Sir William Arthur Colegate (1884 – 10 September 1956) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who served in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) from 1941 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1955.

Biography

Colegate was born in

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

, London, the son of Robert Colegate and Sarah Elizabeth Pearce. He was educated privately before he entered

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

and acted as a research assistant to Beatrice and Sydney Webb. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering in 1904. He then became a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

when he entered the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

in 1910, before moving into business. He enlisted in the army during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but the Board of Trade seconded him for special service during the war. He was a director of Brunner Mond and Company until 1927 (following their amalgamation into ICI) and British Overseas Stores and was chairman of W.G. Allen & Sons (

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

) Ltd and of the Wright Saddle Company. From 1925 to 1929, he served as President of the Industrial Property Committee of the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...

, was a Governor of Harper Adams Agricultural College from 1941 to 1947, and President of the Rural District Councils Association. Abandoning his youthful ideology, Colegate joined the Conservative Party and unsuccessfully contested the Sowerby constituency at the 1929 general election, but he was elected for

The Wrekin The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of 4 ...

at a by-election in September 1941, following the death at sea of

James Baldwin-Webb Colonel James Baldwin-Webb TD (5 February 1894 – 17 September 1940) was a British Army officer, businessman, and Conservative Party politician who served in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament (MP) for The Wrekin from 1931 to his de ...

. He lost the seat at the 1945 general election, but was successful in Burton, (where he had been adopted as candidate in 1947), at the 1950 general election, holding his seat in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, and standing down at the 1955 general election,''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'' (1951), p.157 the same year that he was knighted.

Personal life

On 22 November 1917, Colegate married Winifred Mary Pemberton, daughter of Sir William Worsley, 3rd Baronet, and widow of Captain Francis Percy Campbell Pemberton of the

2nd Life Guards The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated ...

who had been killed in action in the

in 1914. The couple had four daughters, one of whom was the writer

Isabel Colegate Isabel Diana Colegate (10 September 1931 – 12 March 2023) was a British author and literary agent. Early life and education Born in Paddington in London, England, Colegate was the youngest of her parents' four daughters. Her father was Sir ...

. His wife predeceased him in 1955.

Estates

Besides in London, Colegate had homes at Redbourne Hall near

Gainsborough, Lincolnshire Gainsborough is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town population was 20,842 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 23,243 in 2019. It lies on the east bank of the River Trent ...

and Church Aston Manor near

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a constituent market town in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's parish ...

in 1945 and at the time of his death lived at

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colegate, Arthur 1884 births 1956 deaths Alumni of University College London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 People associated with Harper Adams University Politicians from London