George Doland

Who was George Doland?

Lieutenant-Colonel George Frederick Doland OBE was a British businessman and Conservative politician.

A native of the Wandsworth area, Doland was a merchant tailor, who established a chain of shops in south-west London. In 1912 he entered local politics, when he was elected as a Municipal Reform Party member of Wandsworth Borough Council for Balham ward. He served on Wandsworth council for more than a quarter of a century, and was mayor of the borough in 1928-29 and 1933-34. In 1934 he was elected to the London County Council as a Municipal Reform councillor for Balham and Tooting, and retained the seat in 1937. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant for the County of London in 1938.

Doland was too old for active service in World War I, but became a member of the Volunteer Training Force. He was granted a commission as a temporary major in the County of London Motor Volunteer Corps in 1917, and was promoted to temporary lieutenant-colonel. He was subsequently a member of the Royal Army Service Corps Motor Transport, and resigned his commission in 1921. He was permitted to retain the honorary rank of "lieutenant-colonel".