The Lord Monk Bretton | |
|---|---|
 John George Dodson in 1865, as the newly electedChairman of Ways and Means. | |
| Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Chairman of Ways and Means | |
| In office February 1865 – April 1872 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | William George Massey |
| Succeeded by | John Bonham-Carter |
| President of the Local Government Board | |
| In office 3 May 1880 – 28 December 1882 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | George Sclater-Booth |
| Succeeded by | Sir Charles Dilke, Bt |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| In office 28 December 1882 – 29 October 1884 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Kimberley |
| Succeeded by | George Trevelyan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1825-10-18)18 October 1825 |
| Died | 25 May 1897(1897-05-25) (aged 71) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal Liberal Unionist |
| Spouse | Florence Campion |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
John George Dodson, 1st Baron Monk Bretton,PC (18 October 1825 – 25 May 1897), known before 1884 asJohn George Dodson, was a BritishLiberal politician. He wasChairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons) between 1865 and 1872 and later held office underWilliam Ewart Gladstone asFinancial Secretary to the Treasury,President of the Local Government Board andChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1884 he was elevated to the peerage asBaron Monk Bretton.
Dodson was the only son ofSir John Dodson, a judge andDean of the Arches ofSt George's Hanover Square Church, London. His mother was Frances Priscilla, daughter ofGeorge Pearson, MD, FRS. He was educated atEton (1837–1842), where he won HRH thePrince Consort's Prize for French and Italian in 1842, and came second for French and German in 1841 and 1842, and was later a Fellow (1876–1880). He matriculated atChrist Church, Oxford on 9 June 1843, (BA 1847, MA 1851), got a First, and wascalled to the Bar,Lincoln's Inn, in 1853. His exact contemporaries at Eton includedWilliam George Mount and theEarl of Kimberley.
Dodson unsuccessfully contestedEast Sussex in 1852 (he came third with 1637 votes, behindAugustus Eliott Fuller with 2155 and Charles Hay Frewen with 1974) and March 1857, but was elected for the constituency in April 1857. He would hold this seat until 1874. He served asChairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons) from February 1865 to April 1872 and was admitted to thePrivy Council in 1872.[1]
In 1873 he was appointedFinancial Secretary to the Treasury in theLiberal administration ofWilliam Ewart Gladstone, a post he held until the government fell the following year. In 1874 Dodson was elected to parliament forChester, and served as Chairman of thePublic Accounts Committee from 1874 to 1876.
In 1880 he was again elected forChester and appointedPresident of the Local Government Board, with a seat in the cabinet, in Gladstone's secondadministration. According to the rules at the time, he was then forced to contest his constituency again. Dodson was duly elected, but shortly after the original election was declared void on petition. This caused him to seek re-election for another constituency. In July he was returned forScarborough, a seat he would hold until 1884.
Dodson remained President of the Local Government Board until 1882, and then served asChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1882 to 1884. On 4 November 1884 he was raised to the peerage asBaron Monk Bretton, of Conyboro and Hurstpierpoint in the County of Sussex.[2] Lord Monk Bretton later disagreed with Gladstone overHome Rule.
He was also active in local politics, and served as the first Chairman of theEast Sussex County Council from 1889 to 1892. He was a long serving director and trustee of the Rock Life Assurance Company and a director of Brill's Brighton Baths Company. He was a member of the university,Reform, andBrooks's Clubs. Late in life he became concerned about the fate of theAfrican elephant, whose salvation he mooted, in letters toThe Times, could come through domestication.
Lord Monk Bretton married Caroline-Florence, second daughter of William John Campion ofDanny,Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, by Harriet Kemp (daughter ofThomas Read Kemp) in 1856. They had one son and three daughters. They lived at 6, Seamore Place in Mayfair, and at Conyboro', nearLewes, Sussex. In 1878Edward Walford described Seamore Place as follows: "Seamore Place is the name of a row of handsome but somewhat old-fashioned mansions, which occupy a sort of cul de sac at the western end ofCurzon Street. They are only nine in number, and their chief fronts look westward over Hyde Park". Lord Monk Bretton died in May 1897, aged 71, and was succeeded in the barony by his only sonJohn William Dodson.
  |
|
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEast Sussex 1857–1874 With:Viscount Pevensey 1857–1865, Lord Edward Cavendish 1865–1868, George Gregory 1868–1874 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forChester 1874–1880 With:Henry Cecil Raikes | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forScarborough 1880–1884 With:William Sproston Caine | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of Ways and Means 1865–1872 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1873–1874 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Local Government Board 1880–1882 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1882–1884 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Monk Bretton 1884–1897 | Succeeded by |
