Toby Jessel
Toby Jessel | |
---|---|
![]() Jessel in 1987 | |
Member of Parliament for Twickenham | |
In office 18 June 1970 – 8 April 1997 | |
Preceded by | Gresham Cooke |
Succeeded by | Vince Cable |
Personal details | |
Born | Toby Henry Francis Jessel 11 July 1934 Bearsted, Kent, United Kingdom |
Died | 3 December 2018 Hampton Court, London, United Kingdom | (aged 84)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Philippa Jephcott (1967–1973; divorced) Eira Heath (1980–2018; his death) |
Relations | Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted (great-grandfather) Oliver Jessel (brother) Andrzej Panufnik (brother-in-law) Roxanna Panufnik (niece) |
Children | 1 |
Residence | The Old Court House, Hampton Court |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Toby Henry Francis Jessel (11 July 1934 – 3 December 2018) was a British Conservative Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Twickenham from 1970 to 1997.
Early life[]
Jessel was born at Bearsted in Kent on 11 July 1934, the son of Winifred Levy (1905–1977) and Commander Richard Frederick Jessel, D.S.O. (1902–1988), a Royal Navy officer.[1] He was the great-grandson of Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted,[2] and his great-great uncle was the judge George Jessel.[3] His sister Camilla married the Polish-born composer Andrzej Panufnik.
He received his formal education at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and at Balliol College, Oxford.
Political career[]
Jessel joined the Conservative Party, and served as a councillor in the London Borough of Southwark from 1964. The same year, he contested Peckham in the general election and then in 1966 twice fought Kingston upon Hull North, first in a by-election and then at the general election which followed. He represented Richmond-upon-Thames on the Greater London Council between 1967 and 1973.
He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Twickenham at the 1970 general election (the seat having been vacant since the death of Gresham Cooke on 22 February 1970), and held it for almost 30 years until being defeated in the 1997 general election by Vince Cable of the Liberal Democrats.
Personal life[]
Jessel married Philippa Jephcott in 1967; they were divorced in 1973.[4] Their only child, Sarah, was killed in a car accident in 1976 at the age of five. He married his second wife, Eira Heath, in 1980.[2] Jessel's elder brother, Oliver, died on 21 June 2017.
Jesel resided at The Old Court House in Hampton Court, Middlesex, for almost fifty years. He died on 3 December 2018 of a heart attack at his home at the age of 84.[4]
References[]
- ^ Richard Frederick Jessel DSO, DSC, RN at uboat.net, accessed 7 December 2013
- ^ Jump up to: a b Obituary for Jessel in Peerage News, 5 December 2018.
- ^ "Sir George Jessel". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Obituary: Toby Jessel, irrepressibly energetic Conservative MP for Twickenham". The Daily Telegraph. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
Bibliography[]
- Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Limited, 1997
External links[]
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Toby Jessel
- 1934 births
- 2018 deaths
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- Conservative Party (UK) councillors
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Councillors in the London Borough of Southwark
- English Jews
- Jewish British politicians
- Members of the Greater London Council
- Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association
- UK MPs 1970–1974
- UK MPs 1974
- UK MPs 1974–1979
- UK MPs 1979–1983
- UK MPs 1983–1987
- UK MPs 1987–1992
- UK MPs 1992–1997
- People from Bearsted
- Conservative MP for England stubs
- Conservative MP (UK), 1930s birth stubs