Background
Critchley was born in Calgary, Canada in 1890 and brought to England at the age of nine.
Critchley was born in Calgary, Canada in 1890 and brought to England at the age of nine.
His first career was a military one, initially in Lord Strathcona"s Horse, a Canadian military regiment and towards the end of the First World War, in the Royal Flying Corps. He was seconded to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation on 4 March 1918 with the temporary rank of brigadier-general at the age of only 28. Remaining in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and them Royal Air Force to the end of the War, Critchley played a senior role in organizing training.
After the war Critchley involved himself in a number of business ventures in Central America before returning to the United Kingdom where he became a director of Associated Portland Cement.
In 1926 he formed the private company, the Greyhound Racing Association. Under the auspices of this company he became a significant sporting entrepreneur in the United Kingdom. He introduced greyhound racing to the United Kingdom in Belle Vue, Manchester in 1926.
The success of this initial trial led Critchley to purchase the White City Stadium in London. He subsequently built both the Harringay Stadium and Harringay Arena.
Critchley contested the 1929 general election as a Conservative in the Manchester Gorton constituency, a safe seat for the Labour Party where he was heavily defeated.
In February 1931, he contested the Islington East by-election as a candidate for the Empire Free Trade Crusade and the United Empire Party, which both sought to make the British Empire a free trade bloc. Nevertheless, he did not contest the 1935 general election. He was a director general of the British Overseas Airways Corporation from 1943 to 1946.
In 1953 he suffered a severe infection which caused him to go blind.
In 1954 he was involved in the publishing deals of Robert Maxwell.
36th United Kingdom Parliament]
He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) from 1934 to 1935.