John Jacques, Baron Jacques

John Henry Jacques, Baron Jacques (11 January 1905 – 20 December 1995)[1] was a British businessman and politician for the Co-operative Party.

The Lord Jacques
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
11 July 1968 – 20 December 1995
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born11 January 1905
Died20 December 1995
(aged 90)
Political partyLabour Co-operative
Alma materCo-operative College

Background

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Born in Ashington, he was the son of Thomas Dobsons Jacques, a miner and Ann Jaques, (née Bircham)[2] A scholarship led him to the Co-operative College, located in Manchester, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in commerce.[2] He then went to Low Moorsley as a secretary-manager of its Co-operative Society in 1925.[2]

Career

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In 1929, Jacques became a tutor at his former school and from 1942 worked as an accountant for Plymouth's Co-op Society until 1945.[3] He was subsequently chief executive of the Portsea Island Co-operative Society until 1965[3] and during this time served as President of the 1961 Co-operative Congress.[4] From 1964, Jacques chaired the Co-operative Union, retiring after six years.[3] In 1971, he became president of the Retail Trades Education Council, a post he held until 1975.[3]

In recognition of his services to the Co-operative movement, on 11 July 1968 he received a life peerage with the title Baron Jacques, of Portsea Island, in the County of Hampshire, sitting as a Labour Co-operative peer.[5] After some years in the House of Lords, Jacques was appointed a Lord-in-waiting in 1974, however was replaced three years later.[2] In 1977, he became a Deputy Chairman of Committees until 1985.[2] He served as Lord-in-Waiting again in 1979, shortly before Labour's defeat by the Conservative Party.[2]

Family

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Jacques and Constance White were married in 1929 and had two sons and a daughter.[2] Constance died in 1987 and two years later Jacques married Violet Davies.[3] He died at Portsmouth in 1995 and was survived by his second wife.[3][6]

The Portsea Island Society's store in Fratton Road, Portsmouth is now a Wetherspoons pub and was named "The John Jacques" in his honour.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Leigh Rayment - Peerage". Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Charles Roger Dod and Robert Phipps Dod (1986). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd. p. 146. ISBN 0-905702-11-5.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Gallacher, John (22 December 1995). "Obituary - Lord Jacques". The Independent. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  4. ^ "National Co-operative Archive - Congress Presidents 1869-2002" (PDF). February 2002. Archived from the original (pdf) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  5. ^ "No. 44631". The London Gazette. 11 July 1968. p. 7695.
  6. ^ Lord, Graham (21 December 1995). "Lord Jacques of Portsea Island: Fighting for co-operation". The Guardian. p. 11.
  7. ^ "Pub Profile - "The John Jacques"". Archived from the original on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
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