Desmond Barel Hirshfield, Baron Hirshfield (17 May 1913 – 6 December 1993) was a British accountant and trade union adviser. Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, to a Jewish dentist and a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

performer, Hirshfield was educated at eight schools, including the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

. He became a chartered accountant, senior partner of a firm (Hesketh, Hardy & Hirshfield), and was investment adviser to the

Trade Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of about 5.5 million members. P ...

advising unionists like

Frank Cousins Frank Cousins may refer to: * Frank Cousins (British politician) (1904–1986), British trade union leader and Labour politician * Frank Cousins (American politician) (born 1958), American politician who served as the Essex County, Massachusetts ...

and

Vic Feather Victor Grayson Hardie Feather, Baron Feather, (10 April 1908 – 28 July 1976) was a British trade unionist and General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress in Great Britain from 1969 to 1973. Early life and career Feather was born in I ...

. In 1951 he married Bronia Eisen. From the 1950s he became the consultant of leading Labour Party figures such as

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minist ...

, Nye Bevan and

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

. He was the founder and Chairman of the Trades Union Unit Trust Managers Ltd. from 1961 to 1983. He was President of the accounting firm Horwath & Horwath International between 1977 and 1984, and its International President from 1984 to 1986. He also served as Deputy Chairman of the

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

New Town Corporation, on the Salary Review Body and the Committee on Consumer Credit. Hirshfield believed that

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

and labour had a common interest and should act as one, and worked hard to prevent the adverse effects of new technological developments on general employment. On August 30, 1967, Hirshfield was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

, as Baron Hirshfield, of

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

in Greater London. Latterly he became President of Norwood, a Jewish orphanage charity originally based in the east end, and served on the Chevening Trust which oversaw the restoration of the house for the nation. In his time away from work he was a keen artist. He died on 6 December 1993 aged 80.

Coat of arms

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