George Harvey (British politician)

Sir George Harvey (20 November 1868 – 27 March 1939) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kennington division of Lambeth from 1924 to 1929, and from 1931 until his death.[1][2]

Harvey was born in Throxenby, Scarborough,[3] the son of John Harvey, a Staff Sergeant in the Yorkshire Militia from Armagh, Ireland, and Fanny Humphrey Harvey.[4] George came to London as a young boy to seek his fortune, spending his first night in Kennington.[2]

Harvey won the Kennington seat at the 1924 general election,[5] defeating the sitting Labour MP T. S. B. Williams.[6] He was unseated at the 1929 general election by the Labour candidate Leonard Matters,[6] an Australian journalist, but ousted Matters in 1931[7] with a majority of 28.6% of the votes.[6] He was re-elected in 1935, and held the seat until 1939, when he died suddenly in West Kingston, near Angmering-on-Sea, aged 70.[2]

He was knighted in the King's 1936 Birthday Honours[8] for "political and public services".[9]

Sir George Harvey was elected chairman of the Royal Infant Orphanage on the 12 October 1937. He succeeded John Wilson Hope CBE who had been chairman of the RIO[10] since 1917.

In 1894, he married Sarah Kenward, and had a son and a daughter. Their son, Captain Percival George Arthur Harvey, contested Peckham as a Conservative Party candidate at the by-election in May 1936.

References

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  1. ^ Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1939). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (97th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2800.
  2. ^ a b c "Obituary: Sir George Harvey, M.P. – Kennington Division of Lambeth". The Times. 29 March 1939. p. 9.
  3. ^ London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930
  4. ^ 1881 England Census
  5. ^ "No. 32996". The London Gazette. 25 November 1924. p. 8528.
  6. ^ a b c Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 34. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  7. ^ "No. 33769". The London Gazette. 25 November 1924. p. 7140.
  8. ^ "The Birthday Honours Lord Dawson A Viscount, Four New Peerages". The Times. 23 June 1936. p. 17.
  9. ^ "No. 34296". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1936. p. 3996.
  10. ^ "Diss Express Newspaper". Diss Express. 15 October 1937.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Kennington
19241929
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Kennington
19311939
Succeeded by