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Anthony Kershaw

British politician (1915-2008)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ573477 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sir John Anthony Kershaw (14 December 1915 – 29 April 2008) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for 32 years, from 1955 to 1987. He served as a junior minister in the 1970s. He was also a barrister, World War II cavalry officer, amateur rugby player and company director.

Early life and education

Kershaw was born in Cairo, the second son of Jack F. Kershaw—a judge at the Cairo Court of Appeal—and his wife, Anne, who hailed from Kentucky. He was educated at Eton College, where he played cricket. His father died when he was 13, and his elder brother, Overton, two years later. Kershaw read law at Balliol College, Oxford, where he befriended his contemporary Edward Heath. He became a barrister, and was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1939.

He married Barbara Edith Crookenden—daughter of solicitor Harry Crookenden—in 1939. They had two daughters and two sons named Carolyn, Harry, Cecilia and George.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Anthony Kershaw” as british politician (1915-2008). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1915, 2008, 1955, 1987—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1915-12-14. The account is most persuasive where Anthony, Kershaw and British can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as british politician (1915-2008). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q573477. VIAF identifies the subject as 70509847. The Library of Congress control number is n88637843. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915, 2008, 1955 and 1987.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Anthony Kershaw”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Anthony Kershaw primary sources, Anthony Kershaw archive and Anthony research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Anthony Kershaw”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Anthony Kershaw” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.