Charles George Percy Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith (25 April 1917 – 2 August 1972) was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician.

Background and education

Born in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area *Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wind ...

and named after his father, he was the only son of Charles Smith and his wife Ethel.Who's Who (1963), p. 2825 He was educated at

Windsor Grammar School The Windsor Boys' School is a comprehensive all-boys upper school and sixth form located on Maidenhead Road in Windsor, Berkshire, England, within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Local Authority. The school specialises in the arts. ...

and went then to

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, graduating with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Dod (1969), p. 78 At Oxford he was elected Librarian of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

Working life

After university, he became employed at the New Fabian Research Bureau as a research assistant. In 1939, he came to the

Civil Service Clerical Association The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom, representing civil servants. History The union was founded in 1921, when the Civil Service Clerical Union and the Clerical Officers' Association merged ...

and was an assistant secretary until 1953. Subsequently, he joined the

Post Office Engineering Union The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications. History The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Enginee ...

, serving as its general secretary 1967.Silva (1973), p. 510 In 1960, he was nominated a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, assigned to the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

Political career

Following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Delacourt-Smith entered the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in July 1940. He was commissioned in January 1943 and was transferred to the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

, where he was promoted to captain and was mentioned in despatches. After the end of the war Delacourt-Smith was admitted to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

in 1945, having been elected for

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

. He represented the constituency until 1950 and during this time was Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Philip Noel-Baker Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, (1 November 1889 – 8 October 1982), born Philip John Baker, was a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament. He carried the British team flag and won a ...

in the latter's capacity as

Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

. In 1947, he was chosen as an executive member of Labour's Research Department, a position he held for the next four years. Delacourt-Smith 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Delacourt-Smith, of New Windsor, in the Royal County of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

in 1967 and thus was enabled to a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Two years later he was appointed Minister of State for Technology and on this occasion sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. In 1970, when the

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 ...

took office he was replaced as Minister.

Personal life

In 1939, he married

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

, the daughter of Frederick Hando.Dod (2004), p. 538 They both had one son and two daughters. Together with his wife and younger daughter, he assumed the additional surname Delacourt by a

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...

in 1967. He died, aged 55, at the

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

, London in 1972, after suffering a stroke while making a speech in the House of Lords, being survived by his wife. Two years after his death she received a life peerage in her own right.

Works

*''Democratic Sweden'' (1938), Smith, G. and Cole, M. (eds),

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

*''Britain's Food Supplies in Peace and War'' (1940), Smith, C., Routledge *''Modern Turkey'' (1940), Parker, J. and Smith, C., Routledge

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delacourt-Smith, Charles 1917 births 1972 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II General Secretaries of the Post Office Engineering Union Labour Party (UK) life peers British trade union leaders Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Royal Army Service Corps officers Royal Engineers soldiers Spouses of life peers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II