William Henry Davison, 1st Baron Broughshane,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, FSA, JP, DL (1872 – 19 January 1953) was a British peer 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) for

Kensington South Kensington South was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created ...

for twenty-four years.

Early life

Davison was born in

Broughshane Broughshane ( , formerly spelt Brughshane, ) is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northeast of Ballymena and north of Antrim, on the A42 road. It is part of Mid and East Antrim District Council and had a population of ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, the son of Richard Davison and his wife Annie ''née'' Patrick. He was educated at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

and graduated from

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

, in 1895 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. In 1895, he was admitted to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

as a barrister and earned his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from Keble three years later in 1898. The same year, he married Beatrice Mary Roberts, a daughter of Sir

Owen Roberts Owen Josephus Roberts (May 2, 1875 – May 17, 1955) was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1930 to 1945. He also led two Roberts Commissions, the first of which investigated the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the sec ...

(and future great-aunt of Anthony Armstrong-Jones), and they later had four children.

Political career

In 1913, he became

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, where he was resident. During the

Great 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 ...

, he was solely responsible for raising, equipping, clothing, housing and selecting the officers for the 22nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Kensington). The new volunteer ('

Pals Pals () is a medieval town in Catalonia, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of con ...

') battalion was greeted with great enthusiasm, Davison enthusing their patriotism, encouraging his heroes to great efforts. He was a popular figure in the Royal Borough. In taking the rank of Major, he went with them to train on the

Sussex Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the E ...

. On their disbandment in February 1918, their former commanding officer, Brigadier-General Randle Barnett Barker wrote, "The 22nd never lost a trench or failed their comrades in the day of battle". For that effort, Davison was knighted in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

, when he was selected for the seat of Kensington South and elected for the Coupon on 14 December 1918. Davison was a very active Unionist member in regular attendance at debates. Although an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

backbencher, he had spent time in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and took its historical disadvantages very seriously. In 1919, he supported the police application to the Coalition government for extra taxes, pay and pension arrangements in that troubled province. As well as the armed services, he promoted pensions for millions of servicemen and women after demobilisation. He called on the government to give more transparent explanations as to the cost of its taxation demands and early on was one of the MPs behind a deposit system towards responsible candidate selection at election time. Davison commented widely on industrial matters and pointied out that he was neither a miner nor an owner. His truly impartial position, in his opinion, was supporting "improved conditions" and a decent standard of living for miners and a fair price for coal. Fairness extended for him also to bacon and butter for the

Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...

in the midst of a war against

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and also towards the defeated

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, who should not, in his opinion, have lost so much in reparations. Davison believed in free trade, commodification and price reduction of items like tobacco. In one speech, he linked "high prices resulting in national unrest" to the need for increased industrial production. Davison did much for the conservation of the Royal Borough. In Parliament, he spoke against demolition of listed buildings by the council. In 1930, after he had been for decades a Unionist, he became Conservative. During the war, he was a loyal friend to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and defended the Prime Minister when the Conservatives were verbally attacked in the Commons by truculent Labour left-wingers. From the very outset, Davison had pressed

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

to take prompt action against the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, f ...

' leader,

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...

. Davison stood up for the poor in war-torn London and asked for workmen's dwellings to be exempt from being taxed by the War Damage Contribution. Observing in one debate that in his constituency there was a "notable lack of panic."

Family

He married Beatrice, daughter of Sir Owen Roberts of

Henley Park Henley Park is a country house and landscape garden in Bix and Assendon civil parish in the Chiltern Hills of South Oxfordshire, England. The house is about north of Henley-on-Thames. The park adjoins the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. ...

and

Plas Dinas Plas Dinas is a Grade II listed building in Bontnewydd, Gwynedd, near Caernarfon in North Wales, between the Welsh coast and the Snowdonia mountains. It is a large country house which retains significant features of an early 17th-century hous ...

in 1898. They had two sons later to inherit the title, and two daughters. In 1929, he divorced his wife and remarried on 6 June to Louisa Mary Constance, daughter of Major Charles Marriott.

Later life

On 19 September 1945, Davison resigned his seat by being raised to the peerage as Baron Broughshane ''of

in the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

'' shortly after the general election.. In the subsequent by-election, the Conservative candidate held on to the constituency. Lord Broughshane was a Freeman of the City of London and a wartime Master of the Clothworkers Company. He died in 1953.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, William, 1st Baron Broughshane 1872 births 1953 deaths People from Broughshane Davison, William Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Davison, William People educated at Shrewsbury School Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Davison, William Davison, William Davison, William Davison, William Davison, William Davison, William Davison, William Davison, William UK MPs who were granted peerages Davison, William Deputy lieutenants of the County of London UK MPs 1945–1950 Barons created by George VI Politicians from County Antrim