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{{Short description|English colonial administrator (1879–1966)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
[[File:Eric_Macfadyen.jpg|thumb|right|Eric Macfadyen]]
| image = Eric_Macfadyen.jpg
⚫
'''Sir Eric Macfadyen''' (9 February 1879 – 13 July 1966) was an English [[colonial administrator]], rubber [[plantation|planter]], businessman and developer of [[tropical agriculture]]. He was also [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]] in Wiltshire from 1923–1924.
| constituency_MP = Devizes
| term_start = 6 December 1923
| term_end = 9 October 1924
| predecessor = [[Cory Bell]]
| successor = [[Percy Hurd]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1879|2|9|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Whalley Range, Manchester|Whalley Range]], [[Manchester]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|7|13|1879|2|9|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Hildenborough]], [[Kent]], England
| spouses = {{marriage|Violet Lucy Stanley|1920}}
| children = 6
| party = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]
}}

⚫
'''Sir Eric Macfadyen''' (9 February 1879 – 13 July 1966) was an English [[colonial administrator]], rubber [[plantation|planter]], businessman and developer of [[tropical agriculture]]. He was also [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]] in Wiltshire from 1923 to 1924.


==Family and education==
==Family and education==
Eric Macfadyen was born in [[Whalley Range, Greater Manchester|Whalley Range]], Manchester, the son of the Reverend John Macfadyen, a [[Congregationalist]] minister, and his wife Elizabeth (née Anderson) who came from [[Greenock]]. Macfadyen attended Lynams [[Preparatory School (UK)|Preparatory School]], also called the [[Dragon School]], in [[Oxford]], from where he won a scholarship to go to [[Clifton College]], Bristol. He later attended [[Wadham College, Oxford]], where he was president of the [[Oxford Union|Union]] in 1902.<ref>Guy Nickalls, ''Sir Eric Macfadyen'' in ''Dictionary of National Biography''; OUP 2004–08</ref> In 1920, Macfadyen married Violet Lucy Stanley, daughter of E. H. S. Champneys, of [[Sellindge]], Kent. They had three sons and three daughters.<ref>''Who was Who'', OUP 2007</ref>
Eric Macfadyen was born in [[Whalley Range, Greater Manchester|Whalley Range]], Manchester, the son of the Reverend John Macfadyen, a [[Congregationalist]] minister, and his wife Elizabeth (née Anderson) who came from [[Greenock]]. Macfadyen attended Lynams [[Preparatory School (UK)|Preparatory School]], also called the [[Dragon School]], in [[Oxford]], from where he won a scholarship to go to [[Clifton College]], Bristol.<ref>"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p185: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948</ref> He later attended [[Wadham College, Oxford]], where he was president of the [[Oxford Union|Union]] in 1902.<ref>Guy Nickalls, ''Sir Eric Macfadyen'' in ''Dictionary of National Biography''; OUP 2004–08</ref> In 1920, Macfadyen married Violet Lucy Stanley, daughter of E. H. S. Champneys, of [[Sellindge]], Kent. They had three sons and three daughters.<ref>''Who was Who'', OUP 2007</ref>


==Soldier==
==Soldier==
Macfadyen interrupted his university studies to volunteer as a [[Trooper (rank)|trooper]] in the 59th Company, the [[Imperial Yeomanry]] to serve in the [[Second Boer War]] in 1900–01. He was seriously wounded in an accident which left him with a damaged left eyelid, after which he always wore a [[monocle]].<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007">Who was Who, OUP 2007</ref> As a result of his injuries he was invalided out of the army with the [[Queen's South Africa Medal]] and three clasps.<ref name="Nickalls, DNB">Nickalls, DNB</ref> During the First World War, he enlisted in the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] and served in France in 1917–18, attaining the rank of Lieutenant.<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007"/> In World War Two he served in the 21st Battalion of the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] and achieved the rank of Captain.<ref name="The Times, 14 July 1966 p16">The Times, 14 July 1966 p16</ref>
Macfadyen interrupted his university studies to volunteer as a [[Trooper (rank)|trooper]] in the 59th Company, the [[Imperial Yeomanry]] to serve in the [[Second Boer War]] in 1900–01. He was seriously wounded in an accident which left him with a damaged left eyelid, after which he always wore a [[monocle]].<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007">Who was Who, OUP 2007</ref> As a result of his injuries he was invalided out of the army with the [[Queen's South Africa Medal]] and three clasps.<ref name="Nickalls, DNB">Nickalls, DNB</ref> During the First World War, he enlisted in the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] and served in France in 1917–18, attaining the rank of lieutenant.<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007"/> In World War Two he served in the 21st Battalion of the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] and achieved the rank of captain.<ref name="The Times, 14 July 1966 p16">The Times, 14 July 1966 p16</ref>


==Career==
==Career==


===Colonial administrator===
===Colonial administrator===
After graduating from [[Oxford University|Oxford]] with a second in [[Literae Humaniores|Greats]],<ref name="Nickalls, DNB"/> and the award of an [[MA Oxon|MA degree]],<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007">Who was Who, OUP 2007</ref> Macfadyen entered the [[British Malaya|Malayan civil service]] and served for three years from 1902–1905.
After graduating from [[Oxford University|Oxford]] with a second in [[Literae Humaniores|Greats]],<ref name="Nickalls, DNB"/> and the award of an [[MA Oxon|MA degree]],<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007">Who was Who, OUP 2007</ref> Macfadyen entered the [[British Malaya|Malayan civil service]] and served for three years from 1902 to 1905.


===Planting===
===Planting===
Macfadyen then went into a partnership obtaining public tenders for road construction to open up new land for agriculture. From there he went into planting<ref name="Nickalls, DNB"/> and developed significant interests in plantations and the rubber industry which he expanded over the years becoming chairman and director of numerous related companies.<ref>The Times, 6 March 1962, p20</ref> He helped establish the United Planters Association and was sometime Chairman of the Planters Association of Malaya. He was Chairman of the Rubber Growers' Association in 1927<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Times House of Commons 1929''; Politico’s Publishing 2003 p107</ref> and sometime President of the Institution of the Rubber Industry.<ref>The Times, 27 February 1930 p11</ref> He was a member of the First Federal Council of the [[Federated Malay States]] between 1911–1916 and again from 1919–1920. In 1931 and 1941 he served as President of the Association of British Malaya.<ref>''Pacific Affairs''; Institute of Pacific Relations, University of British Columbia, Item notes: ser.2 v.17–18 (1944–45) p18</ref>
Macfadyen then went into a partnership obtaining public tenders for road construction to open up new land for agriculture. From there he went into planting<ref name="Nickalls, DNB"/> and developed significant interests in plantations and the rubber industry which he expanded over the years becoming chairman and director of numerous related companies.<ref>The Times, 6 March 1962, p20</ref> He helped establish the United Planters Association and was sometime Chairman of the Planters Association of Malaya. He was Chairman of the Rubber Growers' Association in 1927<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Times House of Commons 1929''; Politico’s Publishing 2003 p107</ref> and sometime President of the Institution of the Rubber Industry.<ref>The Times, 27 February 1930 p11</ref> He was a member of the First Federal Council of the [[Federated Malay States]] between 1911–1916 and again from 1919 to 1920. In 1931 and 1941 he served as President of the Association of British Malaya.<ref>''Pacific Affairs''; Institute of Pacific Relations, University of British Columbia, Item notes: ser.2 v.17–18 (1944–45) p18</ref>


===Tropical agriculture and disease===
===Tropical agriculture and disease===
From the 1920s onwards Macfadyen became more involved in supporting scientific research into [[tropical agriculture]] and the modernisation and efficiency of plantation management. Macfadyen was a member of the governing body of the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, [[Trinidad]], which later became a constituent college of the [[University of the West Indies]], becoming its chairman in 1937.<ref>The Times, 14 April 1938, p14</ref> He was [[knighted]] in 1943 for services to tropical agriculture.<ref>The Times, 2 June 1943 p4</ref> He also served as Chairman of the Ross Institute and Hospital for [[Tropical disease]]s, [[Putney Heath]] from 1946–1958 and was particularly connected to its work to combat [[malaria]].<ref name="Nickalls, DNB"/>
From the 1920s onwards Macfadyen became more involved in supporting scientific research into [[tropical agriculture]] and the modernisation and efficiency of plantation management. Macfadyen was a member of the governing body of the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, [[Trinidad]], which later became a constituent college of the [[University of the West Indies]], becoming its chairman in 1937.<ref>The Times, 14 April 1938, p14</ref> He was [[knighted]] in 1943 for services to tropical agriculture.<ref>The Times, 2 June 1943 p4</ref> He also served as Chairman of the Ross Institute and Hospital for [[Tropical disease]]s, [[Putney Heath]] from 1946 to 1958 and was particularly connected to its work to combat [[malaria]].<ref name="Nickalls, DNB"/>


===Garden Cities===
===Garden Cities===
Macfadyen also took an interest in the building of [[Garden city movement|Garden Cities]] and other aspects of the creation of open, landscaped [[town planning]]. He was sometime vice-chairman and later Chairman of First Garden City Ltd,<ref>Thomas W. Hamilton, ''How Greenock Grew; a Civic Survey: Housing and Town Planning: A Forty Years Retrospect, a Four Hundred Years Review;'' J. McKelvie, 1947 p47</ref> the company formed in 1903 to acquire the land for the building of [[Letchworth]] in Hertfordshire.<ref>http://lgc.amolad.net/heritage/index-3.htm</ref> He was active in the work of the [[Town and Country Planning Association]], holding a number of offices in the Association including Hon. Treasurer (1950) and Chairman of the Council (1951–1956).<ref>''The Quarterly Review of the Town and Country Planning Association''; Item notes: volume 34 (1966) p436</ref>
Macfadyen also took an interest in the building of [[Garden city movement|Garden Cities]] and other aspects of the creation of open, landscaped [[town planning]]. He was sometime vice-chairman and later Chairman of First Garden City Ltd,<ref>Thomas W. Hamilton, ''How Greenock Grew; a Civic Survey: Housing and Town Planning: A Forty Years Retrospect, a Four Hundred Years Review;'' J. McKelvie, 1947 p47</ref> the company formed in 1903 to acquire the land for the building of [[Letchworth]] in Hertfordshire.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lgc.amolad.net/heritage/index-3.htm |title=Ebenezer Howard , Biography and the Beginnings of the Garden City |access-date=22 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212122645/http://lgc.amolad.net/heritage/index-3.htm |archive-date=12 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was active in the work of the [[Town and Country Planning Association]], holding a number of offices in the Association including Hon. Treasurer (1950) and Chairman of the Council (1951–1956).<ref>''The Quarterly Review of the Town and Country Planning Association''; Item notes: volume 34 (1966) p436</ref>


==Politics==
==Politics==
Macfadyen was described in his obituary in [[The Times]] newspaper as a [[Classical liberalism|Liberal]] of the old school.<ref name="The Times, 14 July 1966 p16"/> He was Liberal candidate for Devizes at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1923|1923 general election]] winning the seat from the sitting [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP, William Cory Heward Bell, albeit by the narrow majority of 628 votes.<ref>F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949''; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p496</ref> He defended the seat at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1924|1924 general election]] but was swept away by the Conservative revival which was particularly strong in the rural constituencies. At the 1924 election, the Liberal Party lost all its agricultural seats in England<ref>M Kinnear,'' The British Voter: An Atlas and Survey since 1885''; Cornell University Press, 1968 p46</ref> and was reduced, overall, to just 40 Parliamentary seats. Macfadyen tried to regain his seat at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1929|1929 general election]], this time in a three-cornered contest with the [[Tories]] and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] but trailed the Conservative winner by 1,251 votes.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He did not stand for Parliament again.
Macfadyen was described in his obituary in [[The Times]] newspaper as a [[Classical liberalism|Liberal]] of the old school.<ref name="The Times, 14 July 1966 p16"/> He was Liberal candidate for Devizes at the [[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923 general election]] winning the seat from the sitting [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP, William Cory Heward Bell, albeit by the narrow majority of 628 votes.<ref>F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949''; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p496</ref> He defended the seat at the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924 general election]] but was swept away by the Conservative revival which was particularly strong in the rural constituencies. At the 1924 election, the Liberal Party lost all its agricultural seats in England<ref>M Kinnear,'' The British Voter: An Atlas and Survey since 1885''; Cornell University Press, 1968 p46</ref> and was reduced, overall, to just 40 Parliamentary seats. Macfadyen tried to regain his seat at the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]], this time in a three-cornered contest with the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Tories]] and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] but trailed the Conservative winner by 1,251 votes.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He did not stand for Parliament again.


He also served as a [[Justice of the Peace]].<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007"/>
He also served as a [[Justice of the Peace]].<ref name="Who was Who, OUP 2007"/>
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{{succession box
{{succession box
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]]
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]]
| years = [[United Kingdom general election, 1923|1923]] – [[United Kingdom general election, 1924|1924]]
| years = [[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]] – [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]
| before = [[Cory Bell]]
| before = [[Cory Bell]]
| after = [[Percy Hurd]]
| after = [[Percy Hurd]]
}}
}}
{{s-end}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfadyen, Eric}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfadyen, Eric}}
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[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1923–24]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1923–1924]]
[[Category:20th-century British politicians]]
[[Category:People from Whalley Range]]
[[Category:People from Whalley Range]]
[[Category:Politics of Wiltshire]]
[[Category:People educated at The Dragon School]]
[[Category:People educated at The Dragon School]]
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]
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[[Category:Administrators in British Malaya]]
[[Category:Administrators in British Malaya]]
[[Category:British planters]]
[[Category:British planters]]
[[Category:Politicians from Manchester]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Horse Artillery officers]]
[[Category:British Home Guard officers]]
[[Category:Malayan Civil Service officers]]

Latest revision as of 01:47, 2 January 2024

Eric Macfadyen
Member of Parliament
for Devizes
In office
6 December 1923 – 9 October 1924
Preceded byCory Bell
Succeeded byPercy Hurd
Personal details
Born(1879-02-09)9 February 1879
Whalley Range, Manchester, England
Died13 July 1966(1966-07-13) (aged 87)
Hildenborough, Kent, England
Political partyLiberal
Spouses
Violet Lucy Stanley
​
(m. 1920)​
Children6

Sir Eric Macfadyen (9 February 1879 – 13 July 1966) was an English colonial administrator, rubber planter, businessman and developer of tropical agriculture. He was also Liberal Member of Parliament for Devizes in Wiltshire from 1923 to 1924.

Family and education

[edit]

Eric Macfadyen was born in Whalley Range, Manchester, the son of the Reverend John Macfadyen, a Congregationalist minister, and his wife Elizabeth (née Anderson) who came from Greenock. Macfadyen attended Lynams Preparatory School, also called the Dragon School, in Oxford, from where he won a scholarship to go to Clifton College, Bristol.[1] He later attended Wadham College, Oxford, where he was president of the Union in 1902.[2] In 1920, Macfadyen married Violet Lucy Stanley, daughter of E. H. S. Champneys, of Sellindge, Kent. They had three sons and three daughters.[3]

Soldier

[edit]

Macfadyen interrupted his university studies to volunteer as a trooper in the 59th Company, the Imperial Yeomanry to serve in the Second Boer War in 1900–01. He was seriously wounded in an accident which left him with a damaged left eyelid, after which he always wore a monocle.[4] As a result of his injuries he was invalided out of the army with the Queen's South Africa Medal and three clasps.[5] During the First World War, he enlisted in the Royal Horse Artillery and served in France in 1917–18, attaining the rank of lieutenant.[4] In World War Two he served in the 21st Battalion of the Home Guard and achieved the rank of captain.[6]

Career

[edit]

Colonial administrator

[edit]

After graduating from Oxford with a second in Greats,[5] and the award of an MA degree,[4] Macfadyen entered the Malayan civil service and served for three years from 1902 to 1905.

Planting

[edit]

Macfadyen then went into a partnership obtaining public tenders for road construction to open up new land for agriculture. From there he went into planting[5] and developed significant interests in plantations and the rubber industry which he expanded over the years becoming chairman and director of numerous related companies.[7] He helped establish the United Planters Association and was sometime Chairman of the Planters Association of Malaya. He was Chairman of the Rubber Growers' Association in 1927[8] and sometime President of the Institution of the Rubber Industry.[9] He was a member of the First Federal Council of the Federated Malay States between 1911–1916 and again from 1919 to 1920. In 1931 and 1941 he served as President of the Association of British Malaya.[10]

Tropical agriculture and disease

[edit]

From the 1920s onwards Macfadyen became more involved in supporting scientific research into tropical agriculture and the modernisation and efficiency of plantation management. Macfadyen was a member of the governing body of the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad, which later became a constituent college of the University of the West Indies, becoming its chairman in 1937.[11] He was knighted in 1943 for services to tropical agriculture.[12] He also served as Chairman of the Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical diseases, Putney Heath from 1946 to 1958 and was particularly connected to its work to combat malaria.[5]

Garden Cities

[edit]

Macfadyen also took an interest in the building of Garden Cities and other aspects of the creation of open, landscaped town planning. He was sometime vice-chairman and later Chairman of First Garden City Ltd,[13] the company formed in 1903 to acquire the land for the building of Letchworth in Hertfordshire.[14] He was active in the work of the Town and Country Planning Association, holding a number of offices in the Association including Hon. Treasurer (1950) and Chairman of the Council (1951–1956).[15]

Politics

[edit]

Macfadyen was described in his obituary in The Times newspaper as a Liberal of the old school.[6] He was Liberal candidate for Devizes at the 1923 general election winning the seat from the sitting Conservative MP, William Cory Heward Bell, albeit by the narrow majority of 628 votes.[16] He defended the seat at the 1924 general election but was swept away by the Conservative revival which was particularly strong in the rural constituencies. At the 1924 election, the Liberal Party lost all its agricultural seats in England[17] and was reduced, overall, to just 40 Parliamentary seats. Macfadyen tried to regain his seat at the 1929 general election, this time in a three-cornered contest with the Tories and Labour but trailed the Conservative winner by 1,251 votes.[8] He did not stand for Parliament again.

He also served as a Justice of the Peace.[4]

Death

[edit]

Macfadyen died at his home in Hildenborough near Tonbridge in Kent on 13 July 1966 aged 87 years.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p185: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948
  2. ^ Guy Nickalls, Sir Eric Macfadyen in Dictionary of National Biography; OUP 2004–08
  3. ^ Who was Who, OUP 2007
  4. ^ a b c d Who was Who, OUP 2007
  5. ^ a b c d Nickalls, DNB
  6. ^ a b c The Times, 14 July 1966 p16
  7. ^ The Times, 6 March 1962, p20
  8. ^ a b The Times House of Commons 1929; Politico’s Publishing 2003 p107
  9. ^ The Times, 27 February 1930 p11
  10. ^ Pacific Affairs; Institute of Pacific Relations, University of British Columbia, Item notes: ser.2 v.17–18 (1944–45) p18
  11. ^ The Times, 14 April 1938, p14
  12. ^ The Times, 2 June 1943 p4
  13. ^ Thomas W. Hamilton, How Greenock Grew; a Civic Survey: Housing and Town Planning: A Forty Years Retrospect, a Four Hundred Years Review; J. McKelvie, 1947 p47
  14. ^ "Ebenezer Howard , Biography and the Beginnings of the Garden City". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  15. ^ The Quarterly Review of the Town and Country Planning Association; Item notes: volume 34 (1966) p436
  16. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p496
  17. ^ M Kinnear, The British Voter: An Atlas and Survey since 1885; Cornell University Press, 1968 p46
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Devizes
1923 – 1924 		Succeeded by
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