# Richard Winfrey

Sir Richard Winfrey (5 August 1858 – 18 April 1944) was a British Liberal Party politician, newspaper publisher and campaigner for agricultural rights. He served as Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk, 1906–1923, and for Gainsborough, 1923–1924.

## Biography

Winfrey was born at Long Sutton in Lincolnshire on 5 August 1858. He married Annie Lucy Pattinson of Ruskington, Lincolnshire, in 1897. His wife's brothers, Samuel Pattinson (1870–1942) and Sir Robert Pattinson (1872–1954), were later both Liberal MPs; Samuel for Horncastle from 1922 to 1924 and Robert for Grantham from 1922 to 1923. In religion Winfrey was a Congregationalist. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1914.
He died on 18 April 1944 in Castor House, Castor, Peterborough.

## Publishing

In 1887, Richard Winfrey purchased the Spalding Guardian, a local newspaper that was to provide the basis for the Winfrey family's newspaper interests. His next purchase was the Lynn News; he also started the North Cambs Echo and bought the Peterborough Advertiser.
During World War II Winfrey's newspaper interests began to be passed over to his son, Richard Pattinson 'Pat' Winfrey (1902–1985) who had himself unsuccessfully stood in the Holland with Boston by-election in 1924. In 1947, under the direction of Pat Winfrey, the family's newspaper titles were consolidated to form the East Midland Allied Press, later the EMAP media group.

## Politics

Winfrey stood in eight general elections. He first contested South West Norfolk as a Liberal at the general election of 1895
General election 1895 South West Norfolk Electorate 9,119 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Thomas Leigh Hare | 3,968 | 51.3 |
| | Liberal | Richard Winfrey | 3,762 | 48.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 206 | 2.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,730 | 84.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
and tried again in 1900.
General election 1900 South West Norfolk Electorate 8,740 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Thomas Leigh Hare | 3,702 | 50.4 | −0.9 |
| | Liberal | Richard Winfrey | 3,636 | 49.6 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 66 | 0.8 | −1.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,338 | 84.0 | −0.8 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -0.9 | |
He was elected Liberal MP for South West Norfolk at the 1906 Liberal landslide election
General election 1906 South West Norfolk Electorate 8,936 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Richard Winfrey | 4,416 | 55.7 | +6.1 |
| | Conservative | Sir Thomas Leigh Hare | 3,513 | 44.3 | −6.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 903 | 10.4 | 12.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,929 | 88.7 | +4.7 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +6.1 | |
and he held the seat
General election January 1910 South West Norfolk Electorate 9,045 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Richard Winfrey | 4,239 | 51.5 | −4.2 |
| | Conservative | Sir Thomas Leigh Hare | 4,000 | 48.5 | +4.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 239 | 3.0 | −8.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,239 | 91.1 | +2.4 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | -4.2 | |
General election December 1910 South West Norfolk Electorate 9,045 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Richard Winfrey | 4,176 | 52.7 | +1.2 |
| | Conservative | Albert Edward Stanley Clarke | 3,745 | 47.3 | −1.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 431 | 5.4 | +2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,921 | 87.6 | −3.5 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | +1.2 | |
with the help of the Coalition Coupon
General election 1918 South West Norfolk Electorate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Sir Richard Winfrey | unopposed | n/a | n/a |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | n/a | |
General election 1922: South West Norfolk Electorate 32,305 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Sir Richard Winfrey | 10,432 | 54.7 | n/a |
| | Labour | William Benjamin Taylor | 8,655 | 45.3 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,777 | 9.4 | n/a |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,087 | 59.1 | n/a |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | n/a | |
until 1923. He also represented Gainsborough from 1923 to 1924.
General election 1923 Electorate 27,294 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Sir Richard Winfrey | 9,694 | 47.1 |
| | Unionist | John Elsdale Molson | 7,841 | 38.1 |
| | Labour | James Read | 3,039 | 14.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,853 | 9.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,574 | 75.4 |
| | Liberal gain from Unionist | Liberal gain from Unionist | Swing | |
General election 1924 Electorate 27,619 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Harry Crookshank | 10,281 | 47.1 | +9.0 |
| | Labour | F. J. Knowles | 5,958 | 27.3 | +12.5 |
| | Liberal | Sir Richard Winfrey | 5,590 | 25.6 | −21.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,323 | 19.8 | 28.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,829 | 79.0 | +3.6 |
| | Unionist gain from Liberal | Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +10.0 | |
His first career had been as a chemist, and he steered the Poisons and Pharmacy Act 1908 through Parliament.

## Office

Between 1906 and 1910, Winfrey served as Parliamentary Secretary to Earl Carrington and Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture from 1916 to 1918.
In August 1914 as Mayor of Peterborough he was one of the last to read the Riot Act after anti-German disturbances.
Winfrey also served as a Justice of the Peace. He was Chairman of the Lincolnshire and Norfolk Small Holdings Association, Ltd and sometime Chairman of the National Educational Association. At its foundation in 1906 he was Treasurer of the Eastern Counties Agricultural Labourers & Small Holders Union which in 1920 became the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers.