Alfred Suenson-Taylor, 1st Baron Grantchester

Alfred Suenson-Taylor

Alfred Jesse Suenson-Taylor, 1st Baron Grantchester Kt OBE (14 August 1893 – 2 July 1976), was a British banker, Liberal politician and a neo-liberal activist.

Born Alfred Jesse Taylor, he was the son of Alfred George Taylor of Stowford, Surrey. His younger brother was Charles Taylor. He was educated at Epsom College and King's College, Cambridge, and served at Gallipoli and in France during the First World War, reaching the rank of Major.[1]

Political career

He stood for parliament as a Liberal Party candidate four times. He was unsuccessful on each occasion:

1922 General Election: Isle of Thanet[2] Electorate 38,500
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Hon. Esmond Cecil Harmsworth 16,116 61.2 +3.3
Liberal Alfred Jesse Suenson-Taylor 10,226 38.8 -3.3
Majority 22.4 +6.6
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing
1923 General Election: Aldershot[3] Electorate 25,932
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Viscount Wolmer 9,131
Liberal Alfred Jesse Suenson-Taylor 6,315
Majority
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing
1924 General Election: Derbyshire South[4] Electorate 45,359
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Augustus Grant 16,448
Labour Alfred Goodere 15,033
Liberal Alfred Jesse Suenson-Taylor 5,647
Majority
Turnout
Unionist hold Swing
General Election 1929: Isle of Thanet[5] Electorate 58,330
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Harold Harington Balfour 22,595 52.9
Liberal Alfred Jesse Suenson-Taylor 15,648 36.6
Labour E J Plaisted 4,490 10.5
Majority 6,947 16.3
Turnout 73.3
Unionist hold Swing

In 1947 Suenson-Taylor played a significant role in gaining Bank of England support for the emergent Mont Pelerin Society.[6]: 84  He was later President of the London Liberal Party. On 30 June 1953, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Grantchester, of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster.[7] Grantchester served as Chairman of the London and Manchester Assurance Company from 1953 to 1961, as Joint Honorary Treasurer of the Liberal Party Organisation from 1953 to 1962 and as President of the Society for Individual Freedom. He also initiated the unofficial meetings of the EFTA parliamentarians at Strasbourg and was a Delegate to the Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the Western European Union.

Family life

He married Mara Henrietta (Mamie), daughter of Albert Suenson of Copenhagen in Denmark, in 1920, and assumed the surname of Suenson in addition to that of Taylor. He died in July 1976, aged 82, and was succeeded in the barony by his son Kenneth who married the daughter of Littlewoods founder Sir John Moores. His wife died the same year.

References

  1. ^ Who's Who, 1938, p. 3271
  2. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  3. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  4. ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  5. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  6. ^ Shaxson, Nicholas (2011). Treasure islands : tax havens and the men who stole the world. London: Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1-84792-110-9.
  7. ^ "No. 39904". The London Gazette. 3 July 1953. p. 3677.
  • Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
  • Summary of Lord Grantchester's career
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Grantchester
1953–1976 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Baron Moynihan
Wulff Henry Grey
 Treasurer of the Liberal Party
1953–1962
With: Wulff Henry Grey (1953–1958)
Philip Fothergill (1955–1959)
Heather Harvey (1959–1962)
Patrick Lort-Phillips (1959–1960)
J. C. McLaughlin (1961–1962) 		Succeeded by