Halley Stewart
Encyclopedia
Sir Halley Stewart was an English businessman, journalist
, philanthropist
and Liberal Party
politician who sat as an Member of Parliament (MP) from 1887 to 1895 and again from 1906 to 1910.
in Hertfordshire
, the son of the Reverend Alex Stewart, a Congregational minister, one of ten brothers and sisters. He was educated at the schools his father ran, first in Barnet and later in Holloway
a little further to the south. In 1865 he married (Jane) Elizabeth Atkinson from Upper Norwood
in south east London. Elizabeth Stewart died in 1924. They had seven sons (only two of whom survived their father) and a daughter. One of Stewart’s surviving sons was Sir (Percy) Malcolm Stewart Bt. (1872–1951), the brick
and cement
manufacturer. He too was a benefactor of the arts bequeathing many pictures, tapestries, furniture, and objets d'art to the National Trust
. One of Halley Stewart’s grandsons, Ian Stewart followed him into Parliament, albeit as a Conservative
rather than a Liberal.
message, although he was never ordained
as a minister. From 1863-1874 he was the pastor of Croft Church, Hastings
in East Sussex
and from 1874-77 of Caledonian Road
Church in Islington
, north London.
as a clerk. He then worked as a clerk in a coal
factors and at Smith & Co. brewers
in Hastings. In 1870, Stewart set up a business venture, Stewart Brothers and Spencer, oil-seed
crushers and refiners based in London and Rochester in Kent
. He sold this company in 1900 and transferred his business interests to the manufacture of bricks, first through the firms of B J H Forder Ltd. originally a small works on the Gault
at Westoning
, later taking larger premises at Wootton Pillinge, later renamed Stewartby
after the Stewart family. In 1923 Stewart merged Forders with the London Brick Company, of which he eventually became the vice-chairman.
of the newspaper the Hastings and St Leonards Times. He did not sell the paper until 1883.
, cancer
and Multiple Sclerosis
but one of its most important contributions was to sponsor the scientific research of Professor Edward Victor Appleton
, of King's College, London, whose contributions to the knowledge of the ionosphere
led to the crucial wartime innovation of RADAR
. He also gave money to the district council at Harpenden
in Hertfordshire
towards the purchase of the manorial rights
of the common and his residence The Red House with land and cottages to be used by the town as a hospital after his death.
and ending state aid to teaching of religious education in schools, being sometime president of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control, and president of the Secular Education League. He also strongly supported the Gladstonian
policy of Irish Home Rule. He spoke in favour of the establishment of a Parliament for Ireland
at a meeting of the British Home Rule Association in 1886 with other notable Liberals including Henry Labouchère
and later travelled in Ireland and spoke on the subject and the need to redress other Irish grievances .
. He was involved in the organisation of campaigns but also, no doubt drawing on the experience of years of preaching, as a speaker on behalf of candidates. Thanks to his success as a public speaker, he was invited in the spring of 1884 to make a speech at Boston
in Lincolnshire
in support of a friend William Ingram
. Through this connection, Stewart was later associated as one of the Liberal candidates at Boston
. He never fought the seat because it lost its two member status for the 1885 general election
. He was also linked with the other south Lincolnshire seat of Stamford
before transferring his allegiance to new seat of Spalding
where he stood unsuccessfully at the general elections of 1885
and 1886
.
MP, Murray Finch-Hatton
, went to the House of Lords as Earl of Winchelsea in succession to his brother, causing a by-election. Stewart won the contest by an unexpectedly comfortable margin of 747 votes compared to his loss by 288 in 1886, delighting party colleagues who thought it a great blow to the government. His opponent, admiral George Tryon
had returned from a 2 year tour of duty in Australia only one month before and it was considered his lack of agricultural experience had counted against him. Stewart held the seat at the 1892 general election
with a reduced majority but lost in 1895
.
, in preference to the former Peterborough MP Alpheus Morton, who had been nursing the seat since his defeat in 1895
. Stewart was unsuccessful at the 1900 general election
, but three years later he was selected as Liberal candidate for the Scottish constituency of Greenock
in the historic county of Renfrewshire
and contested the 1906 general election
there. He was elected and remained as MP for the constituency until he retired from the House of Commons at the January 1910 election.
which prime minister H H Asquith drew up during the constitutional crisis around the People’s Budget and the Parliament Act
. Asquith had persuaded the King
to create hundreds of new peers to flood the House of Lords
and ensure the passage of the Parliament Bill if the Tory
peers continued to block the legislation in defiance of the elected House of Commons. In the event, the Conservative peers conceded defeat and Asquith’s list was not needed. However in 1932, at the age of 93, Stewart was created a Knight Bachelor
in the New Year’s Honours list for philanthropic and social services, and was elected a Fellow of King’s College, London in 1936. He also served as a Justice of the Peace
for the County of Sussex
from 1891.
In 1954 Spalding United
renamed their Black Swan ground in his honour.
, Hertfordshire
, on 26 January 1937. He had been ill with influenza
and developed bronchitis
and was 99 years old.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
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 who sat as an Member of Parliament (MP) from 1887 to 1895 and again from 1906 to 1910.
Family and education
Halley Stewart was born at BarnetBarnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, the son of the Reverend Alex Stewart, a Congregational minister, one of ten brothers and sisters. He was educated at the schools his father ran, first in Barnet and later in Holloway
Holloway, London
Holloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington located north of Charing Cross and follows for the most part, the line of the Holloway Road . At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head area...
a little further to the south. In 1865 he married (Jane) Elizabeth Atkinson from Upper Norwood
Upper Norwood
Upper Norwood is an elevated area in south London, England within the postcode SE19. It is a residential district largely in the London Borough of Croydon although some parts extend into the London Borough of Lambeth, London Borough of Southwark and the London Borough of Bromley. Upper Norwood...
in south east London. Elizabeth Stewart died in 1924. They had seven sons (only two of whom survived their father) and a daughter. One of Stewart’s surviving sons was Sir (Percy) Malcolm Stewart Bt. (1872–1951), the brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
and cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
manufacturer. He too was a benefactor of the arts bequeathing many pictures, tapestries, furniture, and objets d'art to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. One of Halley Stewart’s grandsons, Ian Stewart followed him into Parliament, albeit as a Conservative
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...
rather than a Liberal.
Preaching
Stewart followed his father in preaching the ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
message, although he was never ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
as a minister. From 1863-1874 he was the pastor of Croft Church, Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
and from 1874-77 of Caledonian Road
Caledonian Road (London)
The Caledonian Road, in Islington, North London is a road, about one and half miles long, running north-south from Camden Road near the junction with Holloway Road to Pentonville Road in the south. It is often known colloquially as the "Cally" and forms the entirety of the A5203.The street is...
Church in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, north London.
Business
Stewart started his working life in banking and for some years was employed in a London banking house, Robert Davies and Co. in ShoreditchShoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
as a clerk. He then worked as a clerk in a coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
factors and at Smith & Co. brewers
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
in Hastings. In 1870, Stewart set up a business venture, Stewart Brothers and Spencer, oil-seed
Vegetable fats and oils
Vegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure...
crushers and refiners based in London and Rochester in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He sold this company in 1900 and transferred his business interests to the manufacture of bricks, first through the firms of B J H Forder Ltd. originally a small works on the Gault
Gault Clay
Gault is a clay formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period...
at Westoning
Westoning
Westoning is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire located about a mile south of the town of Flitwick. It is about two miles north-east of junction 12 of the M1 motorway, and beside the First Capital Connect railway line to London and beyond...
, later taking larger premises at Wootton Pillinge, later renamed Stewartby
Stewartby
Stewartby is a model village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, originally built for the workers of The London Brick Company. The village housing and town community centre was designed by the noted neo-Georgian architect Sir Albert Richardson a later and more modern development than such...
after the Stewart family. In 1923 Stewart merged Forders with the London Brick Company, of which he eventually became the vice-chairman.
Journalism
Stewart maintained his connections with Hastings however and in 1877 founded and became the first editorEditor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
of the newspaper the Hastings and St Leonards Times. He did not sell the paper until 1883.
Philanthropy
Stewart’s charitable works were inspired by his nonconformist faith and he gave a lot of money to the Congregationalist Church. Towards the end of 1924 he set up the Halley Stewart Trust for Research towards the Christian Ideal in all Social Life, to promote religion, education and the relief of poverty. His trust donated money to important medical research into asthmaAsthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
but one of its most important contributions was to sponsor the scientific research of Professor Edward Victor Appleton
Edward Victor Appleton
Sir Edward Victor Appleton, GBE, KCB, FRS was an English physicist.-Biography:Appleton was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire and educated at Hanson Grammar School. At the age of 18 he won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge...
, of King's College, London, whose contributions to the knowledge of the ionosphere
Ionosphere
The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere...
led to the crucial wartime innovation of RADAR
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
. He also gave money to the district council at Harpenden
Harpenden
Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
towards the purchase of the manorial rights
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of the common and his residence The Red House with land and cottages to be used by the town as a hospital after his death.
Political stance
Stewart had a reputation as an advanced Liberal and Radical. He was a supporter of women’s suffrage, land reform, the abolition of the hereditary element from the House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and ending state aid to teaching of religious education in schools, being sometime president of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control, and president of the Secular Education League. He also strongly supported the Gladstonian
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
policy of Irish Home Rule. He spoke in favour of the establishment of a Parliament for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
at a meeting of the British Home Rule Association in 1886 with other notable Liberals including Henry Labouchère
Henry Labouchere
Henry Du Pré Labouchère was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He married the actress Henrietta Hodson....
and later travelled in Ireland and spoke on the subject and the need to redress other Irish grievances .
Candidate
Stewart felt his Congregational pulpit was a suitable place from which to expound his political views, acknowledging the overlap of religious and political objectives in the improvement of social conditions and the duty of religious teachers to inform their congregations on public affairs, so they could better influence the law-makers. The church did not agree however and Stewart moved into direct political activity. His first duties were as an election agent for Liberal Party candidates in East Sussex in the campaign leading to the 1880 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1880
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
. He was involved in the organisation of campaigns but also, no doubt drawing on the experience of years of preaching, as a speaker on behalf of candidates. Thanks to his success as a public speaker, he was invited in the spring of 1884 to make a speech at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
in support of a friend William Ingram
Sir William Ingram, 1st Baronet
Sir William James Ingram, 1st Baronet was Managing Director of The Illustrated London News and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in three periods between 1878 and 1895....
. Through this connection, Stewart was later associated as one of the Liberal candidates at Boston
Boston (UK Parliament constituency)
Boston was a parliamentary borough in Lincolnshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1547 until 1885, and then one member from 1885 until 1918, when the constituency was abolished.-History:...
. He never fought the seat because it lost its two member status for the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
. He was also linked with the other south Lincolnshire seat of Stamford
Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)
Stamford was a constituency in the county of Lincolnshire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...
before transferring his allegiance to new seat of 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....
where he stood unsuccessfully at the general elections of 1885
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
and 1886
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
.
MP
However in 1887, the sitting UnionistConservative 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...
MP, Murray Finch-Hatton
Murray Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Winchilsea
Murray Edward Gordon Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Winchilsea and 7th Earl of Nottingham , styled the Hon. Murray Finch-Hatton until 1887, was a British Conservative politician and agriculturalist....
, went to the House of Lords as Earl of Winchelsea in succession to his brother, causing a by-election. Stewart won the contest by an unexpectedly comfortable margin of 747 votes compared to his loss by 288 in 1886, delighting party colleagues who thought it a great blow to the government. His opponent, admiral George Tryon
George Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, KCB was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.-Early life:...
had returned from a 2 year tour of duty in Australia only one month before and it was considered his lack of agricultural experience had counted against him. Stewart held the seat at the 1892 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
with a reduced majority but lost in 1895
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
.
Back into Parliament
In May 1900 Stewart was selected as the Liberal candidate for PeterboroughPeterborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Peterborough is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, formally styled The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past...
, in preference to the former Peterborough MP Alpheus Morton, who had been nursing the seat since his defeat in 1895
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
. Stewart was unsuccessful at the 1900 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, but three years later he was selected as Liberal candidate for the Scottish constituency of Greenock
Greenock (UK Parliament constituency)
Greenock was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until 1974, when it was abolished and its area was merged into the new Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency.- Members of Parliament :...
in the historic county of Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
and contested the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
there. He was elected and remained as MP for the constituency until he retired from the House of Commons at the January 1910 election.
Honours and appointments
In 1911, Stewart was one of the large number of names on a list of potential peersPeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
which prime minister H H Asquith drew up during the constitutional crisis around the People’s Budget and the Parliament Act
Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2 of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that that Act and the Parliament Act 1911 are to be construed as one.The Parliament Act 1911 The...
. Asquith had persuaded the King
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
to create hundreds of new peers to flood the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and ensure the passage of the Parliament Bill if the Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
peers continued to block the legislation in defiance of the elected House of Commons. In the event, the Conservative peers conceded defeat and Asquith’s list was not needed. However in 1932, at the age of 93, Stewart was created a Knight Bachelor
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the New Year’s Honours list for philanthropic and social services, and was elected a Fellow of King’s College, London in 1936. He also served as a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for the County of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
from 1891.
In 1954 Spalding United
Spalding United F.C.
Spalding United F.C. is an English football club based in Spalding, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of Division One of the United Counties League and play at Sir Halley Stewart Field.-History:...
renamed their Black Swan ground in his honour.
Death
Stewart died at his home, the Red House in Carlton Road, HarpendenHarpenden
Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, on 26 January 1937. He had been ill with influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
and developed bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
and was 99 years old.