Richard Austin Spencer (8 August 1892 – 8 December 1956) was Conservative MP for St Helens. Educated at the

Salford Grammar School Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county aft ...

and

Borough Road College Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east–west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street. History and location The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of We ...

, London, Spencer took a first-class honours BA and MA in Modern Languages from 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 ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he joined the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

, before transferring to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, reaching the rank of captain, and was

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 ...

. After the war, he turned to teaching, becoming senior lecturer in English at Manchester Training College, then taught French at

Manchester Central High School Manchester High School Central is the oldest public high school in the state of New Hampshire. Located in the heart of Manchester, New Hampshire, approximately 1,200 students attend from communities such as Hooksett and Manchester, and it forme ...

. Interested in local government, Spencer was elected chairman of the Hale

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

. He contested St Helens in the 1929 general election, won the seat from Labour in the National Government landslide in 1931, but lost it back to them in 1935. 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 ...

in 1937 and was Secretary of the Royal Society of Teachers from 1936 to 1953. He also published several French textbooks.

References

* Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Alumni of the University of London 1956 deaths British educators Royal Air Force officers Manchester Regiment officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Members of Gray's Inn British Army personnel of World War I 1892 births {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-stub