Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley

Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley PC, JP (9 October 1850 – 30 March 1937), known as Sir Frederick Cawley, Bt, between 1906 and 1918, was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. A wealthy cotton merchant, he represented Prestwich in parliament between 1895 and 1918 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1916 and 1918. Created a baronet in 1906, he was ennobled as Baron Cawley in 1918.

The Right Honourable

The Lord Cawley

PC JP
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
10 December 1916 – 10 February 1918
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byMcKinnon Wood
Succeeded byThe Lord Beaverbrook
Personal details
Born(1850-10-09)9 October 1850 9 October 1850
Priestlands, Bunbury, Cheshire
Died30 March 1937(1937-03-30) (aged 86)
Berrington Hall, near Leominster, Herefordshire
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Smith (d. 1930)
Alma materNone

Background and education

Cawley was born at Priestlands, Bunbury, Cheshire, the son of Thomas Cawley (1806–1875) by Harriet Bird, daughter of Samuel Bird, of Beeston Hall, Cheshire. He was educated at Aldersey School, Bunbury, and at Wesley College, Sheffield.[1]

Political career
Frederick Cawley circa 1895

Cawley was involved in the Lancashire cotton industry, which made him a wealthy man.[2] At the 1895 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Prestwich,[1][3] a seat he held until 1918.[1][4] In 1916 he was admitted to the Privy Council[5] and appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the war-time coalition of David Lloyd George,[6] a post he held until 1918.[1] He was also appointed to the Dardanelles Commission.[7] Cawley was created a Baronet, of Prestwich in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in 1906,[8] and was raised to the peerage as Baron Cawley, of Prestwich in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in 1918.[9] He was also a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire.[1]

Family

Lord Cawley married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of John Smith and Fanny Robson, in 1876. They had four sons, of whom the three youngest, Harold Cawley MP, John and Oswald Cawley MP, were killed in the First World War, and one daughter, Hilda Cawley.[1] In memory of his three dead sons, Cawley endowed a ward at Ancoats Hospital, Manchester, in 1919 at a cost of £10,000.[10]

In 1901 Cawley acquired the estate of Berrington Hall near Leominster in Herefordshire, which had previously been in the hands of the Rodney family.[11] This was the family seat until 1957, when it was handed over to the government in lieu of death duties, and it is now in the care of the National Trust.[2] Lady Cawley died in March 1930. Lord Cawley died at Berrington Hall in March, 1937, aged 86, and was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony by his eldest and only surviving son, Robert.[1]

  • John Cawley (killed 1 September 1914)
  • Harold Cawley (killed 23 September 1915)
  • Oswald Cawley (killed 22 August 1918)
Memorial to the Cawley brothers in St Peter and St Paul, Eye, Herefordshire

References
  1. thepeerage.com Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley
  2. "Berrington Hall". nationaltrust.org. The National Trust. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  3. "No. 26651". The London Gazette. 9 August 1895. p. 4482.
  4. "No. 30510". The London Gazette. 5 February 1918. p. 1649.
  5. "No. 29865". The London Gazette. 15 December 1916. p. 12225.
  6. "No. 29865". The London Gazette. 15 December 1916. p. 12227.
  7. From: 'Appendix 1', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 10: Officials of Royal Commissions of Inquiry 1870-1939 (1995), pp. 85-8. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16611. Date accessed: 12 August 2007.
  8. "No. 27971". The London Gazette. 27 November 1906. p. 8299.
  9. "No. 30494". The London Gazette. 25 January 1918. p. 1227.
  10. Brockbank, E. M., ed. (1929). The Book of Manchester and Salford Written for the 97th Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association. Manchester: George Falkner. pp. 126–27.
  11. "7th Lord Rodney". nationaltrust.org. The National Trust. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robert Mowbray		 Member of Parliament for Prestwich
1895–1918		 Succeeded by
Hon. Oswald Cawley
Political offices
Preceded by
McKinnon Wood		 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1916–1918		 Succeeded by
The Lord Beaverbrook
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Cawley
1918–1937		 Succeeded by
Robert Hugh Cawley
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Prestwich)
1906–1937		 Succeeded by
Robert Cawley
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