View source for Arthur Colefax

{{Short description|British patent lawyer and Liberal Unionist politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
'''Sir Henry Arthur Colefax''', [[Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|KBE]], [[King's Counsel|KC]] (9 July 1866 – 19 February 1936) was a British [[patent law]]yer and [[Liberal Unionist Party|Liberal Unionist]] politician.

== Biography ==
Colefax was born in [[Bradford]], [[Yorkshire]], and was the son of J S Colefax, a woollen merchant. He was initially educated at [[Bradford Grammar School]] before studying natural science and chemistry at the [[University of Strasbourg]], and at [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]] Colleges at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name=obit>''Obituary: Sir Arthur Colfax K.C.'', The Times, 21 February 1936</ref>

In 1894 he was [[barrister|called to the bar]] at [[Lincoln's Inn]], and quickly became an acknowledged expert on patent law. He was made a [[King's Counsel]] in 1912.<ref name=obit/>

At the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910 general election]] he was elected as Liberal Unionist [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Manchester South West (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester South West]], benefiting from a split in anti-Unionist vote between the [[Social Democratic Federation]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] candidates. He held the seat for less than a year, and was defeated at ensuing [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|election in December]].

Much of his work was involved in Anglo-German patents, but this was ended by outbreak of the [[First World War]]. He became head of the scientific department of the [[Ministry of Munitions]] for the duration of the war. He was [[knighted]] for his wartime services in 1920.<ref name=obit/>

In 1918 he was appointed as solicitor-general of the [[County Durham|County Palatine of Durham]], becoming Chancellor of the Chancery Court of the Palatine in 1930. These offices had been almost entirely ceremonial since 1837.<ref name=obit/>

In 1901 he married [[Sibyl Colefax|Sibyl Halsey]], and they had two sons.<ref name=obit/> Sibyl Colefax was to become a renowned [[interior designer]].

Colefax died from pneumonia at his [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] home in 1936, aged 69.<ref name=obit/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}

== External links ==
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-henry-colefax | Arthur Colefax }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Manchester South West (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester South West]]
  | years  = [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910]] – [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|December 1910]]
  | before = [[George Davy Kelley]]
  | after  = [[Christopher Needham|Christopher Thomas Needham]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colefax, Arthur}}
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:People educated at Bradford Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Bradford]]


{{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1860s-stub}}