A Member's Medal
Alderman Daniel Leopold Lipson MA JP MP Mayor of Cheletenham
The Man Daniel Leopold Lipson was born in Sheffield on 26th March 1886 into an orthodox Jewish family. Son of Hyman Reuben, a furniture dealer and Eva he was one of five children, Solomon, Alexander, Marius and Ephraim. By 1891 Daniel, aged 5 was living with his parents and siblings at 25 Paradise Street, Sheffield, also living with them was a servant Lillie Jackson. 10 years later in 1901 the family had moved to 91, Pinstone Street, and now had a new servant, Lily Lovelock aged 14.
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Daniel was educated at Sheffield Royal Grammar School and later Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, earning a Master of Arts (Cantab). In 1908 he became an Assitant Master at Portsmouth GrammarSchool and in 1912 Bradford Grammar School. Two years later, now aged 28 and between July and September 1914, Daniel married Juliet Lyon Barnet in Brighton. The same year Daniel and Juliet moved to Cheltenham where he had been appointed as the Housemaster and Head of Corinth House which was a boarding house within Cheltenham College. It was specifically for Jewish boys, where they could observe the Sabbath and attend the synagogue as well as conducting the work of Saturday school. During 1916 he moved Corinth House to larger premises at 101 Bath Road and lived in Corinth Cottage in Commercial Road nearby. On 9th December they had their first child Joan Victoria. Their second daughter Eva, was born in December 1922. By 1923 Daniel had risen to Assistant Master of the College but had a disagreement with them over the terms of his lease, and as a result in 1929 Corinth ceased to be a part of the College. Daniel however continued to run it as a private school acting as its headmaster until 1939. Coinciding with the disagreement was a perception by both parents and the College about the need for the existence of a specifically Jewish House. To some extent the growing integration of Jewish boys into the private educational mainstream had been felt to lessen the need for separate schools or facilities. During this period Daniel worked hard to improve Jewish continuity in the town and took responsibility for the local Jewish congregation.
In 1925 Daniel was elected onto Gloucestershire County Council, representing the Spa electoral division, followed in 1929 by election onto Cheltenham Town Council representing College Ward. He was re-elected to the Town Council on 13th October 1933 and became the Mayor of Cheltenham for two successive terms 1935-36 and 1936-37. He was awarded the Coronation Medal 1937 during his term of office following the Coronation of his Majesty King George VI. On 23rd June 1937 Daniel contested and won a by-election to serve Cheltenham as an Independent Conservative Member of Parliament, the local Conservative Party having failed to endorse him as their candidate following an anti Jewish whispering campaign. He had a majority of 339 votes over the second candidate, a Conservative. He was formally sworn into Parliament on Monday 28th June and served in The House throughout World War 2, when undoubtedly he would have been present for some of Churchill’s famous speeches.
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On 10th August 1945 Daniel was re-elected to Parliament this time as a National Independent and as an MP was heavily involved with the national Jewish community and considered himself part of the 'Orthodox School'.He was an outspoken critic of the activities of ‘The Terrorists’ as he called them in Palestine during the conflict there, and the harm they were inflicting upon Anglo-Jewish relations within the UK and helping to fuel the re-emergence of Oswald Moseley’s Black Shirts. He expressed his concerns when he made the opening address at the Jewish Youth Congress on 28th January 1948 at Kingsway Hall. At the 1950 general election Daniel’s vote collapsed and he lost the seat to the Conservative Party candidate William Hicks Beach, actually coming third behind the Labour Party; the result was possibly due to the anti-Jewish feelings he had alluded to at his Kingsway Hall address. Daniel subsequently became a County Alderman on Gloucestershire County Council and was appointed as an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Cheltenham on 22nd July 1953 in recognition of the eminent services rendered by him with great distinction to the town for many years, and in token of the esteem in which he was held. At the ceremony he was presented with a boxed scroll and silver cigarette box. A road on the new Hester’s Way Council Estate was also named after him, Lipson Road. Daniel’s interests included walking, reading, golf and he was an enthusiastic supporter and vice-president of the Cheltenham YMCA. His address in the 1963 Who’s Who was 103 Old Bath Road, Cheltenham and his telephone number was 2826. He died at home on 14th April 1963 aged 77 and a Civic Memorial service was held in his honour at the Town Hall on 1st May 1963 at 1900h hosted by the Mayor, Councillor A E Twigg. The officiating clergy were the Mayor’s Chaplain, Reverend Canon E C Hansson and Reverends Sidney Gold, Reuben S Brookes and W Lewi.
The Story The Past Mayors Jewel and medal awarded to Daniel Leopold Lipson were acquired from e-bay on 22nd June 2008. As with all Mayoral awards they were of interest because of the high research potential, and this has indeed been no exception. The vendor had for some reason decided to split the lot into three, firstly were the medals awarded to Daniel’s wife, Juliet and some related paperwork. Second was Daniel’s 1937 Coronation Medal and lastly his Past Mayor’s Jewel with related paperwork. In hindsight, it is frightening to think that this historically important archive could have been split forever. Three separate bids were placed and thankfully all won within a few minutes of each other. Strangely the vendor lived a few doors away and the lot was collected the next morning on a beautiful sunny day. Whilst talking to the vendor he offered for sale a wooden box that was engraved to Daniel Lipson and had been presented when he was appointed a Freeman of Cheltenham, within the box was the vellum scroll confirming the appointment. This had been intended to form a fourth lot for sale! Sadly a silver engraved tray also presented to Daniel had been sold for scrap within a day of the vendors acquisition and subsequently melted down. Oddly the vendor made contact as late as January 2011 to say he had located further paperwork in his garage from the original lot. As a Mayor and controversial Member of Parliament information on Daniel Lipson was easy to come by. Wikipeadia and ancestry.com helped to build up a detailed biography and as time went by more pictures of Daniel appeared on the internet, including a lovely portrait of him wearing Mayoral robes. Because Mrs Juliet Lipson had also had an interesting life in her own right as well as having been awarded two medals, it was possible to conduct research on her and to create two chapters to this interesting story. As with all research this will undoubtedly run as the local papers will no doubt have a lot more information from Daniel’s time as Mayor and MP.
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Cheltenham
The arms were granted in 1877. The books were incorporated to represent Cheltenham as a centre for learning as a result of the establishment of the Ladies College and the College for boys, the cross is that of Edward the Confessor who at one time owned much of the land that is now Cheltenham. It was a very healthy flock of pigeons feeding at a local spring that led to the discovery of the healthy effects of the Cheltenham water which later led to the fame of Cheltenham. The blue backgrond at the top of the shield is also symbolic of the Spa waters. The oak symbolises Cheltenham's position, bot historical and today, as one of Britain's foremost Garden Towns. The fleece sitting on top of the crest represents the fleece of the Cotswolds sheep which were bought and sold during Cheltenham's early role as a market town serving the surrounding area.
A loose interpretation of the Motto - Salubirtas Et Eruditio - is Through Healh and Learning, the two major factors in the historic growth and dev
A loose interpretation of the Motto - Salubirtas Et Eruditio - is Through Healh and Learning, the two major factors in the historic growth and dev
Medal /Jewel Details:
- Coronation Medal 1937: Unnamed as awarded.
- Past Mayors Jewel: ALDERMAN D.L.LIPSON. M.A. M.P. MAYOR 1935-1937
This page last updated 1 Mar 17