William Brass, 1st Baron Chattisham (11 February 1886 – 24 August 1945), known as Sir William Brass between 1929 and 1945, was a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Brass was a sportsman and a soldier before entering politics, and served with the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Political career

He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

in 1922, a seat he retained until 1945, and held posts at the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

and Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1941. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Postmaster General, the Minister of Health, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was appointed to the Board of Governors of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in 1936 and went on to serve as its Chair from 1939 to 1945. Brass was knighted in 1929 and in 1945 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Chattisham, of Clitheroe in the County Palatine of Lancaster.

Personal life

Lord Chattisham died at 20 Devonshire Place,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, on 24 August 1945, aged 59. Although cremated at Golders Green his ashes were interred at West Norwood Cemetery. He never married and the barony became extinct on his death.

Notes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brass, William 1886 births 1945 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Chattisham Chattisham, William Brass, 1st Baron Chattisham, William Brass, 1st Baron Chattisham, William Brass, 1st Baron Chattisham, William Brass, 1st Baron Barons created by George VI Governors of the British Film Institute