Ernest Thurtle

Ernest Thurtle (11 November 1884 – 22 August 1954) was an American-born British Labour politician.

Ernest Thurtle MP
Member of Parliament for Shoreditch and Finsbury
In office 23 February 1950 – 22 August 1954
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Victor Collins
Member of Parliament for Shoreditch
In office 14 November 1935 – 23 February 1950
Preceded by	Charles Harold Summersby
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
In office 6 December 1923 – 27 October 1931
Preceded by	Ernest Griffith Price
Succeeded by	Charles Harold Summersby
Personal details
Born	11 November 1884 Port Jervis, New York, U.S.
Died	22 August 1954 (aged 69) Epsom, Surrey, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Lansbury ​ (m. 1912)​
Children	2

Biography

Thurtle worked as an accountant and salesman. He saw service in the army in World War I and was badly wounded at the Battle of Cambrai. In 1912 he married Dorothy Lansbury, the daughter of George Lansbury, leader of the Labour Party in the 1930s.

Thurtle contested South West Bethnal Green and Shoreditch without success and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Shoreditch, London from 1923 to 1931 and from 1935 to 50, then Shoreditch and Finsbury from 1950 until his death.

Thurtle's greatest achievement in Parliament was to bring about the abolition of the death penalty for cowardice or desertion in the British Army. With over 300 British soldiers shot by firing squad after brief trials during World War I, Thurtle first introduced the measure for abolition in 1924, which became Labour Party policy in 1925 and eventually approved by the House of Commons by the Labour government in 1930. Supporters of the measure included T. E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, but the abolition was first rejected by the House of Lords, which was encouraged in their resistance by various retired generals, including Lord Allenby. The House of Commons insisted, and the measure was enacted.

The argument that it would reduce the determination of the soldiers was countered by the fact that Australia had always made it clear when it joined the war effort that none of its men would be executed for these crimes. No Australians were shot for cowardice or desertion, but it was clear that their troops had been as effective as any others in the war. Thurtle continued to be involved in ex-servicemen's associations.

At the Labour Party conference in 1923, Thurtle supported two republican motions. The first stated "that the Royal Family is no longer a necessary party of the British constitution" and the second was "that the hereditary principle in the British Constitution be abolished".[1]

Thurtle was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Pensions in 1924, a Labour whip from 1930 to 1931 and a junior minister at the Ministry of Information from 1941 to 1945. He was also a journalist and author.

Thurtle was General Secretary of the Rationalist Press Association 1932-40[2] and, in 1941, its Chairman.[3]

References

1. Kingsley Martin,The Crown and the Establishment. London, Hutchinson. 1962 (p.53–54)
2. Tribe, David H. (1967). 100 Years of Freethought. London: Elek. p. 182.
3. Whyte, Adam Gowans (1949). The Story of the R.P.A. 1899-1949. London: Watts & Co. p. 93

• E Thurtle: Times winged chariot Chaterson, London, 1945

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ernest Thurtle
• Shot at Dawn