Thomas Nussey
Sir Thomas Willans Nussey, 1st Baronet (12 October 1868 – 12 October 1947) was an English barrister and Liberal Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontefract from 1893 to 1910.
Family and education
Willans Nussey was the son of Thomas Nussey, a woollen manufacturer of Bramley Grange, Thorner near Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated at Malvern College until Christmas 1882, then attended Leamington College for boys[1] and Trinity Hall, Cambridge.[2][3] In 1897 he married Edith Daniel the daughter of a medical doctor from Fleetwood in Lancashire. At the time of the marriage the Daniels were residing in Scarborough and the wedding took place there.[4] They had one son. Edith Nussey died in 1934 and Sir Willans married again in 1935. His second wife was Edith Maud Cliff OBE from Leeds.[5]
Career
Nussey went in for the law and in 1893 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple.[6] However he does not seem to have required an occupation to provide an income. He started to engage in political activity as soon as he came down from university and MPs did not receive salaries until 1911.[7] In the 1830s, Nussey’s father had started a woollen manufacturing business with his two brothers, Obadiah and Joseph, and this grew into a large and successful enterprise.[8] It seems likely that Nussey had access to family money to allow him to seek a career in politics.
Politics
Nussey held Liberal political views and was said to have remained faithful to the ideas and policies of William Ewart Gladstone all his life.[2] He first stood for Parliament at the 1892 general election in the Maidstone division of Kent but in June 1893 there was a by-election in the Pontefract constituency in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The election of the sitting Liberal MP for Pontefract, Harold James Reckitt at a by-election in February 1893, was declared void following an election petition [9] and Nussey was selected to contest the seat.[10] He won the by-election narrowly [11] but held his seat until the December 1910 general election when he retired from the House of Commons.[2]
Honours and appointments
In 1909, Nussey was created a baronet [6] in the Birthday Honours list.[12] After stepping down from Parliament he in continued public life. He was a Justice of the Peace for the North Riding, chairman of the local bench, chairman of the North Yorkshire Quarter Sessions, chairman of the Appeals Committee and a Deputy Lieutenant of the North Riding.[2]
Death
Nussey died at his home, Sutton Howgrave, Bedale [5] in the North Riding of Yorkshire on 12 October 1947 aged exactly 79 years.[2] The heir to the Nussey baronetcy was his son from his first marriage, Thomas Moore Nussey (19 July 1898 – 25 October 1971).
Papers
A collection of letters sent by Nussey’s to the Liberal prime minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, has been deposited in the British Library manuscript collection.[13]
References
- ^ L S Milward and E C Bullock, The Malvern register, 1865-1904; Malvern, 1964 p189
- ^ a b c d e Obituary, The Times, 18 October 1947 p6
- ^ "Nussey, Thomas Willans (NSY887TW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ The Times, 11 September 1897 p7
- ^ a b Who was Who, OUP 2007
- ^ a b The Times House of Commons, 1910; Politico’s Publishing, 2004 p47
- ^ House of Commons Information Office Factsheet M5, Members’ Pay, Pensions and Allowances; May 2009 p5
- ^ The Times, 13 November 1909 p13
- ^ The Times, 10 June 1893 p7
- ^ The Times, 17 June 1893 p10
- ^ The Times, 27 June 1893 p7
- ^ The Times, 25 June 1909 p9
- ^ "Archival material relating to Thomas Nussey". UK National Archives.
- 1868 births
- 1947 deaths
- People educated at Malvern College
- Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
- Members of the Inner Temple
- English barristers
- Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1892–95
- UK MPs 1895–1900
- UK MPs 1900–06
- UK MPs 1906–10
- Politics of West Yorkshire
- Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
- Deputy Lieutenants of the North Riding of Yorkshire