James Eugene MacColl (27 June 1908 – 17 June 1971) was a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. He was the younger son of Hugo MacColl, a master marine engineer. At the age of 12 he was orphaned. MacColl was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. At Oxford he became secretary of the University Labour club. He graduated with degrees in philosophy, politics and economics.''Obituary: Mr James MacColl, Labour MP for Widnes'', The Times, 18 June 1971, p.18 Following his graduation he received a

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, includ ...

fellowship and spent two years at

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in the

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. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

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in 1933, and practiced on the North East Circuit. He subsequently moved to

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and became a member of the

borough council A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

. He was

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Paddington in 1947 - 1949. His interest in education led to him being

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on to the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

education committee from 1936 to 1946. He was appointed 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 ...

in 1938, and was chairman of the North London Juvenile Court from 1949 to 1964 and of the Camden Juvenile Court from 1964 to his death.''Mr James MacColl'', The Times, 22 June 1971, p.14 MacColl believed in the importance of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

and co-authored two books on the subject.E C R Hadfield and J E MacColl, ''British Local Government'', London, 1958 At the 1950 general election he was elected

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 ...

for

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, and held the seat for two decades until his death in 1971 aged 62. From 1964 to 1969, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing and Local Government.''Obituary: Mr C. N. Shawcross'', The Times, 21 August 1973, p.14 MacColl was an active "

High Anglican The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originated ...

" member of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, and was a member of the church's Board for Social Responsibility.''Mr J MacColl'', The Times, 19 June 1971''Mr James MacColl'', The Times, 24 June 1971, p.16 He was unmarried.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maccoll, James 1908 births 1971 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Fabian Society UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 People educated at Sedbergh School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Members of Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council Mayors of places in Greater London 20th-century British lawyers Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970