George K. Cockerill

Sir George Cockerill in 1919, photographed by Walter Stoneman

Brigadier General Sir George Kynaston Cockerill. CB (13 August 1867 – 19 April 1957)[1] was a British Army officer and a Conservative Party politician.

Cockerill was the son of the Surgeon-General Robert William Cockerill, and his wife Clara Sandys, daughter of Major-General Charles Pooley.[2]

He joined the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in 1888, was promoted to a lieutenant on 26 June 1889, and served in the Hazara Expedition in 1891.[2] From 1892 to 1895 he explored the eastern Hindu Kush, for which he won the MacGregor Memorial medal and was a gold medallist of the Royal United Services Institute in India. He served with the Chitral Relief Force in 1895, on the North-West Frontier of India from 1897 to 1898, and was promoted to captain on 11 February 1899. He was a staff officer in the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902,[2] was mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902[3]) and received the brevet promotion as major on 26 June 1902. In 1907 he became a major in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), and retired from that post in 1910.[2]

At the December 1910 general election he stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the Thornbury division of Gloucestershire.[4] He was British technical delegate at the Hague Conference in 1907.[2] During World War I he served in the War Office, first as Sub-Director of Military Operations, then as Deputy Director of Military Intelligence and Director of Special Intelligence with the rank of Brigadier-General.[2] He received many honours for his wartime work, including being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (military division) in 1916.[2]

At the 1918 general election he was elected unopposed[5] as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Reigate division of Surrey, having stood as a Coalition Conservative. He was returned unopposed in 1922 and in 1923, and re-elected with large majorities in 1924 and 1929.[5] He retired from the House of Commons at the 1931 general election,[5] having been knighted in the King's Birthday Honours in 1926.[6]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hesilridge, Arthur G. M. (1922). Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1922. London: Dean & Son. p. 35.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27443. pp. 3967–3974. 17 June 1902.
  4. ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 287. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  5. 1 2 3 Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 479. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33179. p. 4402. 2 July 1926. Retrieved 24 December 2010.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Richard Hamilton Rawson		 Member of Parliament for Reigate
1918 – 1931 		Succeeded by
Gordon Touche
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