Herbert Leon

Sir Herbert Samuel Leon, 1st Baronet (11 February 1850 – 23 July 1926)[1] 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.[2]

Sir Herbert Leon Bt
Member of Parliament for Buckingham
In office 1891 – 7 August 1895
Preceded by	Sir Edmund Verney
Succeeded by	William Carlile
Personal details
Born	Herbert Samuel Leon 11 February 1850
Died	23 July 1926 (aged 76)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	First Wife Esther Julia Beddington (1873-1875, died) Fanny Leon, née Higham(1878-1937)
Children	George Leon Kitty Leon
Mother	Julia Ann Samuel
Residence	Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
Occupation	Financer & Liberal Party politician
Profession	Financer, Politician
Website	http://www.mkheritage.co.uk

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,[3][4] after his predecessor Sir Edmund Verney had been expelled from the House of Commons.[4] He was re-elected in 1892,[5] but was defeated at the 1895 general election.[4] He stood for Parliament one more time, when he was unsuccessful at the 1906 general election in Handsworth division of Staffordshire.[6]

He served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1909 and was created a baronet in the 1911 Coronation honours.[7][8]

Over the years Leon acquired many plots of land in which he donated for public and educational uses. Leon gave the land of which is now known as Leon Recreational ground to the local council in demand for it 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, 1913–1922.[9]

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.[10]

The actor John Standing is a descendant.[11]

Coat of arms of Herbert Leon

Crest Issuant from a mural crown Or a demi-lion Gules grasping in the paws a sunflower leaved and slipped Or seeded Sable. Escutcheon Gules two sunflowers erect slipped leaved and eradicated Or seeded Sable. Motto Seek The Truth [12]

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
2. "Bletchley Park - Herbert Leon". Mkheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
3. "No. 26168". The London Gazette. 2 June 1891. p. 2926.
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 225. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
5. "No. 26311". The London Gazette. 29 July 1892. p. 4305.
6. Craig, op. cit. page 385
7. "American Jewish Year Book". Archive.org. 1911. p. 151. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
8. "No. 28566". The London Gazette. 29 December 1911. pp. 9825–9826.
9. Whyte, Adam Gowans (1949), The Story of the R.P.A. 1899–1949, London: Watts & Co., p. 93
10. "Leon School and Sports College, Buckinghamshire". Teachweb.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
11. Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh (2017) [2000]. Enigma: The Battle for the Code. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. xvi. ISBN 978-1-4746-0832-9.
12. Burke's Peerage. 1959.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Herbert Samuel Leon
• ‘A Maudlin and Monstrous Pile’: The Mansion at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire by Kathryn A. Morrison, Transactions of the Ancient Monument Society (PDF)
• British Jews in the First World War