George_Gilbert_Desmond

George Gilbert Desmond

George Gilbert Desmond

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George Gilbert Desmond (born Jones; 16 April 1867 – 3 October 1963) was a British barrister, author and political activist.

Born in Brockworth, Desmond was the son of Henry Yates Jones, a gentleman farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth Buckle.[1][2] In 1889, he changed his surname from Jones to Desmond.[3]

He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1894), afterwards becoming a barrister with Middle Temple.[1] He contributed the "Nature Notes" column to the Daily News, and also wrote a number of children's books, including Bertha Stories, Snow Sprites, Ring of Nature and Roll of the Seasons.[4][5]

Desmond volunteered to fight in World War I, but was captured and became a prisoner-of-war.[6] On release, he worked as a war correspondent for the Daily News, then as a special correspondent for the paper in Berlin.[4]

Desmond also joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), writing for New Leader. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party, and Desmond was chair of the Stroud Constituency Labour Party from 1920 to 1922. At the 1924 UK general election, he stood unsuccessfully in Petersfield. In 1926/27, he was the chair of the South Western Division of the ILP.[5][4] Desmond stood for Labour in the 1929 Bath by-election, improving the party's vote, but taking only third place.[7] He stood again in the 1929, 1931 and 1935 UK general elections, taking third place each time, and was adopted as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the election expected in 1939 or 1940. He was put under pressure to withdraw in support of a Liberal Party candidate who backed the Popular Front, but did not do so. However, no election was held, due to the outbreak of World War II.[8]

References

  1. [1]
    Venn, John; Venn, John Archibald (15 September 2011). Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Cambridge University Press. p. 284. ISBN 978-1-108-03612-2. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  2. [2]
    Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–1913
  3. [3]
    "Notice". Walthamstow and Leyton Guardian. 15 June 1889. p. 5. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  4. [4]
    The Labour Who's Who. London: Labour Publishing Company. 1927. p. 54.
  5. [5]
    Martell, Edward; Pine, L. G. (1978). Who was who among English and European authors, 1931-1949. Gale.
  6. [6]
    Picton, Harold (1919). The Better Germany in War Time. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 1465597395.
  7. [7]
    "The Bath Contest". The Times. 15 March 1929.
  8. [8]
    Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 26 February 1938
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