Sir Lees Knowles, 1st Baronet, KStJ, CVO (16 February 1857 – 7 October 1928) was a British barrister, military historian and Conservative politician.[1]
Lees Knowles | |
|---|---|
,_1st_Bt_1906.jpg) Painting by Charles Van Havermaet, 1906 | |
| Member of Parliament for Salford West | |
| In office 1886–1906 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Armitage |
| Succeeded by | Sir George Wiliam Agnew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 February 1857 Oldham, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 7 October 1928 (aged 71) Pendlebury, Lancashire, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Lady Nina Ogilvy-Grant
(m. 1915) |
| Education | Rugby School |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge Lincoln's Inn |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel Honorary Colonel |
| Unit | Volunteer Force Territorial Force |
| Commands | Lancashire Fusiliers |
Early life
editKnowles was the son of John Knowles and Elizabeth Lees of Green Bank, Oldham, Lancashire whose family owned Andrew Knowles and Sons, collieries in the Irwell Valley. He was educated at Rugby School and at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2]
He was a prominent athlete at both institutions and became president of the Cambridge University Athletics Club. Knowles became the British half-mile champion after winning the AAC Championships title at the 1878 AAC Championships.[3][4] He studied law, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1882.[1]
Career
editPolitics
editKnowles was involved in Unionist politics, and stood unsuccessfully for the Conservatives at Leigh in the 1885 general election. In the following year, another general election was held, and he was returned as Member of Parliament for Salford West.
From 1887 to 1892, Knowles held an appointment as unpaid parliamentary secretary to Charles Ritchie, President of the Local Government Board. On 24 April 1890, he brought a motion before the House of Commons and was subsequently appointed to formulate the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis.[5]
Knowles remained unpaid parliamentary secretary when Ritchie became President of the Board of Trade in 1895. From 1896 to 1906, he was Second Church Estates Commissioner. He was created a baronet, "of Westwood in the County of Lancaster", in the 1903 Birthday Honours.[6]
In December 1904, he was knighted as a Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John (KStJ).[7]
His parliamentary career came to an end when he lost his seat at the 1906 general election.[8]
Military
editKnowles had a great interest in military history, and wrote a number of books on the life of Napoleon. In 1912 he made a bequest to his alma mater, Trinity College. This established the Lees Knowles Lectureship, an annual series of talks on military science given by distinguished military and naval figures.
He held a commission as an officer in the Volunteer Force and its successor the Territorial Force, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After a stint as Honorary Colonel of the 3rd (Volunteer) battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, he was on 14 May 1902 appointed lieutenant-colonel in command of the battalion.[9] At various times he commanded the 3rd, 7th and 8th battalions of the Lancashire Fusiliers. He subsequently became the vice-chairman of the Lancashire Territorial Army Association.
Knowles was a philanthropist, supporting a number of charities, notably the Guinness Trust for Housing the Poor. He died in on 7 October 1928, aged 71, at his home in Westwood, Pendlebury.[10]
Family
editIn 1915, Knowles married Lady Nina Ogilvy-Grant, youngest daughter of Francis Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield. Lady Nina was presumably the Lady Nina Ogilvy-Grant who appeared at a meeting of the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association on 11 May 1909 at 52 Portland Place in London, as reported by Votes for Women, the organ of the Women's Social and Political Union.[11] They had no children.[10]
Arms
edit
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Works
edit- Lees Knowles, A day with corps-students in Germany
- Knowles, Lees (1914). Minden and the Seven Years War. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company.
- As editor
- Lutyens, Engelbert (1915). Knowles, Lees (ed.). Letters of Captain Engelbert Lutyens: Orderly Officer at Longwood, Saint Helena: Feb. 1820 to Nov. 1823. John Lane.
References
edit- ^ a b c Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. pp. 1145–1146.
- ^ "Knowles, Lees (KNWS875L)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "The Amateur Athletic Club". Morning Post. 16 April 1878. Retrieved 21 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE Parliament, The Times, 11 April 1891.
- ^ "No. 27617". The London Gazette. 17 November 1903. p. 7029.
- ^ "December 9th, 1904" (PDF). The London Gazette. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ The Official Handbook of Manchester and Salford...: 1912-1913. 1912.
- ^ "No. 27433". The London Gazette. 13 May 1902. p. 3182.
- ^ a b "Obituary". The Press. Vol. LXIV, no. 19485. 5 December 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ "Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association". Votes for Women. 21 May 1909.
- ^ Fairbairn, James (1892). Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland. Jack. p. 51.
- ^ "Cheshire Soldiers of Fortune: Sir Robert Knolles". Journal of the Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society for the County and the City of Chester and North Wales: 224. 1908.
- ^ Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1842). A General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Edward Churton. p. 620. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- 'Obituary: Sir Lees Knowles. A Life of Public Service.', The Times, 8 October 1928, p. 18
