1. Major John Prendergast Gouriet was a British Army officer, company director and political activist.
19 Facts About John Gouriet
1. 2.
John Gouriet was best known as a founder of the National Association for Freedom, and for pioneering the use of legal action to oppose actions of trade unions and campaigning groups which he believed interfered with personal liberty, during three years as the Association's director.
3.
John Gouriet was educated at Charterhouse, an independent school in Godalming, Surrey, from where he won a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1954.
4.
John Gouriet became the second in command of a company of the Somaliland Scouts from 1959 until the Scouts were disbanded in late 1960.
5.
John Gouriet finished his Army career as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at the Ministry of Defence, responsible for Q Operations and Plans, in 1971 to 1972.
6.
John Gouriet then contacted Ralph Harris of the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs to discuss linking up sympathetic groups and forming a co-ordinated opposition; Harris introduced him to Ross McWhirter.
7.
John Gouriet later noted that it turned out that Nundy's car was at the back of the ship and so all other cars had to be offloaded before his could be reached.
8.
Opposition to communism was one of the Association's key points, and for his work John Gouriet was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit by the Polish government-in-exile in London.
9.
John Gouriet was the sole British Guard of Honour at the unveiling of the memorial to the Katyn massacre in Gunnersbury, west London, in September 1976.
10.
Attorney General Samuel Silkin refused consent for what was called a 'relator action'; John Gouriet went to court to challenge the refusal, and issued a writ against the UPW in his own name anyway which was immediately turned down.
11.
John Gouriet lost his challenge to Silkin's refusal in the High Court but immediately appealed; in the Court of Appeal, Lord Denning granted a temporary injunction, summoned Silkin, and said that it was "very doubtful whether the Attorney General had directed himself properly".
12.
John Gouriet appealed for help, saying that failure to pay "will spell the end of NAFF and probably any organised resistance to the advance of communo-socialism in Britain" as well as his own personal bankruptcy.
13.
John Gouriet announced his resignation as director of the National Association for Freedom on 25 June 1978 after an internal disagreement over the role of the Association's management committee.
14.
John Gouriet became chairman of Stevens-Lefield Foods Ltd, a company specialising in pre-packed and pre-cooked meals, and a Director of Park Air Travel Ltd.
15.
An active member of the Referendum Party, John Gouriet was a Parliamentary candidate for the party in the 1997 general election in West Derbyshire; he polled 2,499 votes.
16.
John Gouriet acted as campaign manager for the party's only candidate Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford at the Kensington and Chelsea byelection in November 1999.
17.
John Gouriet travelled throughout Britain campaigning against what he deemed to be unnecessary culling.
18.
John Gouriet remained chairman of the group until his death and was appealing for funds to mount a legal challenge to British membership by means of judicial review.
19.
John Gouriet died during the evening of 4 September 2010.