Bertram Falle, 1st Baron Portsea

Bertram Godfray Falle, 1st Baron Portsea (21 November 1859 – 1 November 1948) was a Jersey-born barrister and politician in the United Kingdom.

He was born on Jersey in the Channel Islands, the son of Joshua George Falle (1820–1903) and Mary Elizabeth Falle, née Godfray (died 1917). Joshua Falle was Constable of Saint Helier and later Jurat of the Royal Court of Jersey. [http://www.thepeerage.com/p24121.htm#i241203 ThePeerage.com:Joshua George Falle] ]

Bertram Falle was educated at Victoria College, Jersey, and graduated in 1886 from Pembroke College, Cambridge with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree, having been called to the bar in 1885 at the Inner Temple. In 1901 he graduated from the University of Paris with a Bachelor en droit degree. [http://www.thepeerage.com/p5484.htm#i54834 ThePeerage.com:Bertram Falle] ]

He was a Judge of the Native Court in Egypt from 1901 to 1903. During World War I he served in the Royal Field Artillery, gaining the rank of Major.

Standing as a Liberal Unionist, Falle was elected at the January 1910 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for the Portsmouth constituency in Hampshire. [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/pcommons2.htm Historical list of MPs: P] at Leigh Rayment's peerage pages] He joined the Conservative Party when the two parties formally merged in 1912, although the Liberal Unionists had long been indistinguishable from the Conservatives.

When the Portsmouth constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election, he was returned as a Coalition Conservative for the new single-seat Portsmouth North constituency.cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |authorlink= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 |origyear=1969 |edition= 3rd edition |year=1983 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |id= ISBN 0-900178-06-X] Re-elected as a Conservative in 1922, he held the seat until his elevation to the peerage in 1934 as the first Baron Portsea; the title was purchased for £50,000 by his wife May, née Sturgis. [cite web |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/lords/comment/0,,2015676,00.html |title=It's vain and venal, but let's trust the Lords |accessdaymonth=7 August |accessyear=2007 |last=Porter |first=Henry |date=2007-02-18 |work=The Observer ] (May's father, Russell Sturgis, [http://www.thepeerage.com/p5484.htm#i54832 ThePeerage.com: Mary Hubbard Sturgis] ] had made his fortune in the opium trade before joining Barings Bank and later becoming head of the bank).

He had previously been made a baronet, on 7 July 1916, of Portsmouth. [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/baronetsf1.htm Baronetage: F] at Leigh Rayment's peerage pages] Both titles became extinct on his death.

In accordance with his wishes, his sister Albina (who died in 1957) made a bequest to the States of Jersey which became the "Lord Portsea Gift Fund". The fund assists people from the Channel Islands who are unable to obtain sufficient financial support for additional training, re-training or specialised equipment in order to benefit their careers in the employment of the States of Jersey or of Guernsey, or of the United Kingdom. [http://www.jeron.je/careers/portsea.html Lord Portsea Gift Fund] ]

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