Samuel Perry (MP)

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Samuel Frederick Perry (29 June 1877 – 19 October 1954) was a British Labour and Co-operative politician and the father of tennis champion Fred Perry. Born in Stockport, he left school at ten after his father's death and became a cotton spinner. He joined the co-operative movement and became the first national secretary of the Co-operative Party when it was created in 1917, a role that brought him to London with his young son. The family lived on the Brentham Estate in Ealing, where Fred had access to tennis courts and a cricket pitch. Perry stood for Parliament at Stockport in 1920 and 1922 but did not win. He was elected MP for Kettering in 1923, lost the seat in 1924, regained it in 1929, and lost again in 1931. He remained the Co-operative Party’s national secretary until 1942 and died in Willesden at age 77.