TRIBUTES TO THE LATE CAPTAIN BOURNE. (Hansard, 9 November 1938)

§ The Prime Minister
I beg to move, That Colonel Clifton Brown be the Deputy-Chairman. I think, in making this Motion, it would be appropriate that I should say one or two words about the late Deputy-Chair-man. Captain Bourne died on 7th August, soon after the Summer Recess, very unexpectedly. He had been Deputy-Chairman of this House since 1931, a position which he filled with great distinction. He possessed to a marked degree the qualities necessary to make a successful chairman. He was an expert on Parliamentary Procedure, and when it came to dealing with abstruse points, he was always in his element. Special duties fell to him, under the Chairman of Ways and Means, in connection with Private Bill legislation, and he devoted a great deal of his time and energy to that side of Parliamentary business. Many of the improvements which have taken place in Private Bill Procedure in recent years may, I think, be attributed to Captain Bourne's initiative. His constant work in Committee on Unopposed Bills was one of extreme value. I think the House would desire to record its sense of loss at his early and premature death and to express its very great sympathy with his family in their bereavement.

§ Mr. Attlee
We on this side, of course, are not offering any opposition at all to the Prime Minister's Motion with regard to the appointment of the new Deputy-Chairman, and we hope he will have a successful time in the Chair. I should like, on behalf of all Members on this side, to join in the tribute that was paid to Captain Bourne. I do not think this House can ever have had a more devoted servant. From the time he entered this House he set himself to master our procedure, and he came to the Chair with an extraordinary and detailed knowledge. In the course of his occupancy of the Chair, he was amazingly efficient and always extremely helpful to all Members who sought his advice. I think all of us felt a great shock and a great sense of loss at his premature death, and I am quite sure that we wish to join with the 130 Prime Minister in recording our deep sense of loss.

§ Sir Percy Harris
In the absence of my right hon. Friend, may I be allowed, on behalf of my hon. Friends here, to associate ourselves with this expression of sympathy. I know that when I read of the death of Captain Bourne it came to me, as to most of us, as a terrible shock. He was so full of life and vitality, so much absorbed in his work for the House of Commons, that it was difficult to believe that he had passed from us. He had his heart and soul in the procedure and work of the House of Commons. He had one exceptional gift, rather rare but sometimes to be found in the House of Commons, complete impartiality, and his direction of the House when he was in the Chair always showed no bias in favour of one section of the House or against any individual Member. His loss is a real one to all of us. Not only has the House of Commons lost a faithful and loyal servant, but most of us feel that we have lost a great personal friend.