Sir Lionel Frederick Heald, QC, PC (7 August 1897 – 8 November 1981) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Heald was born in Parrs Wood, Didsbury,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...

, then served in France and Italy during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the Royal Engineers, and was awarded the Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valor. After demobilization, he went to Christ Church, Oxford as a Holford exhibitioner, reading literae humaniores and graduating with a BA in 1920. He was called to the Bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1923. At the Bar, his pupil masters were Donald Somervell and Stafford Cripps. Heald was junior counsel to the Board of Trade from 1931 to 1937, when he was appointed King's Counsel. He was a St Pancras borough councillor from 1934 until 1937. During World War II he served with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and reached the rank of air commodore.

Parliamentary career

At the 1950 general election, Heald 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 o ...

for the Chertsey constituency in Surrey, having been previously defeated in St Pancras South West 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 Bulgarian ...

. He held the seat until his retirement at the 1970 general election. Heald introduced the Common Informers Act 1951 as a Private Member's Bill. Heald served as Attorney General in

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's government from 1951 to 1954, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

upon appointment. He prosecuted John Christie and the poisoner Louisa May Merrifield in 1953. He was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in the 1954 New Years Honours List. After his resignation as Attorney General he returned to the backbenches, and retired from the House of Commons in 1970. He helped

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

introduce the

Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed members of the public and press to attend meetings of certain public bodies. The Act is notable for having been initiated as a pri ...

, similar to a bill that he had proposed years earlier, in her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

Family

St Martha-on-the-Hill, Sir Lionel Heald grave

Heald married Flavia Forbes, the younger daughter of Lt. Col. James Stewart Forbes and

Lady Angela Forbes Lady Angela Selina Bianca Forbes (née St Clair-Erskine; 11 June 1876 – 22 October 1950) was a British socialite and novelist who was known as a forces sweetheart for organising soldiers' canteens in France during the First World War. She rever ...

, on 9 April 1923, and was divorced from her in June 1928, on the grounds of her adultery with Captain James Roy Notter Garton. On 15 May 1929 he married Daphne Constance Price, daughter of Montagu W. Price, Chairman of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

and through her mother, a niece of Edith Villiers, Countess of Lytton. They lived at Chilworth Manor, Surrey. Lady Heald trained at the Queen's Nursing Institute prior to her marriage and from 1950 became vice-president of the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...

. She was chairman of the

National Gardens Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...

from 1951 to 1979, and opened the gardens at Chilworth for fundraising events for Marie Curie Cancer Care and other medical charities. She was appointed CBE in 1976. Lady Heald died on 14 August 2004, aged 99. Heald's daughter from his first marriage, Susan was one of the secretaries who typed the English versions of the

German Instrument of Surrender The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the " Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capi ...

at the conclusion of

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 opposing ...

. His daughter Elizabeth married Colonel George Lane in 1963.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heald, Lionel 1897 births 1981 deaths Burials in Surrey Military personnel from Lancashire People educated at Charterhouse School Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom British barristers UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 Attorneys General for England and Wales Knights Bachelor Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 British Army personnel of World War I Royal Engineers soldiers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force air commodores