Sir William Traven Aitken, (10 June 1903 – 19 January 1964) was a Canadian-British journalist and politician who was an MP in the

UK parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

for 14 years. He was a nephew of

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

Early life and family

Aitken was born on 10 June 1903, the son of Joseph Mauns Aitken of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He was educated at

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

, the oldest independent school in Canada, and went on to the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

,"Aitken, Sir William Traven", ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 where he was a member of the

Kappa Alpha Society The Kappa Alpha Society (), founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It is considered to be the oldest national, secret, Greek-letter social fraternity and was the first of the fraternities which would ...

. In the late 1920s he travelled through Canada and the United States, before settling in England in 1930. In 1938 he married Penelope Loader Maffey, daughter of Sir John Maffey (later Lord Rugby, and a leading civil servant); they had one son and one daughter,

Maria Aitken Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born 12 September 1945) is an English theatre director, teacher, actress, and writer. Early life and career Aitken was born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the daughter of William Aitken (politician), ...

.Stenton and Lees ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'' vol. iv p. 3

Wartime service

He found a living as a financial journalist on the staff of the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

''. When 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 ...

broke out, Aitken joined 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 ...

and piloted fighter reconnaissance aircraft; he was severely injured in 1945 and invalided out. His son

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving unt ...

, later a politician, was born in 1942, and his daughter

, later an actress, was born in 1945. Penelope Aitken became a leading socialite in post-war society. His grandson,

Jack Davenport Jack Arthur Davenport (born 1 March 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''This Life'' and ''Coupling'', and as James Norrington in the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He has also appeared ...

, became an actor. Alexandra Aitken is the grand-daughter of Sir William.

Career

At the 1945 general election, Aitken was the

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 ...

candidate who attempted to recapture West Derbyshire; he lost by only 156 votes. He became instead Manager of London Express News and Feature Services while he searched for another Parliamentary nomination. He was also a director of Shop Investments Ltd and Western Ground Rents Ltd, both of which were property investment companies.

Parliament

In 1948, Aitken was adopted as Conservative candidate for

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, in succession to

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Sir Geoffrey Robert Clifton-Brown (born 23 March 1953)Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 538 is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Th ...

who was standing down. At the 1950 general election, Aitken was elected by 4,129 votes. In Parliament, Aitken showed a particular interest in Commonwealth issues, and was elected Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Commonwealth Affairs Committee. In 1951 he called for reform of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

so that it included representatives of the Colonies, Dominions and states of the Commonwealth. Aitken was a rare speaker, choosing to intervene only in those debates where he had a particular knowledge. He remained a backbencher although he was a member of the round-table conference on the constitution of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in 1955. His support for the Commonwealth made him distrust attempts to have the United Kingdom sign the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

. His most famous action in Parliament was to introduce his

Private Member's Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

of 1961, the Highways (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which gave local authorities more powers to remove obstructions to roads and to acquire land to build straight roads. In 1960 Aitken voted to support a Labour amendment to the Betting Levy Board to reduce the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

's members of the

Horserace Betting Levy Board The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), commonly abbreviated to the Levy Board, is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body established by the Betting Le ...

to one, on the grounds that there should also be a veterinary surgeon on the board. In 1962, Aitken was given the honour of moving the 'loyal address' after the

Queen's Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a Legislative session, session is ...

. He was made a

Knight 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 ...

in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

of 1963.

Death

He died suddenly in January 1964 aged 60. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's,

Playford, Suffolk Playford is a small village in Suffolk, England, on the outskirts of Ipswich. It has about 215 residents in 90 households. The name comes from the Old English '' plega'' meaning play, sport; used of a place for games, or a courtship or mating-pl ...

The grave of Sir William and Lady Penelope Aitken

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Stenton, M., Lees, S. (1981). ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'', volume iv (covering 1945–1979). Sussex: The Harvester Press; New Jersey: Humanities Press. *"Who Was Who", A & C Black *Obituary, ''

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'' (fou ...

'', 20 January 1964

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, William 1903 births 1964 deaths Aitken family Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Canadian male journalists Journalists from Toronto Royal Air Force officers Canadian expatriates in England University of Toronto alumni Upper Canada College alumni