Llewellyn Heycock, Baron Heycock

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(12 August 1905 – 13 March 1990) was a

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 ...

local politician, who became a life peer in 1967. Heycock was born in

Margam Margam is a suburb and community of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway. The community had a population of 3,017 in 2011; the built up area being larger and extending into ...

and began his career as an engine driver with the Great Western Railway. He subsequently rose to a powerful position in South Wales local politics through his

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

connections and membership of the Labour Party, a "personality of transcendent authority". Despite having himself received little formal education, he became Chairman of the Glamorganshire Education Committee. He was first elected to

Glamorgan County Council Glamorgan County Council was established in 1889 together with the administrative county of Glamorganshire under the Local Government Act 1888. The first elections to the council were held in January 1889. The council was abolished under the Local ...

in 1937 at a by-election following the re-election of long-serving miners' agent John Thomas of

Pontrhydyfen Pontrhydyfen (or Pont-rhyd-y-fen) is a small village in the Afan Valley, in Neath Port Talbot county borough in Wales (). The village sits at the confluence of the River Afan and the smaller Afon Pelenna, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) north of the l ...

as an alderman. Heycock was chosen as Labour candidate at the expense of Joe Brown, a former mayor of Port Talbot and a close associate of Ramsay Macdonald when he was MP for Aberavon. Brown resigned from the Labour Party in protest and stood as an Independent. However, Heycock held the seat by 569 votes. In April 1967 he was elected as a county councillor to

for the Port Talbot East ward. In 1973 he was elected unopposed as councillor for Margam Central on the new

West Glamorgan County Council West Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gorllewin Morgannwg) was the county council of the county of West Glamorgan in south-west Wales, from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. History The county was created in 1974 under the ...

. He became a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in 1959, a Commander of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (CStJ) in April 1967, and a life peer on 10 July 1967 as Baron Heycock, of

Taibach Taibach or Tai-bach ( en, Little Houses) is a community and suburban district of Port Talbot, Wales. It is a settlement centered on the main A48 road, sandwiched between the river Ffrwdwyllt and Margam. Parts of Margam are within the community b ...

in the Borough of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heycock, Llewellyn Heycock, Baron 1905 births 1990 deaths Councillors in Wales Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of St John Members of Glamorgan County Council