Hon. Ernest Harry Shinwell, son of Lord Shinwell
Michael Rhodes
Shinwell, the unfortunate son of Lord _Manny_ Shinwell, the stalwart
Labour life peer, who died in 1985 aged 101.
The deceased is described as _Col the Hon Ernest Harry Shinwell_ but
of which regiment ? Business consultant Ernest Shinwell had been
bankrupt three times and in and out of prison for fraud offences.
There were high hopes that his youthful Irish wife, Netta, described
as _a woman of private means_ would prove an influence for the good.
At the time of their wedding she said: "I hope I'll keep him on the
straight and narrow." However, in the summer of 1994 she too was
declared bankrupt.
Lord Shinwell, prominent in the Attlee Government and best remembered
as the Fuel and Power Minister who nationalised the mines, left
nothing to his son Ernest in his £265,000 will. The trustees did have
discretion to make funds available at a future date.
The troubles of the Hon Ernest dated back almost 40 years. In 1965 he
was jailed for three years for trying to obtain £13,000 by false
pretences. In 1972 he was sentenced to four years porridge by a court
in Luxembourg on fraud charges. In 1976 he was back in Britain
beginning a three-year jail sentence for fraud.
--
Michael Rhodes