# Lees Knowles

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**Sir Lees Knowles, 1st Baronet**, (16 February 1857 – 7 October 1928) was a British [barrister](/source/Barrister), [military historian](/source/Military_history) and [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) politician.[1]

## Early life

Knowles was the son of John Knowles and Elizabeth Lees of Green Bank, [Oldham, Lancashire](/source/Oldham,_Lancashire) whose family owned [Andrew Knowles and Sons](/source/Andrew_Knowles_and_Sons), collieries in the [Irwell Valley](/source/Irwell_Valley). He was educated at [Rugby School](/source/Rugby_School) and at [Trinity College, Cambridge](/source/Trinity_College,_Cambridge).[2]

He was a prominent athlete at both institutions and became president of the Cambridge University Athletics Club. Knowles became the [British half-mile champion](/source/List_of_British_champions_in_800_metres) after winning the [AAC Championships](/source/AAC_Championships) title at the [1878 AAC Championships](/source/1878_AAC_Championships).[3][4] He studied law, and was called to the bar at [Lincoln's Inn](/source/Lincoln's_Inn) in 1882.[1]

## Career

### Politics

Knowles was involved in Unionist politics, and stood unsuccessfully for the Conservatives at [Leigh](/source/Leigh_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in the [1885 general election](/source/1885_United_Kingdom_general_election). In the following year, another [general election was held](/source/1886_United_Kingdom_general_election), and he was returned as [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Salford West](/source/Salford_West_(UK_Parliament_constituency)).

From 1887 to 1892, Knowles held an appointment as unpaid parliamentary secretary to [Charles Ritchie](/source/Charles_Ritchie,_1st_Baron_Ritchie_of_Dundee), [President of the Local Government Board](/source/President_of_the_Local_Government_Board). On 24 April 1890, he brought a motion before the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) and was subsequently appointed to formulate the [Royal Commission on Tuberculosis](/source/Royal_Commission_on_Tuberculosis).[5]

Knowles remained unpaid parliamentary secretary when Ritchie became [President of the Board of Trade](/source/President_of_the_Board_of_Trade) in 1895. From 1896 to 1906, he was [Second Church Estates Commissioner](/source/Church_Commissioners). He was created a [baronet](/source/Baronetage_of_the_United_Kingdom), "of Westwood in the County of Lancaster", in the [1903 Birthday Honours](/source/1903_Birthday_Honours).[6]

In December 1904, he was knighted as a [Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John](/source/Order_of_Saint_John_(chartered_1888)) (KStJ).[7]

His parliamentary career came to an end when he lost his seat [at the 1906 general election](/source/1906_United_Kingdom_general_election).[8]

### Military

Knowles had a great interest in military history, and wrote a number of books on the life of [Napoleon](/source/Napoleon). In 1912 he made a bequest to his *[alma mater](/source/Alma_mater)*, Trinity College. This established the [Lees Knowles Lectureship](/source/Lees_Knowles_Lecturer), an annual series of talks on military science given by distinguished military and naval figures.

He held a commission as an officer in the [Volunteer Force](/source/Volunteer_Force_(Great_Britain)) and its successor the [Territorial Force](/source/Territorial_Force), reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After a stint as [Honorary Colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_Kingdom)#Honorary_Colonel) of the 3rd (Volunteer) battalion of the [Lancashire Fusiliers](/source/Lancashire_Fusiliers), he was on 14 May 1902 appointed lieutenant-colonel in command of the battalion.[9] At various times he commanded the 3rd, 7th and 8th [battalions](/source/Battalion) of the [Lancashire Fusiliers](/source/Lancashire_Fusiliers). He subsequently became the vice-chairman of the Lancashire [Territorial Army](/source/Territorial_Army_(United_Kingdom)) Association.

Knowles was a [philanthropist](/source/Philanthropy), supporting a number of charities, notably the [Guinness Trust for Housing the Poor](/source/Guinness_Trust). He died in on 7 October 1928, aged 71, at his home in Westwood, [Pendlebury](/source/Pendlebury).[10]

## Family

In 1915, Knowles married Lady Nina Ogilvy-Grant, youngest daughter of [Francis Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield](/source/Francis_Ogilvy-Grant,_10th_Earl_of_Seafield). Lady Nina was presumably the Lady Nina Ogilvy-Grant who appeared at a meeting of the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association on 11 May 1909 at 52 [Portland Place](/source/Portland_Place) in London, as reported by [Votes for Women](/source/Votes_for_Women_(newspaper)), the organ of the [Women's Social and Political Union](/source/Women's_Social_and_Political_Union).[11] They had no children.[10]

## Arms

## Works

- [Lees Knowles, A day with corps-students in Germany](https://archive.org/stream/daywithcorpsstud00knowrich#page/n7/mode/2up)
- Knowles, Lees (1914). [*Minden and the Seven Years War*](https://archive.org/details/mindensevenyears00knowrich). Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company.

**As editor**

- Lutyens, Engelbert (1915). [*Letters of Captain Engelbert Lutyens: Orderly Officer at Longwood, Saint Helena: Feb. 1820 to Nov. 1823*](https://archive.org/details/lettersofcaptain00lutyrich). Knowles, Lees (ed.). John Lane.

## References

1. [*Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire*](https://books.google.com/books?id=RVggAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1145). Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. pp. 1145–1146.

1. ["AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists"](https://nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm). *National Union of Track Statisticians*. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

1. ["The Amateur Athletic Club"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18780416/013/0003). *Morning Post*. 16 April 1878. Retrieved 21 July 2024. – via British Newspaper Archive.

1. TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE *Parliament*, The Times, 11 April 1891.

1. No. 27617. 17 November 1903. p. 7029.

1. ["December 9th, 1904"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27742/page/8450/data.pdf). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)*. Retrieved 2 November 2022.

1. [*The Official Handbook of Manchester and Salford...: 1912-1913*](https://books.google.com/books?id=li0HwzN7_cwC). 1912.

1. No. 27433. 13 May 1902. p. 3182.

1. ["Obituary"](http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19281205.2.141). *[The Press](/source/The_Press)*. Vol. LXIV, no. 19485. 5 December 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 17 October 2014.

1. ["Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association"](http://gdc.galegroup.com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/gdc/ncco/NewspapersDetailsPage/NewspapersDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=DVI-Newspapers&docIndex=38&source=fullList&prodId=NCCO&mode=view&limiter=F_CMC+%22Votes+for+Women%22&display-query=TX+Countess&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&windowstate=normal&currPage=8&dviSelectedPage=&scanId=&query=TX+Countess&search_within_results=&p=NCCO&catId=&u=nypl&displayGroups=&documentId=GALE%7COPZZLD234431046&activityType=AdvancedSearch&failOverType=&commentary=). *Votes for Women*. 21 May 1909.

- 'Obituary: Sir Lees Knowles. A Life of Public Service.', *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*, 8 October 1928, p. 18

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