Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke
Encyclopedia
Sir Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke (17 February 1863 – 16 April 1925) was an English Liberal Party
politician.
and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
, and his wife Ellen (née Nettlefold
) from Birmingham
. Thomas Chatfeild-Clarke was the Liberal candidate for Poole in Dorset
and later for Hammersmith
, which he contested unsuccessfully at the 1885 general election
. He was also a member of the London School Board
and was closely connected to Liberal political causes such as The Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control and franchise reform
. He was connected with the Unitarians
, as was his wife's family, and built the 1886 headquarters for the denomination
on the site of the original Essex Street Chapel
..
Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was educated at King's College School
and privately in Dresden
in the German state of Saxony
. He was a cousin of Joseph Chamberlain
. He never married.
, presumably derived from his father’s success as an architect, surveyor and estate agent
and his father’s directorships of companies, investments or shareholdings. The family also owned land and property in the Isle of Wight. Edgar does not appear to have engaged in any trade or profession in addition to his public and political career. His elder brother, Howard Chatfeild-Clarke (1860–1917), was an architect and surveyor like his father and was in partnership with his father in the firm of T Chatfeild-Clarke & Son but Edgar does not seem to have been associated with the company. He did however introduce a Private Members' Bill into the House of Commons
on behalf of the Surveyors’ Institution, for the registration of the profession and to protect the public from employing unqualified personnel as surveyors, land agents or auctioneers. However the Bill failed to pass as Chatfeild-Clarke did not achieve a sufficiently high placing in the Private Members' Ballot but the seed of future regulation of the profession had been sown.
County Council
in 1900 and remained a member up until the time of his death in 1925. He also served as a Justice of the Peace
, a member of the Isle of Wight Education Committee and as a member of the IoW Advisory Committee re the appointment of Magistrates.
He was an officer of the Island Liberal Federation, being its President in 1920.
on one occasion only, at the 1922 general election
in the Isle of Wight
constituency. The seat had been represented by the Conservatives
since January 1910 but it had elected Liberals in 1880
and 1906
. In 1904, John Seely who had been elected as a Conservative in 1900
defected to the Liberals, so there was some radical
tradition for Liberals to exploit there in 1922. Although there was a Labour
candidate standing in 1922, dividing the progressive vote, he lost his deposit
gaining 11.2% of the poll. The Conservative vote was also badly split by the intervention of an Independent Conservative candidate, who took 21% of the poll. This allowed Chatfeild-Clarke to top the poll with a majority of 1,582 votes.
- but only just, securing a majority of 90 votes or 0.3% of the total number of votes cast. Labour again lost their deposit.
of the Isle of Wight in 1920.
at his home in Wooton on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 62.
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
Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was the son of Thomas Chatfeild-Clarke, who was a Fellow of both the Royal Institute of British ArchitectsRoyal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is an independent, representative professional body which regulates property professionals and surveyors in the United Kingdom and other sovereign nations....
, and his wife Ellen (née Nettlefold
Frederick Nettlefold
Frederick Nettlefold 6 April 1833-1 March 1913 was a British industrialist, one of the Nettlefolds in Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. He was a leader in the Unitarian Church, ending up as lay president of the international organisation....
) from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. Thomas Chatfeild-Clarke was the Liberal candidate for Poole in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
and later for Hammersmith
Hammersmith (UK Parliament constituency)
Hammersmith 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...
, which he contested unsuccessfully at 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 a member of the London School Board
London School Board
The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....
and was closely connected to Liberal political causes such as The Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control and franchise reform
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
. He was connected with the Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
, as was his wife's family, and built the 1886 headquarters for the denomination
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1928, with denominational roots going back to the Great Ejection of 1662...
on the site of the original Essex Street Chapel
Essex Street Chapel
Essex Street Chapel, also known as Essex Church, is a Unitarian place of worship in London. It was the first church in England set up with this doctrine, and was established at a time when Dissenters still faced legal threat...
..
Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was educated at King's College School
King's College School
King's College School, commonly referred to as KCS, King's, or KCS Wimbledon, is an independent school for day pupils in Wimbledon in south-west London. The school was founded as the junior department of King's College London and occupied part of its premises in Strand, before relocating to...
and privately in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in the German state of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. He was a cousin of Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
. He never married.
Career
Chatfeild-Clarke seems to have been a man with a private incomePrivate income
Private income is either:* any type of income received by a private individual or household, often derived from occupational activities, or* income of an individual that is not in the form of a salary ....
, presumably derived from his father’s success as an architect, surveyor and estate agent
Estate agent
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting or management of properties, and other buildings, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent...
and his father’s directorships of companies, investments or shareholdings. The family also owned land and property in the Isle of Wight. Edgar does not appear to have engaged in any trade or profession in addition to his public and political career. His elder brother, Howard Chatfeild-Clarke (1860–1917), was an architect and surveyor like his father and was in partnership with his father in the firm of T Chatfeild-Clarke & Son but Edgar does not seem to have been associated with the company. He did however introduce a Private Members' Bill into the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
on behalf of the Surveyors’ Institution, for the registration of the profession and to protect the public from employing unqualified personnel as surveyors, land agents or auctioneers. However the Bill failed to pass as Chatfeild-Clarke did not achieve a sufficiently high placing in the Private Members' Ballot but the seed of future regulation of the profession had been sown.
Local politics
Chatfeild-Clarke did however inherit his father's politics. He was first elected to the Isle of WightIsle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
County Council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
in 1900 and remained a member up until the time of his death in 1925. 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...
, a member of the Isle of Wight Education Committee and as a member of the IoW Advisory Committee re the appointment of Magistrates.
He was an officer of the Island Liberal Federation, being its President in 1920.
1922
Chatfeild-Clarke stood for ParliamentParliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
on one occasion only, 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...
in the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency)
Isle of Wight is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created by the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, it covers the whole of the Isle of Wight and elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system.-...
constituency. The seat had been represented by the Conservatives
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...
since January 1910 but it had elected Liberals in 1880
United 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 *...
and 1906
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**...
. In 1904, John Seely who had been elected as a Conservative in 1900
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**...
defected to the Liberals, so there was some radical
Radicalism (historical)
The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later became a general pejorative term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order...
tradition for Liberals to exploit there in 1922. Although there was a 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 standing in 1922, dividing the progressive vote, he lost his deposit
Deposit (politics)
A deposit is a sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand for election to certain political offices, particularly seats in legislatures.-United Kingdom:...
gaining 11.2% of the poll. The Conservative vote was also badly split by the intervention of an Independent Conservative candidate, who took 21% of the poll. This allowed Chatfeild-Clarke to top the poll with a majority of 1,582 votes.
1923
Chatfeild-Clarke decided that he did not wish to stand again for Parliament again. He cited poor health as his reason for standing down but there was speculation that he was standing aside to make way for the former MP, Jack Seely, to get back into the House of Commons. Seely held the seat in 1923United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
- but only just, securing a majority of 90 votes or 0.3% of the total number of votes cast. Labour again lost their deposit.
Other honours and appointments
Chatfeild-Clarke was knighted in 1913 and was appointed a Deputy LieutenantDeputy 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 the Isle of Wight in 1920.
Death
Chatfeild-Clarke died on 16 April 1925 of influenzaInfluenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
at his home in Wooton on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 62.