Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence
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Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence, PC (28 December 1871 – 10 September 1961) was a British Labour politician.
Born Frederick Lawrence, he was the son of wealthy Unitarians who were members of the Liberal Party. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming a barrister.
Lawrence met and fell in love with Emmeline Pethick, an active socialist and campaigner for women's votes. They finally married in 1901 after Lawrence converted to socialism and from then on Lawrence took part of his wife's name and was known as 'Pethick-Lawrence'. He published various left-wing newspapers and became involved in the Labour Party.
Pethick-Lawrence's involvement in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), on behalf of women's rights, led to him serving a nine-month prison sentence in 1912, following Christabel Pankhurst's window-smashing campaign, even though he had disagreed with that form of action; because of his disagreement, indeed, he was expelled from the WSPU by Emmeline Pankhurst and Christabel.
Early in the First World War Pethick-Lawrence joined with others in founding the Union of Democratic Control (UDC), a leading anti-war organisation of which he became Treasurer. After acceptance by a Tribunal in Dorking in 1918, he worked on a farm in Sussex as a conscientious objector.
In 1923 he was elected Member of Parliament for Leicester West, and was Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1929 until the formation of the self-styled National Government in 1931; in the ensuing General Election and the rout of the Labour Party he lost his seat . He was elected for Edinburgh East in 1935, and from 1942 acted as Leader of the Opposition to the Coalition Government.
In 1945 Pethick-Lawrence was elevated to the peerage as Baron Pethick-Lawrence. From 1945 to 1947 he was Secretary of State for India and was involved in the negotiations that led to India's independence in 1947. The barony became extinct on his death.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alfred Hill |
Member of Parliament for Leicester West 1923–1931 |
Succeeded by Ernest Harold Pickering |
| Preceded by David Marshall Mason |
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East 1935–1945 |
Succeeded by George Reid Thomson |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Arthur Samuel |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1929–1931 |
Succeeded by Walter Elliot |
| Preceded by Hastings Lees-Smith |
Leader of the Opposition 1942 |
Succeeded by Arthur Greenwood |
| Preceded by Leopold Stennett Amery |
Secretary of State for India and Burma 1945–1947 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Listowel |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Baron Pethick-Lawrence 1945–1961 |
Succeeded by Extinct |
