- George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks
-
The Right Honourable
The Lord Marks
CBEMember of Parliament
for North CornwallPreceded by New Constituency Succeeded by Alfred Martyn Williams Personal details Born 9 June 1858
Eltham, KentDied 24 September 1938 (aged 80)
Poole, DorsetNationality English Political party Liberal/Labour Spouse(s) Margaret Maynard Alma mater King's College London Occupation Civil engineer George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks (9 June 1858 - 24 September 1938), known as Sir George Marks between 1911 and 1929, was an English engineer, patent agent and Liberal (later Labour) politician.[1]
Contents
Background and education
Marks was born in Eltham in Kent, the eldest of eight children of William Marks and Amelia Adelaide Croydon,[2] where only four survived childhood. One of the first Whitworth Scholars,[3] he was educated at a private day-school in Eltham and at the Royal Arsenal School; his father William Marks had worked at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. He completed his education at King's College London.[3]
Business career
Noted by many as a disciple of Brunel, he joined Sir Richard Tangye's company, whose works were closely associated with funicular lifts. Marks was appointed head of the lift department, in which role he was in charge of the installation of the Saltburn Cliff Lift.[3] 1880, he set up a private practice in Birmingham and married Margaret Maynard;[3] they never had any children. In 1887 he formed a partnership with Dugald Clerk, forming the international intellectual property firm Marks & Clerk,[4] which now operates in 18 countries worldwide.[5] The firm became big enough to move its headquarters to London in 1893, with branches in Birmingham and Manchester. Developing a number of cliff railways and steep-incline tramcar systems, commissions included the design of the new Gothic pavilion at the Royal Pier, Aberystwyth.
Marks continued his engineering practise alongside his patent interests. This included a partnership from 1890 with Sir George Newnes, which also concentrated on cliff railways, including an early stage development of Babbacombe Cliff Railway.[3] In 1911 he set up an office in New York in conjunction with Thomas Edison.[3]
Marks was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[6]
Political career
In 1906, Marks was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the North-Eastern or Launceston Division of Cornwall in the Liberal landslide general election victory.[7] He received a knighthood in 1911, served at the Ministry of Munitions during the First World War, and was awarded the CBE for work as a commissioner for the dilution of labour. He held his Parliamentary seat until it was abolished at the 1918 general election, when he was returned for the new Northern Division of Cornwall. He held that seat until his defeat at the 1924 general election.[8]
In 1929, he left the Liberals and joined Ramsay Macdonald's Labour Party. His almost immediate reward came when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Marks, of Woolwich in the County of Kent,[9] becoming one of the first two Labour peers to be created.[10]
Death
Marks continued his engineering and business activities and died at his home in Poole, Dorset in September 1938, aged 80. As he had no children, his peerage died with him.
Awards
- Associate Member, Institution of Civil Engineers
- Member, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) 1917
- 1st Baron Marks, of Woolwich, July 16, 1929
References
- ^ Michael R. Lane, ‘Marks, George Croydon, Baron Marks (1858–1938)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- ^ Pine, L.G. (1972), "The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971", Heraldry Today, http://thepeerage.com/p20085.htm
- ^ a b c d e f David Cooper Bsc (Hons), MSc, IEng, FRSA, FIIE, FIDIagE, MCIBSE, LCGI.. "A Brief History and Explanation of Technology Babbacombe Cliff Railway". Friends of the Babbacombe Cliff Railway. http://www.friendsofbabbacombecliffrailway.org.uk/2.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- ^ "Marks and Clerk LLP". Yahoo! Finance. http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/134/134687.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- ^ "Our History". Marks and Clerk LLP. http://www.marks-clerk.com/uk/attorneys/about/history.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- ^ Who was Who, OUP, 2007
- ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 240. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 312. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 33518. p. 4762. 19 July 1929.
- ^ The Times, obituary, 26 September 1938
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Croydon Marks
- George Croydon Marks @ The Peerage
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
John Fletcher MoultonMember of Parliament for Launceston
1906–1918Constituency abolished New constituency Member of Parliament for North Cornwall
1918–1924Succeeded by
Alfred Martyn WilliamsPeerage of the United Kingdom New creation Baron Marks
1929–1938Extinct Categories:- People from Eltham
- Alumni of King's College London
- English engineers
- Liberal Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall
- UK MPs 1906–1910
- UK MPs 1910
- UK MPs 1910–1918
- UK MPs 1918–1922
- UK MPs 1922–1923
- UK MPs 1923–1924
- Labour Party (UK) politicians
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- English knights
- Works by George Croydon Marks
- 1858 births
- 1938 deaths
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