Francis Leonard Tombs, Baron Tombs (17 May 1924 – 11 April 2020) was an English

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and politician who served as a

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1990 until his retirement in 2015.

Background

Tombs was born to a Catholic family in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in 1924, one of three sons born to Joseph and Jane (née Bouncer) Tombs. He was educated at Elmore Green School,

, and at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He worked for the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

from 1944 to 1946.

Career

Tombs had a career in industry, particularly in electricity generation. He was chairman of the

South of Scotland Electricity Board The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few ...

, the

Electricity Council The Electricity Council was a governmental body set up in 1958 to oversee the electricity supply industry in England and Wales. The council was established on 1 January 1958 to assume the coordinating and policy-making functions of the Central El ...

and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. Tombs was president of the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

in 1981 and became an Honorary Fellow of its successor organisation the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871,Engin ...

in 1991. Tombs was named chairman of Turner & Newall P.L.C., Britain's largest manufacturer of asbestos products on 30 November 1982, and remained there throughout much of the 1980s.

Knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1978, Tombs was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 29 February 1990, as Baron Tombs, of

Brailes Brailes is a civil parish about east of Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire, England. It includes the two villages of Lower and Upper Brailes which are located in the north Cotswolds, but it is often referred to as one village as the two villages ...

in the County of Warwickshire. He sat in the

as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

, and was on a number of committees. Tombs was granted a leave of absence in March 2008, which lasted until July 2010. He wrote a memoir, ''Power Politics: Political Encounters in Industry and Engineering'', which was published later that year. Tombs retired from the House of Lords on 31 March 2015.

Personal life and death

In 1949, Tombs married Marjorie Evans; they had three daughters and were married until her death in 2008. Tombs died from complications of dementia at a care home in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

on 11 April 2020, at the age of 95.TOMBS, Francis Leonard (Lord Tombs of Brailes)
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Coat of arms

References

1924 births 2020 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople Alumni of the University of London Crossbench life peers Deaths from dementia in England English Roman Catholics English electrical engineers Knights Bachelor Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 People from Walsall Rolls-Royce people {{Life-peer-stub