SIR Swire Smith, the Keighley ‘master spinner’ who devoted so much of his energies in the cause of education, took over as our MP in 1915 when his predecessor created a vacancy by being made Lord Chancellor.
Sir Swire was then aged 73, and had no experience of national politics – to begin with in Parliament he was to be seen sitting casually in Labour and Conservative seats!
Yet in 1917 he made a knowledgeable maiden speech, typically in support of an education bill, and, as a member of a deputation abroad, came under fire at Vimy Ridge. He died in 1918, aged 76.
In 1913, a host of well-wishers presented him with this portrait by Solomon J Solomon. The memorial fund also provided for a Swire Smith scholarship.
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