Sir Walter James Womersley, 1st Baronet (5 February 1878 – 15 March 1961) 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 who served as Minister of Pensions during 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 opposin ...

. He was born in Marley Street,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, the son of a carter. His working life started in mill as a 10-year-old, working half-time. He became a senior partner in a

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

firm of jewellers and merchants. He became Mayor of the town in 1922. At the 1924 general election Womersley 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 of ...

(MP) for the Grimsby constituency. He served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury and

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to Sir Kingsley Wood. He was

Assistant Postmaster General The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government. The title of Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established ...

from 1935 until 1939. He was known as "Fish Womersley" for his championing of fishermen. As Minister of Pensions from 1939, he was the only government minister to hold the same office throughout World War II, but lost his seat in the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

and was the last Conservative MP for the constituency of Grimsby constituency, until the General Election of 12 December 2019, when Lia Nici was elected as a Conservative. He was knighted in 1934 and received a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy in the 1945 resignation honours. In 1946 he was awarded the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

for services to the Danish fishing industry and fishermen, especially during the War. His daughter,

Dorothy Moseley Dorothy may refer to: * Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters * Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character pla ...

(1911–2003), was also active in politics, at a local government level in Market Harborough,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

References

External links

* 1878 births 1961 deaths Womersley, Walter, 1st Baronet Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Grimsby Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Great Grimsby Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Politicians from Bradford UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940 Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1870s-stub