Edward Alderson (parliamentary clerk)

Sir Edward Hall Alderson, KCB, KBE (2 June 1864 – 7 March 1951) was a British public servant and Clerk of the Parliaments from 1930 to 1934.[1]

Sir Edward Alderson
Alderson in 1925
Clerk of the Parliaments
In office
1930–1934
Preceded bySir Arthur Thring
Succeeded bySir Henry Badeley
Personal details
Born(1864-06-02)2 June 1864
New Zealand
Died7 March 1951(1951-03-07) (aged 86)
NationalityBritish
RelationsEdward Hall Alderson (grandfather)
Alma materBrasenose College, Oxford
OccupationCivil servant

Early life

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Alderson was born on 2 June 1864 in New Zealand. He was a son of Francis John Alderson and Jane Irvin Black, a daughter of Dr. Thomas Black and Charlotte (née Leatham) Black.[2]

He came a legal family; his grandfather, Sir Edward Hall Alderson, was a Baron of the Exchequer (whose daughter married Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury), and his great-grandfather, Robert Alderson, was Recorder of Norwich, Yarmouth and Ipswich.[2]

He attended Brasenose College, Oxford, before he was called to the bar in 1890.[2]

Career

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He practised on the South-Eastern Circuit only briefly, being appointed private secretary to Lord Halsbury in 1895. Five years later, he was appointed Reading Clerk and Clerk of Outdoor Committees of the House of Lords. Promotions followed: in 1917 to Clerk-Assistant, and in 1930 to Clerk of the Parliaments. He retired in 1934.[1][3]

Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1919, Alderson went on to receive two knighthoods, as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire six years later, and then as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1931.[1]

Personal life

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Alderson married Mary Emily Bonsor, daughter of Sir Cosmo Bonsor, 1st Baronet and the former Emily Gertrude Fellowes. Before her death in 1935, they were the parents of three children, including:[3]

He died on 7 March 1951; two children from their marriage survived him.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Alderson, Sir Edward Hall", Who Was Who (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 425.
  3. ^ a b c "Sir Edward Alderson", The Times, 9 March 1951, p. 8.
Government offices
Preceded by Clerk of the Parliaments
1930–1934
Succeeded by