William Albert Samuel Hewins (11 May 1865 – 17 November 1931) was a British economist and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician. In 1895, he was appointed by Sidney Webb as the first Director of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, a post he held until 1903.

Family and education

Hewins was the son of Samuel Hewins, an iron merchant. He was educated at

Wolverhampton Grammar School Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wolverhampton, England. History Initially a grammar school for boys, WGS was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who ...

and Pembroke College,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He graduated with a degree in mathematics and later worked as a university extension lecturer.

Politics

Hewins resigned from teaching to work for

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...

and his campaign for

tariff reform The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competitio ...

. He unsuccessfully contested Shipley in 1910 and Middleton in 1912 but was successfully returned to Parliament for Hereford in a 1912 by-election. He served in the coalition government of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State. Under-Secretaries of State for the Co ...

from 1917 to 1919. He retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

before the 1918 general election. He was invited to represent

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

opinions as a member of the Coefficients dining club of social reformers, formed by Sidney and Beatrice Webb in 1902. In later life Hewins wrote articles for the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' and the '' Dictionary of National Biography''. He also published among other works ''Trade in Balance'' (1924), ''Empire Restored'' (1927), and the ''Apologia of an Imperialist'' (1929). He died on 17 November 1931, at age 66.

Private life

He married Margaret Slater in 1892 and they had three children. Their daughter was Nancy Hewins who was a theatre director. She founded the first British all-woman set of players.

References

External links

* 1865 births 1931 deaths British economists People associated with the London School of Economics Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910–1918 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1860s-stub