List of British parliamentarians who died in the First World War facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland joined World War I on August 4, 1914. This happened after Germany invaded Belgium. The UK fought alongside the Allies against the Central Powers for four years. Sadly, about 750,000 British men died during this huge conflict.

When the war began, H. H. Asquith was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He led a government with support from Irish politicians. However, people weren't happy with how he managed the war. In May 1915, he had to form a new government that included other major parties, like the Conservatives and the Labour Party. By December 1916, the Conservatives pushed him to resign. David Lloyd George then took over as Prime Minister, leading the new coalition government.

Many members of the British Parliament also served in the war. A total of 264 Members of the House of Commons joined the armed forces. Tragically, 23 members of the House of Commons and 20 members of the House of Lords died during the war or because of their service. Three former members of the Commons also lost their lives. A special memorial in Westminster Hall remembers these 43 brave men. It also honors Parliament staff and soldiers who were sons of parliamentarians.

The Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, remembering those who served.

Brave Parliamentarians Lost in War

Here is a list of the 43 parliamentarians or former parliamentarians who died during World War I, listed in the order they passed away.

#	Name	Role in Parliament	Party	Military Role	Born	Died	Notes
1	Arthur O'Neill	MP for Mid Antrim since 1910	Irish Unionist Alliance	Captain, 2nd Life Guards Regiment	September 19, 1876	November 6, 1914 (age 38). Killed in action in Klein Zillebeke, Belgium.
2	Henry Parnell, 5th Baron Congleton [fr]	Member of the House of Lords since 1911	Unknown	Lieutenant, 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards	September 6, 1890	November 10, 1914 (age 24). Killed in action in Klein Zillebeke, Belgium.
3	Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts	Member of the House of Lords since 1892	Unknown	British Army field marshal	September 30, 1832	November 14, 1914 (age 82). Died of pneumonia in Saint-Omer, France.	Was Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (1901-1904). Received the Victoria Cross for bravery in 1857.
4	Wyndham Knatchbull-Hugessen, 3rd Baron Brabourne	Member of the House of Lords since 1909	Liberal	2nd Lieutenant, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards	September 21, 1885	March 11, 1915 (age 29). Killed at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
5	Will Gladstone	MP for Kilmarnock Burghs since 1911	Liberal	Lieutenant, Royal Welch Fusiliers	July 14, 1885	April 13, 1915 (age 29). Killed in action near Laventie, France.	Grandson of former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.
6	John Esmonde	MP for North Tipperary since 1910	Irish Parliamentary Party	Captain, Royal Army Medical Corps	January 21, 1862	April 17, 1915 (age 53). Died from pneumonia and exhaustion.
7	Arthur French, 5th Baron de Freyne	Member of the House of Lords since 1913	Unknown	Captain, 3rd Battalion, South Wales Borderers	July 3, 1879	May 9, 1915 (age 35). Killed at the Battle of Aubers.
8	Harold Cawley	MP for Heywood since 1910	Liberal	Captain, 6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment	June 12, 1878	September 23, 1915 (age 37). Killed in action at the Battle of the Dardanelles.
9	Thomas Agar-Robartes	MP for St Austell since 1908	Liberal	Captain, 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards	May 22, 1880	September 30, 1915 (age 35). Killed by a sniper at the Battle of Loos.	He was helping a wounded friend when he was killed.
10	Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart	MP for Cardiff since 1910	Conservative	Lieutenant-Colonel, 6th Battalion, Welch Regiment	May 15, 1883	October 2, 1915 (age 32). Killed in action at the Battle of Loos.
11	Charles Mills	MP for Uxbridge since 1910	Conservative	2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards	March 13, 1887	October 6, 1915 (age 28). Killed in action at Hulluch, France.	Was the youngest MP in Parliament for a time.
12	William Walrond	MP for Tiverton since 1906	Conservative	Lieutenant, Railway Supply Detachment, Royal Army Service Corps	May 22, 1876	November 2, 1915 (age 39). Died from wounds received in France.
13	Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford	Member of the House of Lords since 1887	Conservative	Brigadier General, 2nd 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade	October 19, 1864	August 21, 1915 (age 50). Killed in action at the Battle of Sari Bair during the Gallipoli campaign.
14	Lionel Petre, 16th Baron Petre	Member of the House of Lords since 1908	Unknown	Captain, 4th Pioneer Battalion, Coldstream Guards	November 3, 1890	September 30, 1915 (age 24). Died from wounds at the Battle of Loos.
15	Thomas Trollope, 3rd Baron Kesteven [fr]	Member of the House of Lords since 1915	Unknown	Captain, Lincolnshire Yeomanry	May 1, 1891	November 5, 1915 (age 24). Wounded when his ship was torpedoed, died in Algeria.
16	George Venables-Vernon, 8th Baron Vernon	Member of the House of Lords since 1909	Liberal	Captain, Derbyshire Yeomanry	September 28, 1888	November 10, 1915 (age 27). Died of dysentery during the Gallipoli campaign.
17	James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield	Member of the House of Lords since 1897	Unknown	Captain, 3rd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders	April 18, 1876	November 12, 1915 (age 39). Died from wounds received in Flanders.	A Scottish nobleman and chief of Clan Grant.
18	Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr	Member of the House of Lords since 1896	Unknown	Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Service	March 22, 1869	December 16, 1915 (age 46). Died in Italy from illness contracted in the Navy.
19	Michael Hicks Beach, Viscount Quenington	MP for Tewkesbury since 1906	Conservative	Captain, Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry	January 19, 1877	April 23, 1916 (age 39). Died from wounds received in the Egyptian Sinai.
20	Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener	Member of the House of Lords since 1898	Unaffiliated	British Army field marshal	June 24, 1850	June 5, 1916 (age 65). Died when HMS Hampshire sank due to a German mine.	Was the Secretary of State for War since 1914.
21	Duncan Campbell	MP for North Ayrshire since 1911	Unionist	Lieutenant-Colonel, Duke of Wellington's Regiment	April 28, 1876	September 4, 1916 (age 40). Died from injuries after being wounded twice.	Born in Ontario, Canada; received the Distinguished Service Order.
22	Tom Kettle	MP for East Tyrone (1906-1910)	Irish Parliamentary Party	Lieutenant, Royal Dublin Fusiliers	February 9, 1880	September 9, 1916 (age 36). Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme.	Also a writer and economist.
23	Guy Baring	MP for Winchester since 1906	Conservative	Lieutenant Colonel, 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards	February 26, 1873	September 15, 1916 (age 43). Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme.
24	Charles Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham	MP for Thirsk and Malton (1906-1915), then House of Lords	Conservative	Lieutenant-Colonel, 21st Battalion of the King's Rifles	May 8, 1879	September 15, 1916 (age 37). Killed in action at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.
25	Gerald Arbuthnot	MP for Burnley (1910)	Conservative	2nd Lieutenant, Grenadier Guards	December 19, 1872	September 25, 1916 (age 43). Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme.
26	John Rolls, 2nd Baron Llangattock	Member of the House of Lords since 1912	Unknown	Major, 1st Monmouthshire Battery, Royal Field Artillery	April 25, 1870	October 31, 1916 (age 46). Died from wounds at the Battle of the Somme.	Older brother of Charles Rolls, who co-founded Rolls-Royce.
27	Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas	Member of the House of Lords since 1905	Liberal	Captain, Royal Flying Corps	May 25, 1876	November 3, 1916 (age 40). Died from wounds after his plane was hit by German fire.	Served as a government minister before the war.
28	Henry Barnes, 2nd Baron Gorell	Member of the House of Lords since 1913	Unknown	Major, 19th London Battery, Royal Field Artillery	January 21, 1882	January 16, 1917 (age 34). Killed in action at Ypres, Belgium.
29	Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk	Member of the House of Lords since 1898	Liberal	Major, Wiltshire Battery, 3rd Wessex Brigade, Royal Field Artillery	September 13, 1877	April 21, 1917 (age 39). Killed in action in the Mesopotamia campaign.
30	Valentine Fleming	MP for Henley since 1910	Conservative	Major, C Squadron, Oxfordshire Hussars	February 17, 1882	May 20, 1917 (age 35). Killed by German bombs near Épehy, France.	Received the Distinguished Service Order. Father of writers Peter and Ian Fleming.
31	Shelley Scarlett, 5th Baron Abinger	Member of the House of Lords since 1903	Unknown	Commander, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve	April 1, 1872	May 23, 1917 (age 45). Died in London, listed as a war casualty.	Adoptive grandson of Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
32	Willie Redmond	MP for Wexford (1883-1885), Fermanagh North (1885-1892), and Clare East (since 1892)	Irish Parliamentary Party	Major, 6th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment	April 13, 1861	June 7, 1917 (age 56). Died from a wound at the Battle of Messines.	A well-known figure in the Irish nationalist movement.
33	Francis McLaren	MP for Spalding since 1910	Liberal	2nd Lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps	June 16, 1886	August 30, 1917 (age 31). Died in a flight training accident.
34	Neil Primrose	MP for Wisbech since 1910	Liberal	Captain, Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry	December 14, 1882	November 18, 1917 (age 34). Died from wounds received in the Third Battle of Gaza.	Served as a Deputy Minister. Son of former Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery.
35	Philip Glazebrook	MP for Manchester South since 1912	Conservative	Major, King's Shropshire Light Infantry	December 24, 1880	March 7, 1918 (age 37). Killed in action in Al-Bireh, Palestine.	Received the Distinguished Service Order two months before his death.
36	Percy Clive	MP for Ross (1900-1906, and again since 1908)	Conservative Party	Lieutenant Colonel, Lancashire Fusiliers	March 13, 1873	April 5, 1918 (age 35). Killed in action in Bucquoy, France.	Received the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre.
37	William Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse	Member of the House of Lords since 1911	Unknown	Major, 1st Battalion, Irish Guards	June 14, 1873	June 10, 1918 (age 44). Died from war wounds.
38	William Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett	Member of the House of Lords since 1899	Unknown	Captain, Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery	September 11, 1883	July 11, 1918 (age 34). Died in service from the Spanish flu.
39	Francis Bennett-Goldney	MP for Canterbury since 1910	Independent Unionist	Major, Royal Army Service Corps	1865	July 27, 1918 (age 51). Died in a car accident in Brest while on duty.	Was a Military Attaché at the British Embassy in Paris.
40	Oswald Cawley	MP for Prestwich since 1918	Liberal	Captain, Shropshire Yeomanry	October 7, 1882	August 22, 1918 (age 35). Killed in action near Merville, France.	He was the third of four brothers to die in the war.
41	Lord Alexander Thynne	MP for Bath since 1910	Conservative	Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry	February 17, 1873	September 16, 1918 (age 45). Killed in action at Béthune, France.	Received the Distinguished Service Order and the Croix de Guerre.
42	Charles Lyell	MP for East Dorset (1904-1910), then Edinburgh South (1910-1917)	Liberal	Major, Fife Royal Garrison Artillery	May 18, 1875	October 18, 1918 (age 43). Died of pneumonia in Washington, D.C. while on duty.
43	Victor Conyngham, 5th Marquess Conyngham [fr]	Member of the House of Lords since 1904	Unknown	Lieutenant, South Irish Horse	January 30, 1883	November 9, 1918 (age 35). Died on duty from pneumonia caused by the 1918 flu.

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