Sir Richard Antony Pilkington, (10 May 1908 – 9 December 1976) was a British

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 ...

politician and a soldier in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Early life

Richard Pilkington was born in St Helens to the Chairman of the

Pilkington Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group. Prior to its acquisition by NSG ...

glass works, Arthur Pilkington, and Marjorie Cope, daughter of the painter Arthur Stockdale Cope. He was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...

and Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He worked and travelled in North America from 1928 until 1930 when he joined the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

, serving in Sudan and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Military and political career

In 1935 he resigned his commission to enter politics and was elected as

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 o ...

(MP) for

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Oliver Stanley. On 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 opposi ...

he rejoined the Army and travelled to France with the British Expeditionary Force. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

after returning with one of the last groups from Dunkirk in 1940. He left the Army again in 1942 and became a

Civil Lord of the Admiralty The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal N ...

, leading naval missions to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Ceylon and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. He lost his seat to

Christopher Shawcross Christopher Nyholm Shawcross, QC (20 June 1905 – 18 August 1973) was a British lawyer and Labour politician. He was the younger son of John Shawcross and Hilda Constance Asser. He was educated at Dulwich College and University College, Oxford, ...

in 1945 and lost again in 1950. In 1951 he won election as Member of Parliament for Poole in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, a seat he held until his retirement from politics in 1964 after a car accident and the onset of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. He died from the disease in 1976 at the age of 68.

Personal life

Richard Pilkington was also known for his collection of cars, all red, a passion shared by his nephew Sir Antony Pilkington.

References

* Obituaries,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

, page 17, 13 December 1976.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilkington, Richard 1908 births 1976 deaths Military personnel from Lancashire Admiralty personnel of World War II Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Coldstream Guards officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from Parkinson's disease Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Lords of the Admiralty Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 People educated at Charterhouse School People from St Helens, Merseyside Recipients of the Military Cross UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964