Charles Royle (Stockport politician)

Charles Royle (17 January 1872 – 3 November 1963) was an English butcher and Liberal politician.

Family and education

Charles Royle was the son of Samuel and Mary Royle. He was educated at Portwood Wesleyan Higher Grade School. He married Maria, the daughter of Oliver Wolfe and they had four sons and two daughters.^[1] One of his sons was Charles Royle, who was Labour MP for West Salford^[2]

Career

After leaving school, Royle went straight to work in the meat trade, eventually qualifying as a master butcher. He gained the respect and confidence of his peers in the trade and became President of the National Federation of Meat Traders Associations, a position he held twice in 1929 and 1942.^[1]

Politics

Local politics

Royle had a long career in local government. He was a member of Stockport Town Council for 44 years in all, rising to be an Alderman^[3] and Mayor of the town four times. In 1947 he was made a freeman of the Borough of Stockport.^[1]

Parliament

Royle first stood for election to the House of Commons at the 1923 general election in Stockport. Stockport was a two member seat. The two members since the by-election of 1920 caused by the death of one and the resignation of the other sitting Lloyd George Coalition government MPs had been the Conservative William Greenwood and the National Liberal Henry Fildes. At the 1923 general election Royle joined Fildes as the Liberal team to fight the two seats. This time Fildes was fighting as a Liberal without prefix or suffix. In the event Greenwood retained his seat for the Tories and Royle leapfrogged over Fildes to take the second seat for the Liberals.^[4]

At the 1924 general election however, Royle was unable to hold his seat. He shared the fight against two Conservatives with Labour candidate Arnold Townend but the Tories won both seats.

What the arrangement was between Royle and Fildes is uncertain but when Greenwood died on 19 August 1925 causing a by-election in Stockport it was Fildes rather than Royle who was adopted to fight the seat for the Liberals. Townend fought again for Labour winning the contest and holding the seat until 1931.

Royle fought Stockport again, as a pair with Fildes, at the 1929 general election, although this time he was described on the ticket as an Independent Liberal.^[5] but he came bottom of the poll and lost his deposit. He did not stand for Parliament again.^[6]

Publication

In 1949, Royle published his autobiography, Opened Doors. It was published by the Meat Trades’ Journal Co, London.

Death

He died on 3 November 1963 aged 91 years.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Who was Who, OUP 2007
2. ^ ^{a b} The Times, 4 Nov 1963 p14
3. ^ The Times, 17 September 1929 p7
4. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p248
5. ^ The Times House of Commons 1929; Politico’s Publishing 2003 p61
6. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p712

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Royle

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Greenwood Henry Fildes	Member of Parliament for Stockport 1923–1924 With: William Greenwood	Succeeded by William Greenwood Samuel Hammersley

Persondata
Name	Royle, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 January 1872
Place of birth
Date of death	3 November 1963
Place of death