William John Carron, Baron Carron, KSG,

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(19 November 1902 – 3 December 1969) was a British trade unionist and activist, who served as President of the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) from 1956 until 1967.

Early life

Carron was born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

in 1902, the son of John Carron and Frances Ann Richardson. He attended St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Hull Technical College, and he earned a Master of Arts degree from Oxford University.

Career

Beginning in 1918 Carron was apprenticed to a turner, Messrs Rose, at Downs and Thompson Ltd. until he became a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

in 1923. In 1935 he moved to the maintenance department of Reckitt and Coleman and became a shop steward of the AEU. Carron joined the AEU in 1924. He was a Branch Secretary from 1932 to 1945. He later became District President. In 1950 he was elected to the post of Divisional Organizer and in 1956 he became an Executive Councillor. Finally, he was elected President in 1956, a position he held until 1967. He also served as a member of the General Council of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

from 1954 to 1968. Carron became a Director of the Bank of England in 1963 and in 1967 he became a Director of the

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Honours and awards

In October 1959, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

appointed him a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and he became a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

in 1963. He became Baron Carron, of the City and County of Kingston upon Hull, on 11 July 1967.

Personal life

He married Mary Emma McGuire on 5 August 1931, with whom he had two daughters, Hilary Mary Carron and Patricia Anne Carron. He retired to

Forest Hill, London Forest Hill is a district of the London Borough of Lewisham in south east London, England, on the South Circular Road, which is home to the Horniman Museum. History Like much of London, Forest Hill was only sparsely populated until the m ...

, where he died in 1969, aged 67.

References

Sources

*
Lord Carron's papers
at

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, Cambridge
Peerage.com site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carron, William 1902 births 1969 deaths Trade unionists from Kingston upon Hull Knights Bachelor Life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II People associated with the Bank of England People from Forest Hill, London Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the Amalgamated Engineering Union 20th-century English businesspeople