Martin Archer-Shee

Sir Martin Archer-Shee CMG DSO (5 May 1873 – 6 January 1935) was a British army officer and Conservative Party politician.

Background He was the son of Martin Archer-Shee (1846–1913) and his wife Elizabeth Edith Dennistoun (1851–1890) (née Pell) of New York who married in 1872 at Piccadilly. His maternal grandfather was the American insurance executive Alfred Shipley Pell. His father was a bank manager of the Bank of England, was the grandson of the painter Martin Archer Shee. His half-brother was George Archer-Shee, whose notable acquittal of the accusation of theft became the basis of the play The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan.

Royal Navy Archer-Shee was educated at The Oratory School before entering the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1886. The award of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) (dated 29 November 1900) for his services during the early part of the war, was announced in the September 1901 South African Honours list.

In February 1902, he was wounded near Kromdraal when he captured enemy soldiers (mentioned in dispatches 25 April 1902 ), and he was invalided home in May that year, shortly before the official end of hostilities.

Following the war he was promoted to captain on 15 August 1902, and received the rank of brevet major a week later on 22 August 1902. He resigned from the army in 1905. In parliament he was an advocate of Tariff Reform and argued for the case for an enlargement of the navy.

First World War

With the outbreak of war in 1914, Archer-Shee rejoined the army. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and commanded three different infantry battalions during the conflict: the 12th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (Bristol's Own), the 2/4th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment and the 10th Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers. He was mentioned in dispatches four times, and was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his services.

Member of Parliament for Finsbury At the 1918 general election Archer-Shee was elected MP for the new constituency of Finsbury, parliamentary boundaries having been altered by the Representation of the People Act 1918. He held the seat at the 1922 general election, and was knighted in 1923. He was defeated in 1923 by his Labour Party opponent, George Masterman Gillett. Following a requiem mass at South Ascot Friary he was buried in Sunninghill. escutcheon = Quarterly 1st & 4th per bend indented Or and Azure two fleurs-de-lys counterchanged (Shee) 2nd & 3rd Azure three arrows Argent (Archer). crest = On wreaths of the colours 1st a swan with wings addorsed Sable beaked Or 2nd a centaur Proper armed with a bow and arrow. mantling = Gyles doubled Argent. motto = Vincit Veritas