Robert Richards (7 May 1884 – 22 December 1954) was a British Labour Party politician, who served 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 of ...

(MP) for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

for three periods between 1922 and 1954. He was born at Tanyffordd,

Llangynog Llangynog (; ) is a village and community at the confluence of the Afon Eirth and the Afon Tanat at the foot of the Berwyn range in north Powys (previously Montgomeryshire), Wales. It lies at the foot of the Milltir Cerrig mountain pass on t ...

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

, the son of John Richards, mineworker, and started at Llangynog Primary Council School on 6 May 1889. He then attended the County School at

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or p ...

, Montgomeryshire at the same time as

Clement Davies Edward Clement Davies (19 February 1884 – 23 March 1962) was a Welsh politician and leader of the Liberal Party from 1945 to 1956. Early life and education Edward Clement Davies was born on 19 February 1884 in Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, ...

, later Member of Parliament for

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

for many years. From there Richards went on to study at

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

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he read the Economics Tripos and received an upper second-class degree in 1908.Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume IV, 1945-1979'' (London: Harvester Press, 1981), p. 312. From 1909 to 1911, Richards was a lecturer in Political Economy at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He then moved to

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

, where he held the chair in Economics until 1922. Richards also wrote a book called ''Cymru'r Oesau Canol'', published during a hiatus from parliament in 1933. Richards was first elected at the 1922 general election, and was re-elected in 1923. In 1924, he served as

Under-Secretary of State for India This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1858 and 1937 for India(and Burma by extension), and for India and Burma from 193 ...

during the first MacDonald government. At the 1924 general election, he lost the seat to the

candidate,

Christmas Price Williams Christmas (Chris) Price Williams (25 December 1881 – 18 August 1965) was a Welsh Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. Family and education Williams was born on Christmas Day 1881 and grew up at Brymbo Hall, his father Peter Williams being ...

. He was re-elected at the 1929 general election, but lost the seat two years later at the 1931 general election to the

candidate,

Aled Owen Roberts Aled Owen Roberts (17 July 1889 – 25 August 1949) was a Welsh Liberal, later Liberal National and finally Conservative politician, soldier and businessman. Family and education Roberts was born in Liverpool the eldest son of Robert Roberts, ...

. Richards regained the seat at the 1935 general election and served as Wrexham's MP until he died in office aged seventy in 1954. At the resulting Wrexham by-election in 1955, Idwal Jones held the seat for Labour. In 1918, Richards married Mary Myfanwy Owen, the daughter of Thomas Owen. She died in 1950.

References

External links

* 1884 births 1954 deaths Academics of Bangor University Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Welsh Labour Party MPs UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 Welsh socialists UK MPs 1951–1955 Politics of Wrexham {{Wales-Labour-UK-MP-stub