Herbert Leon Explained

Sir Herbert Leon
Birth Name:Herbert Samuel Leon
Honorific-Suffix:Bt
Office5:Member of Parliament
for Buckingham
Term Start5:1891
Term End5:7 August 1895
Predecessor5:Sir Edmund Verney
Successor5:William Carlile
Birth Date:11 February 1850
Nationality:British
Spouse:First Wife Esther Julia Beddington (1873–1875, died)
Fanny Leon, née Higham (1878–1937)
Father:George Isaac Leon
Mother:Julia Ann Samuel
Children:George Leon
Mabel Leon
Residence:Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
Occupation:Financer and Liberal Party politician
Profession:Financer, politician
Website:http://www.mkheritage.co.uk

Sir Herbert Samuel Leon, 1st Baronet (11 February 1850 – 23 July 1926) was an English financier and Liberal Party politician, now best known as the main figure in the development of the Bletchley Park estate in Buckinghamshire.[1]

Life

He was the second son of George Isaac Leon, a stockbroker, and Julia Ann Samuel. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham at an 1891 by-election,[2] after his predecessor Sir Edmund Verney had been expelled from the House of Commons. He was re-elected in 1892, but was defeated at the 1895 general election. He stood for Parliament one more time, when he was unsuccessful at the 1906 general election in Handsworth division of Staffordshire.[3]

He served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1909 and was created a baronet in the 1911 Coronation honours.[4]

Over the years Leon acquired many plots of land, which he donated for public and educational uses. Leon gave the land, now known as Leon Recreational Ground, to the local council to become a public park for the youth of Fenny Stratford and Bletchley. He also donated other plots of land in the south of Bletchley for them to become public schools for the local children of the Lakes Estate.

Leon was Chairman of the Rationalist Press Association from 1913 until 1922.

Legacy

In 1970 Leon School and Sports College was built on the Lakes Estate in Bletchley in Leon's honour. In September 2012 the school was renamed as Sir Herbert Leon Academy as a sign of appreciation for the works and funding Leon and his late wife had brought to the local area.[5]

The actor John Standing and the author, Simon Sebag-Montefiore are descendants, as are Sir Lancelot Royle, Anthony, Lord Fanshawe and Timothy Royle.[6]

Escutcheon:Gules two sunflowers erect slipped leaved and eradicated Or seeded Sable.
Crest:Issuant from a mural crown Or a demi-lion Gules grasping in the paws a sunflower leaved and slipped Or seeded Sable.
Motto:Seek The Truth [7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bletchley Park - Herbert Leon . Mkheritage.co.uk . 2016-02-16.
  2. Book: Craig , F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 . 1974 . 2nd . 1989 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-27-2 . 225.
  3. Craig, op. cit. page 385
  4. Web site: American Jewish Year Book . 1911 . 151 . Archive.org . 2016-02-16.
  5. Web site: Leon School and Sports College, Buckinghamshire . Teachweb.co.uk . 2016-02-16.
  6. Book: Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh . Enigma: The Battle for the Code . 2000 . 2017 . Weidenfeld & Nicolson . London . 978-1-4746-0832-9 . xvi .
  7. Book: Burke's Peerage . 1959.