Alfred Suenson-Taylor, 1st Baron Grantchester

Alfred Suenson-Taylor

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

Born Alfred Jesse Taylor, he was the son of Alfred George Taylor of Stowford, Surrey. 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 first stood for parliament as the Liberal Party candidate for the Unionist seat of Isle of Thanet at the 1922 General Election. It was not a successful campaign;

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

He then stood for parliament as the Liberal Party candidate for the Unionist seat of Aldershot at the 1923 General Election;

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

He then stood for parliament as the Liberal Party candidate for the Unionist seat of Derbyshire South at the 1924 General Election. It was not a successful campaign;

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

He then stood for parliament as the Liberal Party candidate for the Unionist seat of Isle of Thanet at the 1929 General Election, having stood here seven years earlier;

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

He was later President of the London Liberal Party. In 1953, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Grantchester, of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster. 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.

Lord Grantchester 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. Lady Grantchester 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

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Summary of Lord Grantchester's career