He was a landowner and industrialist.-Education:Born in Edinburgh, McLaren was the son of the politician Duncan...

, he attended Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and Balliol College, Oxford. Entering politics, he was elected as Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Spalding

Spalding (UK Parliament constituency)

Spalding was a county constituency in Lincolnshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 in January 1910. Between 1910 and 1915, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary

Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies

Secretary of State for the Colonies

The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....

, Lewis Vernon Harcourt. In 1916, he joined the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 as a Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

, and was subsequently killed in a flying accident in 1917.

Family

On 20 July 1911, he married Barbara Jekyll

Barbara Freyberg, Baroness Freyberg

Barbara Freyberg, Baroness Freyberg GBE, DStJ was a British peeress.Born as Barbara Jekyll, she was a daughter of Colonel Sir Herbert Jekyll . On 20 July 1911, she married Hon...

, daughter of Colonel Sir Herbert Jekyll (KCMG); they had two children:

• Maj. Martin John McLaren
  Martin McLaren
  Major Martin John McLaren , British soldier and Conservative Party politician.He was the son of Hon. Francis McLaren, Liberal MP for Spalding and Barbara Jekyll.-Career:...
  
   (1914–1979)

• Guy Lewis Ian McLaren (8 November 1915 – 18 August 1978), married Maryse Jubin and had issue

Death

McLaren died on 30 August 1917, following a flying accident during training at RAF Montrose

RAF Montrose

RAF Montrose was a Royal Air Force station in Forfarshire in Scotland.In 1912, the British government planned twelve "Air Stations" operated by the Royal Flying Corps...

 and is buried in Busbridge

Busbridge

Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey. It has a population of 758. It forms part of the Waverley ward of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe....

 churchyard, Surrey. His widow later married Bernard Freyberg

Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg

Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO & Three Bars , was a British-born New Zealand Victoria Cross recipient and soldier who later served as the seventh Governor-General of New Zealand.A veteran of the Mexican Revolution, he became an officer in the...

.