Gerald Ashburner France
Encyclopedia
Gerald Ashburner France (4 August 1870 - 11 February 1935) was a British
businessman and importer and Liberal Party
politician.
and was rooted in the commercial and social life of the North East of England. His home was at Newbiggin Hall, Westerhope
in Newcastle upon Tyne
. In religion, France was a Methodist and he was educated at Rydal
, a boarding school in North Wales
founded in the Methodist tradition. In 1898 he married Hilda Bainbridge from Eshott
in Northumberland
. They had four sons and a daughter.
in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
.
in 1903, representing the coal mining
area of Prudhoe
and was made an Alderman
in 1913. He was sometime chairman of the old age pensions committee of the county of Northumberland and also served as chairman of the county’s Parliamentary Committee and of its Health Establishment Committee.
in 1909 to succeed the Lib-Lab
MP, John Johnson but although he was not chosen he was soon selected elsewhere. He entered Parliament
at the January 1910 general election when he held the Liberal seat of Morley
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
by a majority of 4,631 votes over the Unionist
in a three-cornered contest. France held his seat at the December 1910 general election when he was returned unopposed.
The Morley constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election
and France was adopted as Liberal candidate for the new seat of Batley and Morley
. He fought the seat as a Coalition Liberal
(as Lieutenant
Gerald France) and was not opposed by a Conservative or Independent Liberal. He was presumably awarded the Coalition coupon
and in a straight with Labour
candidate Ben Turner, France took the seat by a majority of 1,468 votes.
France may have seen the political writing on the wall as he did not defend his seat at the 1922 general election
when Batley and Morley fell to Ben Turner for Labour. He did not stand for Parliament again.
to the President of the Board of Trade, Walter Runciman
. He was made a Deputy Lieutenant
of Northumberland in August 1932 He was also sometime President of the Gladstone Club.
on doctors’ advice for the benefit of his condition. Back in England in the new year, he was taken to hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne
on 21 January where he was kept until he died on 11 February.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
businessman and importer and Liberal Party
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...
politician.
Family and education
Gerald Ashburner France was the son of James Ashburner France of TynemouthTynemouth
Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...
and was rooted in the commercial and social life of the North East of England. His home was at Newbiggin Hall, Westerhope
Westerhope
Founded originally to the West of Newcastle upon Tyne, England to provide housing for working families with sufficient land to grow vegetables, Westerhope expanded substantially in Victorian times with the discovery of workable coal reserves....
in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. In religion, France was a Methodist and he was educated at Rydal
Rydal Penrhos
Rydal Penrhos is a private co-educational boarding school in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. It is located on multiple sites around the town including a site in the neighbouring village of Rhos-on-Sea where it keeps its watersports equipment for easy access to the beach.The school, as it exists today,...
, a boarding school in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
founded in the Methodist tradition. In 1898 he married Hilda Bainbridge from Eshott
Eshott
Eshott is a village in Northumberland, England.It is located north of Newcastle, midway between Morpeth and Alnwick. A small former RAF aerodrome, Eshott Airfield, is located there...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
. They had four sons and a daughter.
Career
France had a business career as an agent and importer in the North East. He rose to become governing director of the firm J A France & Co. of London and Newcastle as well as Chairman of Scott & Turner Ltd, a firm of Newcastle tinprinters. During the First World War, France served as a temporary lieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
.
Local politics
France became a member of Northumberland County CouncilNorthumberland County Council
Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. It was originally formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of Northumberland and reformed in 1974 to cover a the newly formed non-metropolitan county of Northumberland...
in 1903, representing the coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
area of Prudhoe
Prudhoe
Prudhoe is a medium sized town just south of the River Tyne, in the southern part of the county of Northumberland, England about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town is sited on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley and nearby settlements include Ovingham, Ovington, Wylam,...
and was made an Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in 1913. He was sometime chairman of the old age pensions committee of the county of Northumberland and also served as chairman of the county’s Parliamentary Committee and of its Health Establishment Committee.
Parliament
France had Parliamentary ambitions. His name was mentioned as a possible Liberal candidate for the seat of GatesheadGateshead (UK Parliament constituency)
Gateshead is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election. A previous Gateshead constituency existed from 1832 to 1950....
in 1909 to succeed the Lib-Lab
Liberal-Labour (UK)
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions...
MP, John Johnson but although he was not chosen he was soon selected elsewhere. He entered Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
at the January 1910 general election when he held the Liberal seat of Morley
Morley (UK Parliament constituency)
Morley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Morley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
by a majority of 4,631 votes over the Unionist
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in a three-cornered contest. France held his seat at the December 1910 general election when he was returned unopposed.
The Morley constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
and France was adopted as Liberal candidate for the new seat of Batley and Morley
Batley and Morley (UK Parliament constituency)
Batley and Morley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Batley and Morley in West Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
. He fought the seat as a Coalition Liberal
Coalition Government 1916-1922
The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...
(as Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Gerald France) and was not opposed by a Conservative or Independent Liberal. He was presumably awarded the Coalition coupon
Coalition Coupon
The ‘Coalition Coupon’, often referred to as ‘the coupon’, refers to the letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the United Kingdom general election, 1918 endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory in...
and in a straight with Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidate Ben Turner, France took the seat by a majority of 1,468 votes.
France may have seen the political writing on the wall as he did not defend his seat at the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
when Batley and Morley fell to Ben Turner for Labour. He did not stand for Parliament again.
Political appointments
In 1916, France was appointed as Parliamentary Private SecretaryParliamentary 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 President of the Board of Trade, Walter Runciman
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford PC was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s.-Background:...
. He was made a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Northumberland in August 1932 He was also sometime President of the Gladstone Club.
Other public appointments
France was sometime President of the National Commercial Temperance League, a body formed in the 1890s to appeal to the business and professional community in the economic and ethical field of thought to promote temperance. He was also a member of the national executive committee of the Boys’ Brigade.Death
Towards the end of his political career, France’s health began to deteriorate. Just before Christmas of 1934, he went to TenerifeTenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
on doctors’ advice for the benefit of his condition. Back in England in the new year, he was taken to hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
on 21 January where he was kept until he died on 11 February.