Ernest Flower

{{short description|British politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} right|thumb|200px|Flower in 1895. '''Sir Ernest Francis Swan Flower''' (24 August 1865 – 30 April 1926)<ref>{{Rayment-hc|b|5|date=March 2012}}</ref> was a British Conservative Party politician.

At the 1895 general election Flower was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West,<ref name="craig1885-1918">{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |authorlink= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 |orig-date=1974 |edition= 2nd |year=1989 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-27-2 |page=81 }}</ref> winning the seat from the Liberal Party on his second attempt, after unsuccessfully contesting the seat in 1892.<ref name="craig1885-1918" /> He held the seat for 11 years, until his defeat at the 1906 general election. He stood again at both the January 1910 and December 1910 general elections, but lost on both occasions by a large majority.<ref name="craig1885-1918" />

Flower was a member of the Grand Council of the Primrose League and of the executive committee of the State Children's Aid Association.<ref name="Addison1905">{{cite book |last1=Addison |first1=Henry Robert |last2=Oakes |first2=Charles Henry |last3=Lawson |first3=William John |last4=Sladen |first4=Douglas Brooke Wheelton |title=Who's who |date=1905 |publisher=A. & C. Black |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDsJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA557 |access-date=14 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref> He was noted for his philanthropy in the East End of London.<ref name="debrett-1901">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1901londuoft#page/n95/mode/2up/search/flower+bradford |title=E. (F. S.) Flower, (Bradford, Western Division) |work=Debrett's illustrated House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1901 |publisher=via the Wayback Machine |page=51 |accessdate=6 July 2010}}</ref> He was knighted in the New Year Honours, in December 1903.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 27630 |date= 29 December 1903 |page=8563 |city= London }}</ref>

Flower was chairman of the Blue Cross Fund.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0003544%2F19151009&page=7 |title=Blue Cross Fund |newspaper=Kent Messenger|date=October 9, 1915|page=7|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He died in 1926, aged 60. He left all of his property to his sister Edith Mary Flower.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000327%2F19260821&page=4|title=Fear of Burial Alive|newspaper=The Derby Daily Telegraph |date=August 21, 1926|page=4|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

== External links == *{{Hansard-contribs | sir-ernest-flower | Ernest Flower }}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Bradford West | before = Alfred Illingworth | after = Fred Jowett | years = 1895 – 1906 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower, Ernest}} Category:1865 births Category:1926 deaths Category:Blue Cross workers Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:English philanthropists Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Members of the London School Board Category:Members of Parliament for Bradford West Category:UK MPs 1895–1900 Category:UK MPs 1900–1906