HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir Herbert Geraint Williams, 1st Baronet, (2 December 1884 – 25 July 1954) was a British politician and
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Member of Parliament (MP).


Biography

Herbert Williams was born in Hooton,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, on 2 December 1884. He was educated at Liverpool University with degrees in science and engineering. In 1911 he became secretary and manager of the Machine Tools Trade Association. He served on Wimbledon Borough Council. Williams contested the
Combined English Universities Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London ...
in 1918 and
Wednesbury Wednesbury ( ) is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and ...
in 1922 and 1923 without success. From 1924 to 1929, Williams was MP for
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. He was a member of the first Court of the
University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...
following its receipt of a
Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
in 1926. Williams was returned to Parliament in Croydon South in a by-election in February 1932. He was comfortably re-elected in 1935 and served through the war. He was vocal in arguing against the
Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Lib ...
in Parliament, despite it being proposed by his Croydon Conservative colleague, Henry Willink MP. He was an
alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
of
London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
in 1940–45. Sir Herbert lost his seat in the 1945 General Election to Labour's David Rees-Williams. In February 1950, the Croydon seats were rearranged and the Conservatives won all three seats. Sir Herbert was returned in the new Croydon East seat and was re-elected in 1951. He was made a
baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
on 3 July 1953. He died in 1954 aged 69 and a by-election was held in his seat in September.


Legacy

Herbert Williams wrote books on parliamentary matters, including ''The Member of Parliament and his Constituency.'' Sir Herbert's daughter, Rosemary, married
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
property millionaire Sir Ian Mactaggart, Bt. Their daughter, Fiona Mactaggart was the Labour MP for
Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...
from 1997 to 2017


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Herbert 1884 births 1954 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of the London Borough of Croydon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Councillors in Greater London Members of London County Council UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 People from Ellesmere Port Parliamentary Secretaries to the Board of Trade