Lord Amwell

Lord Amwell (Oct 8, 1876 - Oct 15, 1966) born Frederick Montague.

British amateur magician, who was a member of the British Parliament, noted for inventing the bluff pass and the handkerchief force. Also a frequent contributor to Abra Magazine.

Amwell was the son of John Montague and Mary Ann Manderson. He worked as a newsboy and as a shop assistant and later became a copywriter and political agent. He served in the First World War, achieving the rank of Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. After the war he was an Alderman of the Islington Council between 1919 and 1925. In 1923 Amwell was elected to the House of Commons for Islington West, a seat he held until 1931 and again from 1935 to 1947, and served under Ramsay Macdonald as Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1927 to 1931. He did not serve in the National Government but held office in Winston Churchill's war coalition as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport from 1940 to 1941 and to the Ministry of Aircraft Production from 1941 to 1942. He was made a CBE in 1946 and in 1947 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Amwell, of Islington in the County of London. Lord Amwell married Constance Mary, daughter of James Craig, in 1911. They had one son and two daughters. Amwell died in October 1966, aged 90.

Published Effects

• One Come - To'Other Go: a rope is tied into a circle and a new knot is made in the rope. The rope is then cut into two, and the remaining knot dissolves, restoring the rope to a single piece.

Books

• Westminster Wizardry by Will Goldston (ca 1920)