35 Facts About Austin Hopkinson

Austin Hopkinson JP was a British industrialist and Member of Parliament who represented Mossley as an Independent from 1918 to 1929 and 1931 to 1945.

Austin Hopkinson was a noted benefactor to local causes, and a strong believer in noblesse oblige.

Alfred Augustine Hopkinson was born in Manchester on 24 June 1879 the son of Sir Alfred Hopkinson KC who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester from 1900 to 1913 and served as Member of Parliament for Cricklade in the 1890s and for Combined English Universities in the 1920s.

Austin Hopkinson became a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire.

In 1900 Austin Hopkinson enlisted in the Imperial Yeomanry and served in the Second Boer War as a lieutenant.

Long before it became fashionable, Austin Hopkinson converted a derelict barn to a bungalow for his own home; he donated his former home of Ryecroft Hall to the people of Audenshaw and sixteen semi-detached houses on its land to Audenshaw Council.

Austin Hopkinson did not have time to get acquainted with the House before the end of the war pitched him into a re-election battle.

Austin Hopkinson insisted that he had merely taken the 'badge' of the Coalition for the good of the country.

Austin Hopkinson was a member of the House of Commons Army Committee in 1919, and the following year criticised the actions of Brigadier-General Dyer in the Amritsar massacre following the official report into it.

Austin Hopkinson became increasingly involved in industrial topics in which he was critical of the trades unions and of socialism to the level of distrusting the motives of those advocating socialist policies.

Austin Hopkinson was much in demand as a speaker because of his unorthodox views and the frank and clear way in which he expressed them.

On 22 March 1922 Austin Hopkinson wrote to The Times to suggest that ballot papers include a box in which voters could express their disapproval of all the candidates on offer.

Austin Hopkinson was by now of this opinion himself: the previous month, he stopped receiving the Coalition Liberal whip, which he explained, his friends in the Liberal Party had been sending him by courtesy but which he had never considered binding.

Austin Hopkinson strongly criticised as "humbug" the 1922 budget which reduced income tax without any corresponding reduction in government spending.

At the Westminster Abbey by-election in March 1924, Austin Hopkinson signed the nomination papers for Winston Churchill who had fallen out with the Liberal Party and was standing as an Independent Constitutionalist.

At the 1924 general election, Austin Hopkinson had opposition from both the Labour Party and the Liberals; he was re-elected more comfortably with Labour outpolling the Liberal candidate by more than two to one.

In March 1926 Austin Hopkinson had the pleasure of formally introducing his father Alfred to the House of Commons, after he won a by-election in the Combined English Universities.

Austin Hopkinson's father was, unlike him, elected as a Conservative, although Hopkinson was a generally reliable vote for the Conservatives in this period.

Austin Hopkinson was again supported by the Conservatives in the 1929 general election, but in one of the shock results of the election, lost his seat by 5,029 votes to Herbert Gibson, the Labour candidate.

Austin Hopkinson kept up his contribution of articles expressing unorthodox thoughts to journals while out of Parliament, blaming the Wall Street crash of 1929 on an American attempt to restrict imports.

At the 1931 general election Austin Hopkinson attempted to regain his seat but found himself opposed by an official Conservative Party candidate as well as the sitting Labour MP.

Austin Hopkinson declared himself a supporter of the National Government.

Austin Hopkinson continued to support free trade and Baldwin, and in the 1935 general election the putative Conservative candidate withdrew in his favour.

Austin Hopkinson had a straight fight with Labour and the official backing of the National government, saying that he would take the National Government whip if elected.

Austin Hopkinson won by only 2,170 votes in a constituency that was suffering in the economic difficulties.

In March 1936 Austin Hopkinson was injured in a flying accident, aviation having long been a private hobby.

Austin Hopkinson was making a forced landing in bad weather near Warrington when his aeroplane overturned; fortunately it hit a hedge and did not crush him.

In March 1938 Austin Hopkinson was hit by a car near his home, and had to recover in hospital.

Austin Hopkinson considered his warnings had been amply justified when the Second World War broke out.

Austin Hopkinson re-enlisted at age 60, this time in the Royal Navy on the declaration of war, serving from 1939 to 1942.

Austin Hopkinson sued for libel, describing the statement as a travesty.

Austin Hopkinson opposed the outcome of the Yalta Conference which accepted a Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe.

At the 1945 general election, Austin Hopkinson was for the first time opposed by all three main parties.

Austin Hopkinson was by then in his mid-60s and had less ability to be active in his constituency, and his outspoken criticisms of the Labour Party were not in line with the times.

Austin Hopkinson retired from politics but lived mainly in Westminster at 61 St George's Square.