John Frederick Loverseed

John Frederick Loverseed (22 December 1881 – 14 August 1928) was a British Liberal politician.

Family and Education

Loverseed was the son of a Nottinghamshire builder and contractor. He was educated at Southwell Grammar School and Gosberton Hall. In 1910 he married Katherine Thurnham of Grantham, Lincolnshire. They had one son. In religion he was a Methodist and in 1924 he was a Member of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference ["Who was Who", OUP 2007] .

Career

From 1899-1905 Loverseed was engaged in farming. In 1914 he entered the services becoming a Captain and Adjutant in the 5th Battalion, Suffolk Officer Training Corps and in 1916 was military representative for tribunals in West Suffolk.

Politics

From 1908-1913 he was Agent to Sir Richard Winfrey, Coalition Liberal MP for South West Norfolk from 1906–23 and later for Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Gainsborough 1923–24. In 1922 he was Agent to Major S G Howard, the Coalition Liberal MP for Sudbury from 1918-1922. Loverseed was also was active in local politics in Suffolk, being a County Councillor and a Town Councillor in Sudbury from 1919 and serving as Mayor of Sudbury for two terms from 1921-1923. At the 1923 general election Loverseed was elected Liberal MP for Sudbury, beating the sitting Unionist Colonel Herbert Mercer. Mercer had beaten Loverseed’s old chief Stephen Howard at the 1922 general election with a majority of 1,888 votes [The Times, 27.11.23] but Loverseed turned this into a Liberal majority of 665 [The Times, 15.10.24] . However Loverseed only held the seat for a year, losing to Conservative Henry Walter Burton at the 1924 general election.

Other public service

Loverseed took a great interest in local education in his region. He was Chairman of Governors of Sudbury Grammar School, a Governor of East Anglian School, Bury St Edmunds and of King Edward VI’s School, Bury St Edmunds as well as being a Governor of the Girls’ Secondary School, Sudbury. He served on West Suffolk Education Committee and Standing Joint Committee. He was created a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk in 1924.

on also an MP

His son John Eric Loverseed was an RAF Warrant Officer in the Second World War and was elected Common Wealth MP for Eddisbury in Cheshire, from 1943-45 [Dod's Parliamentary Companion, 1945 p419] . He joined the Labour Party in 1944 and fought Eddisbury again at the 1945 general election this time losing to a National Liberal. In May 1955 he stood against Herbert Morrison unsuccessfully for South Lewisham as an Independent Pacifist [http://www.bbm.org.uk/Loverseed.htm] .

References