Story of a brave pioneer in Wales (From Penarth Times)

Story of a brave pioneer in Wales

A PIONEERING Penarth man who touched thousands of lives has been immortalised in a biography nearly 50 years after his death.

Peter Freeman was a Penarth councillor who became an MP - but who also became known as a pioneer in Welsh and environmental politics. 'The Green Casanova' by Mike Bloxsome, published iby Y Lolfa, is an account of the life of this incredible man.

Freeman was a Penarth local councillor at the beginning of the last century and went on to become MP for Newport.

Rhodri Morgan, First Minister, said: "A brave pioneer in Welsh and Environmental politics, Peter Freeman emerges from this remarkable book as a brilliant humanitarian and devolutionist with ideas two generations in advance of his own time."

Freeman was born on October 19 in 1888 at Hoxton in the East End of London.

He was the sixth of nine brothers and sisters.

He called on Parliament to ban hunting with dogs in 1929, and even campaigned to stop lobsters from being boiled alive in the House of Common's kitchens!

He was especially known as an advocate of women's liberation - unsurprisingly he was also noted for his many 'women companions'. In Freeman's obituary, published in the Daily Telegraph, it was said he imported his cigars mainly from Cuba and that he had raised about £1.5 million for medical aid in Havana.

He did this by holding a series of auctions in Claridge's Hotel where every single item under the hammer was a box of cigars autographed by fellow smoker Fidel Castro.

Current Newport MP Paul Flynn said: "Mike Bloxsome reveals in this fascinating book that Freeman's vision was two generations before his time. He tried to ban fox hunting with dogs three quarters of a century before the Commons were convinced."

A fascinating read, 'The Green Casanova' is available from all good bookshops priced at £7.95.