Roderick Kedward (politician)
Encyclopedia
Rev. Roderick Morris Kedward (14 September 1881 – 5 March 1937) was a Wesleyan minister and a Liberal Party
politician in the United Kingdom
.
Roderick Kedward was born at Westwell in Kent, one of fourteen children of a local farmer, originally from Hereford but resident in Kent since the 1870s. He became a minister in 1903 having trained at Richmond College. In 1906, he married Daisy Fedrick and they had three sons and three daughters.
In 1908, Kedward was made minister of three Wesleyan congregations in Hull and earned the nickname the fighting parson for physically protecting a woman from her wife-beating husband.
During the First World War, Kedward served in Egypt and France. He was invalided out of the army in October 1916 with 'trench fever' but served as president of ex-servicemen's associations after the war.
Kedward unsuccessfully contested the Kingston upon Hull Central
constituency at the 1918 general election
, losing by a long way to a Conservative who had been favoured with the Lloyd George coalition 'coupon'. By then he had established a considerable local connection with Hull having been a minister of religion in the city for seven years and having founded the Kings Hall Brotherhood. He stood in Bermondsey West
at the 1922 general election
but was soundly beaten by the Labour candidate, a former Progressive (Liberal) member of the London County Council, Dr. Alfred Salter. At the next election in 1923
, there was a straight fight between Kedward and Salter and Kedward was elected as the constituency's Member of Parliament
(MP) by uniting the anti-Labour vote. He been associated with Bermondsey for some years having been Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Borough Council and a member of the Board of Guardians. However Labour surged back the following year, a year in which the Liberal vote slumped badly all over the country and he was defeated at the 1924 general election
.
Transferring his political allegiance to his original home area, Kedward stood at
the 1929 general election
for Ashford
in Kent
. He won a remarkable victory with a swing of over 20% from the Tories to the Liberals. During this time, Kedward was strongly associated with the National Tithe-payers Association, a group which campaigned against the collection of tithes by the Church of England mainly for the upkeep of the clergy and which was unevenly levied across the country, hitting some areas harder than others. In 1931
, having sided with the Simonite faction in the Liberal party, Kedward fought Ashford as a Liberal National but was defeated as the local Conservatives refused to endorse his candidacy, seeing him as too radical and disliking his overt non-conformism (anti-tithe stance). They put up their own candidate against him. He was unsuccessful again at the 1933 by-election following his successor's elevation to the House of Lords.
At the time of his death from the sudden onset of a duodenal ulcer at the relatively young age of 55 years, Kedward was superintendent of the South London Mission. His successor praised his energy and said that Kedward had worked himself to death serving his community.
His grandson Roderick
is a historian of 20th-century France
.
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Roderick Kedward was born at Westwell in Kent, one of fourteen children of a local farmer, originally from Hereford but resident in Kent since the 1870s. He became a minister in 1903 having trained at Richmond College. In 1906, he married Daisy Fedrick and they had three sons and three daughters.
In 1908, Kedward was made minister of three Wesleyan congregations in Hull and earned the nickname the fighting parson for physically protecting a woman from her wife-beating husband.
During the First World War, Kedward served in Egypt and France. He was invalided out of the army in October 1916 with 'trench fever' but served as president of ex-servicemen's associations after the war.
Kedward unsuccessfully contested the Kingston upon Hull Central
Kingston upon Hull Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Kingston upon Hull Central was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
constituency at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, losing by a long way to a Conservative who had been favoured with the Lloyd George coalition 'coupon'. By then he had established a considerable local connection with Hull having been a minister of religion in the city for seven years and having founded the Kings Hall Brotherhood. He stood in Bermondsey West
Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency)
Bermondsey was a borough constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
at the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
but was soundly beaten by the Labour candidate, a former Progressive (Liberal) member of the London County Council, Dr. Alfred Salter. At the next election in 1923
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
, there was a straight fight between Kedward and Salter and Kedward was elected as the constituency's Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) by uniting the anti-Labour vote. He been associated with Bermondsey for some years having been Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Borough Council and a member of the Board of Guardians. However Labour surged back the following year, a year in which the Liberal vote slumped badly all over the country and he was defeated at the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
.
Transferring his political allegiance to his original home area, Kedward stood at
the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
for Ashford
Ashford (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.-Boundaries:...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He won a remarkable victory with a swing of over 20% from the Tories to the Liberals. During this time, Kedward was strongly associated with the National Tithe-payers Association, a group which campaigned against the collection of tithes by the Church of England mainly for the upkeep of the clergy and which was unevenly levied across the country, hitting some areas harder than others. In 1931
United Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
, having sided with the Simonite faction in the Liberal party, Kedward fought Ashford as a Liberal National but was defeated as the local Conservatives refused to endorse his candidacy, seeing him as too radical and disliking his overt non-conformism (anti-tithe stance). They put up their own candidate against him. He was unsuccessful again at the 1933 by-election following his successor's elevation to the House of Lords.
At the time of his death from the sudden onset of a duodenal ulcer at the relatively young age of 55 years, Kedward was superintendent of the South London Mission. His successor praised his energy and said that Kedward had worked himself to death serving his community.
His grandson Roderick
Roderick Kedward (historian)
Harry Roderick Kedward is a British historian.-Biography:Born in March 1937 at Hawkhurst, Kent, Kedward spent his early life in Goldthorpe , Tenterden and in Bath where he obtained a scholarship to attend Kingswood School....
is a historian of 20th-century France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.