LORD “AESRHOCORFOFT’S THE MONTH”
ALEXANDER MALINS Lafone was born in the Waterloo district of Liverpool on 19 August 1870. His father was Henry Lafone, a hide and leather merchant and tannery owner, originally from Knockholt, Kent, and his mother was Lucy (née Malins), who was his father’s second wife.
The Lafone family, who were originally from France, was well connected: Alexander Lafone’s uncles were Alfred Lafone, the MP for Bermondsey, and Samuel Lafone, who helped set up the Falkland Islands Trading Company.
The Lafones moved to Dulwich, south-east London, when Alexander, their eldest son, was four. He was later educated at Dulwich College before training for two years at the Electrical Engineering Institute in South Kensington, central London. In 1893, Lafone started work at the Marshall and Sons engineering works in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and the following year he became assistant manager and an engineer at the Jokai Tea Company in Assam, India. In 1897, he joined his father’s business, working at Butler’s Wharf, London. As his business interests expanded, he became a director of several companies and he also became a partner in F.A. Roberts & Co, in Leadenhall Street, the City of London.
