John Edwards (28 February 1882 – 23 May 1960) was a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was a

Coalition Liberal The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victo ...

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 1918 to 1922. At the time of his election to Parliament, Edwards was described as a schoolmaster who had served four years in the Army during the First World War, reaching the rank of Major and seeing much active service. He was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 1918 general election for the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

constituency of

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...

. He served only one term in Parliament before being defeated at the 1922 general election.

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

, who served as Leader of the Labour Party and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, replaced him as Aberavon's MP. Edwards died in 1960 aged 78.

Family and education

Edwards was born at Llanbardarn, near

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, the son of the Reverend James Edwards, the minister of Soar Congregational Chapel and his wife Rachel (née Jones). When he was still young the family moved to his mother's home town of

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

,The Times, 25 May 1960 (where his father took charge of another chapel of the same name) and he was educated at the British and Intermediate Schools in the town. He later went to

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In 1932, he married Gweno Bryan, a niece of the poet Robert Bryan, and they had two sons and a daughter.

Career

During the First World War, Edwards joined the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

earning the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in 1918 and being twice

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. According to one source he attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007 Edwards also trained for the law and in 1921 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 ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

Politics

After his defeat at Aberavon in 1922,Edwards sought re-election to 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 an Independent Liberal for the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

seat at the 1923 general election but in a tight contest, with three candidates each getting about one third of the vote, he finished bottom of the poll. He did not stand for Parliament again.

Other public appointments

Edwards was appointed a High Sheriff of Cardinganshire in 1942. He also served as a member of the Court of the

and the Court and Council of the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth.

Publications

Edwards took an active interest in Welsh drama and in 1925 he published a book, ''The Call of the Sea''. He also published a number of articles in law journals. He also wrote a biography of his father, the Reverend James Edwards, under the title ''Edwards Castellnedd''.Published by J D Lewis a'i Feibion, Llandysul, 1935

References

* *''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, John 1882 births 1960 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of the University of London Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Welch Fusiliers officers National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians