Owen Jacobsen

Thomas Owen Jacobsen (23 April 1864 - 15 June 1941) was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was born in Richmond Terrace, Liverpool on 23 April 1864,[1] and was the son of a naturalised Dane.[2] He was a master printer and the senior partner in the stationery company of Jacobsen, Welch and Company, whose paper mills were at Hyde, Cheshire.[3][4]

Owen Jacobsen
Member of Parliament for Hyde
Preceded by	Francis Neilson
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Thomas Owen Jacobsen 23 April 1864
Died	15 June 1941 (aged 77)
Political party	Liberal

In March 1916, Francis Neilson, MP for Hyde, resigned his seat. Jacobsen was chosen as Liberal candidate, and was endorsed by the Asquith led Coalition Government. He was elected at the ensuing by-election.[2] He held the seat until the 1918 general election, when the constituency was abolished. In 1917 he was appointed as private secretary to Leo Chiozza Money, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping.[5] In 1918 he contested the new seat of Stalybridge & Hyde and was defeated.

Jacobsen was a resident of Brixton in South London, and in 1919 he was elected as a member of the London County Council for Lambeth North. He was part of the Liberal-supported Progressive grouping on the council.[6] In 1921 the MP for Southwark South East resigned, and Jacobsen was chosen by the local Liberal Progressive and Radical Association to fight the by-election. He was not opposed by the Conservative Party, but refused to describe himself as a Coalition Liberal, but as a "Liberal supporting the Coalition Government".[3] The contest took place on 14 December 1921, and Jacobsen was heavily defeated by Thomas Naylor, leader of the London Labour Party.[7]

Jacobsen retired from the London County Council in 1922, and stood unsuccessfully for the Liberals at Lambeth Kennington at the 1923 general election.[8] He was going to stand at the 1924 general election but withdrew.[9] The 1929 election was his last electoral contest, when he failed to win the City of London for the Liberals.[10]

Jacobsen retired from politics, and was president of the Stationers Association of Great Britain and Ireland from 1929 to 1931.[11] In 1935 the Jacobsen and Welch Company was sold.[12] He died in Worthing, Sussex, in 1941, aged 77.[13]

Electoral record

1916 Hyde by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Owen Jacobsen	4,089	56.0	+4.6
	Independent	DP Davies	3,215	44.0	n/a
Majority			874	12.0	+9.2
Turnout				54.7	-34.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

General election 1918: Stalybridge and Hyde

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Wood	13,462	51.4
	Labour	Walter Fowden	6,508	24.8
	Liberal	Owen Jacobsen	6,241	23.8
Majority			6,954	26.6
Turnout				60.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

1919 London County Council election: Lambeth North (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive	Owen Jacobsen	2,656	38.1
	Independent	Rose Emma Lamartine Yates	2,619	37.6	n/a
	Municipal Reform	Louis Courtauld	885	12.7
	Municipal Reform	Camac Wilkinson	809	11.6
Majority			1,734	24.9
	Progressive hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Municipal Reform		Swing	n/a

1921 Southwark South East by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Naylor	6,561	57.0	29.6
	Coalition Liberal	Owen Jacobsen	2,636	22.9	-49.7
	Independent Unionist	Horace Louis Petit Boot	2,307	20.1	n/a
Majority			3,925	34.1	n/a
Turnout			11,504	38.5	-6.7
	Labour gain from Coalition Liberal		Swing	39.6

General election 1923: Kennington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Williams	8,292	39.2	+3.1
	Unionist	Reginald Blair	7,782	36.8	−10.5
	Liberal	Owen Jacobsen	5,075	24.0	+7.4
Majority			510	2.4	n/a
Turnout			21,149	57.6	−0.8
Registered electors			36,729
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+6.8

General election 1929: City of London (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Vansittart Bowater	16,149	43.9	n/a
	Unionist	Edward Grenfell	16,092	43.7	n/a
	Liberal	Owen Jacobsen	4,579	12.4	n/a
Majority			11,513	31.3	n/a
Turnout			46,469	45.2	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

1. Liverpool Mercury 26 April 1864 p.3 Births, Deaths & Marriages
2. "Resignation of Mr Neilson", The Times, 3 March 1916, p.9
3. "S. E. Southwark Contest", The Times, 21 November 1921, p.7
4. "News in Brief", The Times, 13 March 1916, p.5
5. "Ministerial Secretaries", The Times, 19 February 1917, p.11
6. "LCC Election Results", The Times, 8 March 1919, p.14
7. "Labour Victory in Southwark", The Times, 15 December 1921, p.12
8. "General Election 1923 - Candidates nominated", The Times, 27 November 1923, p.8
9. "The General Election: First List of Candidates", The Times, 15 October 1924
10. "Election Contest in the City", The Times, 11 May 1929, p.9
11. "Obituary: Mr T. O. Jacobsen", The Times, 19 June 1941, p.7
12. "City News in Brief", The Times, 16 April 1935, p.23
13. "Deaths", The Times, 18 June 1941, p.1

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Jacobsen