Frederick Lister

Sir Thomas Frederick Lister CBE (1886/1887 – 13 March 1966) was the first chairman of the British Legion. Along with Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Lister was a leading advocate for the foundation of the British Legion in the aftermath of the First World War.

Lister was born in Manchester. His birth date is unclear, but census returns suggest that he was born between April 1886 and April 1887. His father was an insurance surveyor. He was educated at Tranmere higher grade school, and worked as insurance clerk in Liverpool. He was a tall man, some 6 feet 6 inches tall.

He married Isobel Lewis, daughter of a shipping clerk, on 31 July 1911. They had no children.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Lister joined the Royal Garrison Artillery, becoming a lance-bombardier. He was wounded and discharged in 1916.

At the time, there was little assistance for disabled veterans, and Lister joined the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers (formed in 1917 to campaign against the Review of Exceptions Act, which was intended to re-conscript men formerly discharged on medical grounds). Early veterans organisations were split on largely political lines.

The National Federation had links with the Liberal Party, and its first president was a Liberal MP James Hogge. The National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers was linked with the Labour Party and trades unions; and the Comrades of the Great War was supported by the Conservative Party. The non-partisan Officers Association split the veterans movements further.

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