Laurence George Bowman
Laurence George Bowman (16 March 1866 – 21 November 1950), was a British Liberal Party politician and headmaster.
Background
[edit]He was born in Poland when it was part of Tsarist Russia, and brought to England in 1870.[1] He was educated at the Jews Free School[2] and University College, London[3] where he obtained BA (Hons in Mental and Moral Science), MA (Philosophy, etc.) and BSc; Teachers’ Diploma (University of London). He married, in 1893, Fanny Cohen. She died in 1942. They had one son who was killed in 1917 and one daughter, Ruth.[4]
Educational career
[edit]He was Assistant Master at Jews Free School, 1880–98, Vice-Master, 1898–1907 and Headmaster, 1908–30[5] after which he retired.[6] He was Chairman of the Education Committee of the Jewish Religious Education Board. Representative on the Appeal Tribunal of Unemployment Assistance Board. Vice-Chairman of Central School Employment Committee. He was a Member of various educational and political bodies. He was a Lecturer and Speaker on Educational and Political Subjects.[7]
Political career
[edit]He was a supporter of free trade, land value taxation,[8] co-partnership in industry with profit sharing.[9] He was a member of the Executive Committee of the London Liberal Federation.[10] He was Liberal candidate for the St Pancras South East Division at the 1935 General Election.[11] The constituency was not a good prospect for the Liberal Party as they came a poor third the last time they stood a candidate in 1929.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Sir Alfred Lane Beit | 11,976 | 51.0 | ||
| Labour | Dr Santo Wayburn Jeger | 10,340 | 44.0 | ||
| Liberal | Laurence George Bowman | 1,181 | 5.0 | ||
| Majority | 1,636 | 7.0 | |||
| Turnout | 23,497 | 60.4 | |||
He was re-adopted by local Liberal Association and continued as prospective parliamentary candidate until the outbreak of war[13] By the time of the next General Election in 1945, he had been replaced as candidate and did not stand for parliament again.[14] He was President of South Hendon Division Liberal Association.[15]
Ruth Abrahams
[edit]His daughter, born in 1894 as Ruth Bowman, in 1914 married Sidney Abrahams, who was later knighted.[16] They had two children, Valerie and Anthony.[17]
As Lady Abrahams, she was also politically active in the Liberal Party. She stood for parliament on three occasions; Orpington in 1950, Nottingham East in 1951 and Wembley North in 1955.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ "Jews in the professions in Great Britain, 1891-1991", iwm.org.uk. Accessed 25 January 2023.
- ^ "Home". ukWhosWho.com.
- ^ The Times House of Commons, 1935
- ^ "Home". ukWhosWho.com.
- ^ "Home". ukWhosWho.com.
- ^ The Times House of Commons, 1935
- ^ "Home". ukWhosWho.com.
- ^ Land & Liberty, 1945
- ^ Co-partnership, 1933
- ^ The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History
- ^ British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.
- ^ British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.
- ^ The Liberal Magazine, 1939
- ^ British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.
- ^ "Home". ukWhosWho.com.
- ^ ‘ABRAHAMS, Rt Hon. Sir Sidney Solomon’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 3 October 2017
- ^ ‘ABRAHAMS, Anthony Claud Walter’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, April 2016 accessed 3 October 2017
- ^ The Times House of Commons, 1950-55.