Sir Arthur Lever, 1st Baronet

Sir Arthur Lever 1st Baronet
Member of Parliament for Hackney Central
In office 15 November 1922 – 6 December 1923
Preceded by	William Woolcock
Succeeded by	Leonard Benjamin Franklin
Member of Parliament for Harwich
In office 8 February 1906 – 10 February 1910
Preceded by	James Round
Succeeded by	Harry Newton
Personal details
Born	Arthur Levy 17 November 1860
Died	23 August 1924 (aged 63)
Nationality	British
Political party	National Liberal
Other political affiliations	Liberal

Sir Arthur Levy Lever, 1st Baronet (17 November 1860 – 23 August 1924), known as Arthur Levy until 1896, was a British Liberal Party politician.

Background

Born Arthur Levy, a son of Joseph Levy, of Leicester. He was educated at University College School and privately. In 1896 he married Beatrice Falk.^[1] In 1900, they had a son, Tresham Joseph Philip Lever. Beatrice died in 1917.^[2] He assumed the surname of Lever in lieu of Levy by deed poll in 1896 and by Royal licence in 1911.

Military career

He joined the army. He served with the 2nd V.B. Royal Fusiliers. He reached the rank of Major before retiring.^[3] Following the outbreak of war in 1914, he was re-commissioned. He served in the European War as a Major in the 2/1st Battalion London Regiment of the Royal Fusiliers. He then moved to serve on the Headquarters’ Staff, Southern Command, with rank of Colonel. He was Deputy Director of Recruiting for South-Eastern Region in 1917.^[4]

Political career

Lever was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich in 1906.

He served as a Justice of the Peace in Essex. In 1906 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion and Afforestation, serving until 1911. He lost his Harwich seat to the Conservatives at the January 1910 General Election. At the December 1910 General Election he stood unsuccessfully at Wolverhampton South.^[5]

In 1911 he was made a Baronet, of Hans Crescent in Chelsea. He was a Member of the London War Pensions Committee. He was returned to the House of Commons at the 1922 general election as National Liberal MP for Hackney Central,

He stood down at the 1923 general election.

His elder brother Maurice Levy was also a Liberal politician and was created a Baronet in 1913.

Election results

General Election 1906 Harwich[6] Electorate 13,144
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Levy Lever	5,650	51.6	n/a
	Conservative	Harry Kottingham Newton	5,308	48.4	n/a
Majority			342	3.2	n/a
Turnout			10,958	83.4	n/a
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922:Hackney Central[7] Electorate 35,033
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Sir Arthur Levy Lever	9,795	46.4	n/a
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Thomas McKinnon Wood	6,825	32.3	n/a
	Labour	Arthur Alfred Lynch	4,507	21.3	n/a
Majority			2,970	14.1	n/a
Turnout			21,127	60.3	n/a
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

References

1. Liberal Yearbook, 1907
2. ‘LEVER, Col Sir Arthur Levy’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 12 Jan 2014
3. Liberal Yearbook, 1907
4. ‘LEVER, Col Sir Arthur Levy’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 12 Jan 2014
5. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
7. British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949 (Craig)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Arthur Lever