E. G. Pretyman


Ernest George Pretyman, , known as E. G. Pretyman, was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.

Background and education

Born on 13 November 1859 and christened on 1 January 1860 at Great Carlton, Lincolnshire, Pretyman was the son of Reverend Frederic Pretyman, Canon of Lincoln. He was the great-grandson of George Pretyman Tomline, a prominent late 18th century cleric, as well as the heir of "Colonel" George Tomline, his father's first cousin. He was educated at Eton and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He entered the Royal Artillery in 1880 and retired in 1889.

Political career

Pretyman served as Member of Parliament for Woodbridge, Suffolk from 1895–1906 and for Chelmsford from 1908–1923. He was Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1900–1903, Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1903–1906, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1915–1916 and Civil Lord of the Admiralty again from 1916 to 1919. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1917.
E. G. Pretyman made a Gramophone Company recording of an address "On the Navy" in 1908.

Family

Pretyman married Lady Beatrice Adine Bridgeman, daughter of George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford, on 28 June 1894. They had three sons and three daughters. His most notable descendant today is Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, sometime Tory leader of the House of Lords in the 1990s.