Robert Mark Gentry (1885 – 19 March 1951) was a British politician and trade unionist, who served as Mayor of Fulham and stood repeatedly for Parliament.
Gentry completed an elementary education before becoming a baker and confectioner. He also joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), becoming Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the Fulham ILP. Active in the Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers, he was appointed as the union's full-time London District Secretary, and was named by Paul Thompson as the ILP's leading London-based trade unionist in the 1900s.[1][2]
Through the ILP, Gentry was active in the Labour Party, and was elected to Fulham Metropolitan Borough Council, serving as the first Labour Mayor of Fulham, from 1919 to 1921. Following his stint as mayor, he became secretary of the Metropolitan Labour Mayor's and Ex-Mayor's Association.[1][3]
Gentry also stood for the Labour Party in Fulham West at general elections in 1918, 1922, 1923 and 1924, taking second place on each occasion.[1][4]
References
^ abcThe Labour Who's Who. London: Labour Publishing Company. 1924. p. 60.
^Thompson, Paul (1967). Socialists, Liberals and Labour: the struggle for London, 1885-1914. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 231.
^"List of Mayors". London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
^Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN090017806X.
