Monarch George V Role Politician Books School-room Humour Name Thomas Macnamara | Preceded by Sir Robert Horne Party Liberal Party Died December 3, 1931 | |
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Prime Minister David Lloyd George Succeeded by Anderson Montague-Barlow | ||
Thomas James Macnamara PC (23 August 1861 – 3 December 1931) was a British teacher, educationalist and radical Liberal politician.
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Biography
Macnamara was born in Montreal, Canada, the son of a soldier originally from County Clare in Ireland. His family returned to Britain in 1869.
He was educated first at the Depot School in Pembroke Dock and then in Exeter. He qualified as a teacher in 1876 at the Borough Road Training College for Teachers.
In 1886, he married Rachel Cameron. They had three sons and one daughter.
Elsie Cawson Elias
His daughter, Elsie Cawson Macnamara was born in 1889. In April 1913 she was married and became known as Elsie Cawson Elias. At the 1924 General Election she stood as Liberal candidate for Southwark South East, finishing third.
Teaching
He was active as a teacher until 1892 in Exeter, Huddersfield and Bristol, when he became editor of The Schoolmaster. He was sometime chairman of the London School Board and in 1896 he was appointed president of the National Union of Teachers.
Politics
In 1900 he was elected to the House of Commons for Camberwell North, a seat he held until 1918, and then represented Camberwell North West until 1924. He served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board from 1907 to 1908 and under H. H. Asquith and later David Lloyd George as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1908 to 1920 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1911. In 1920 Lloyd George appointed him Minister of Labour, with a seat in the cabinet, a position he retained until the government fell in October 1922.
Death
Macnamara died on 3 December 1931, aged 70, of prostate cancer.