Alfred Critchley

Alfred Critchley

Brigadier-General Alfred Cecil Critchley, CMG, CBE, DSO (1890 – 9 February 1963) was an entrepreneur and politician in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1934 to 1935.

Critchley was born in Calgary, Canada in 1890 and brought to England at the age of nine.cite book|last = Ticher|first=Mike|title="The Story of Harringay Stadium and Arena"|publisher=Hornsey Historical Society|date=2002|isbn =: 0 905794 29 X.] His first career was a military one, intitially in a Canadian military regiment and towards the end of the First World War, in the Royal Flying Corps whose training he organised. By the end of the war he had become the youngest Brigadier-General in the British Imperial armies at the age of only 27 and had married Maryon Galt, the cousin of the wife of the press baron Sir Max Aitken, later Lord Beaverbrook.

After the war Critchley involved himself in a number of business ventures in Central America before returning to the UK where he became a director of Associated Portland Cement. In 1926 he formed the private company, the Greyhound Racing Association. Under the auspices of this company he became a significant sporting enterpreneur in the UK. He introduced greyhound racing to the UK in Belle Vue, Manchester in 1926. The success of this intital trial led Critchley to purchase the White City stadium in London. He subsequently built both the Harringay Stadium and Harringay Arena.

He was married for a second time in London to Miss Joan Foster of Mount Street London on December 22nd 1927. ["The Guardian", December 23rd, 1927]

Critchley contested the 1929 general election as a Conservative in the Manchester Gorton constituency, a safe seat for the Labour Party where he was heavily defeated.

In February 1931, he contested the Islington East by-election as a candidate for the Empire Free Trade Crusade and the United Empire Party, which both sought to make the British Empire a free trade bloc. The Empire Crusade had won the Paddington South by-election in October 1930, and hoped to repeat its success. Critchley came second, with 27.2% of the votes, and the Empire Crusade never won another seat.

He rejoined the Conservative Party, and won the Twickenham by-election on 22 June 1934. Nevertheless, he did not contest the 1935 general election.

He was a director general of BOAC from 1943 - 1946. [Obiituary in "The Guardian", February 10th, 1963]

In 1953 he suffered a severe infection which caused him to go blind. In 1954 he was involved in the publishing deals of Robert Maxwell.

Further reading

"Critch! The Memoirs of Brigadier General", A.C. Critchley, London, Hutchinson, 1961

References

*
*Rayment


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Critchley — is a surname shared by several notable people: Oswald Critchley (1864–1935), English Canadian provincial politician, pioneer and rancher Alfred Critchley (1890–1963), Canadian English entrepreneur and national politician MacDonald Critchley… …   Wikipedia

  • Alfred Edward Housman — (pronEng|ˈhaʊsmən; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936), usually known as A.E. Housman, was a classical scholar and English poet best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad . Lyrical and almost epigrammatic in form, the poems were mostly written …   Wikipedia

  • Islington East by-election, 1931 — The Islington East by election, 1931 was a parliamentary by election held on 19th February 1931 for the British House of Commons constituency of Islington East in Islington, North London. The seat had become vacant when the constituency s Labour… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Conservative Party (UK) MPs — This is a list of Conservative Party MPs. It includes all Members of Parliament elected to the British House of Commons representing the Conservative Party from 1834 onwards. Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the European… …   Wikipedia

  • Twickenham by-election, 1934 — The Twickenham by election, 1934 was a parliamentary by election held on 22 June 1934 for the British House of Commons constituency of Twickenham in Middlesex. The seat had become vacant when the constituency s Conservative Member of Parliament… …   Wikipedia

  • Belle Vue (greyhound racing) — Belle Vue is greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester where the very first race around an oval track in Britain was held on July 24, 1926. More than 1,700 people were attracted to the meeting where they watched a greyhound called Mistley… …   Wikipedia

  • Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency) — UK constituency infobox alt Name = Twickenham Type = Borough Entity = Greater London DivisionType = County Division = Greater London Year = 1918 MP = Vincent Cable Party = Liberal Democrat EP = LondonTwickenham is a constituency represented in… …   Wikipedia

  • Harringay Stadium — was a major greyhound racing and speedway venue in Harringay, North London. It was built in opened in 1927 and closed in 1987.HarringayConstructionHarringay Stadium was the third greyhound racing stadium to open in Britain. It was owned by the… …   Wikipedia

  • Harringay Arena — was a sporting and events venue on Green Lanes in Harringay, North London, England. Built in 1936, it lasted as a venue until 1958.ConstructionThe Arena was built and owned by Brigadier General Alfred Critchley under the auspices of his private… …   Wikipedia

  • Islington East (UK Parliament constituency) — UK former constituency infobox Name = Islington East Type = Borough Year = 1885 Abolition = 1974 members = oneIslington East was a constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”