| The Right HonourableThe Lord Delacourt-SmithPC JP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of State for Technology | |
| In office 1969–1970Serving with Eric Varley | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Minister | Tony Benn |
| Member of Parliament for Colchester | |
| In office 26 July 1945 – 3 February 1950 | |
| Preceded by | Oswald Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Cuthbert Alport |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles George Percy Smith 25 April 1917 |
| Died | 2 August 1972 (aged 55) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Margaret Hando |
| Children | 1 son, 2 daughters |
| Alma mater | Wadham College, Oxford |
Charles George Percy Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith PC, JP (25 April 1917 – 2 August 1972), was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician.
Background and education
Born in Windsor and named after his father, he was the only son of Charles Smith and his wife Ethel. He was educated at Windsor Grammar School and went then to Wadham College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Arts At Oxford he was elected Librarian of the Oxford Union.
Working life
After university, he became employed at the New Fabian Research Bureau as a research assistant. In 1939, he came to the Civil Service Clerical Association and was an assistant secretary until 1953. Subsequently, he joined the Post Office Engineering Union, serving as its general secretary 1967. In 1960, he was nominated a justice of the peace, assigned to the County of London.
Political career
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Delacourt-Smith entered the Royal Engineers in July 1940. He was commissioned in January 1943 and was transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps, where he was promoted to captain and was mentioned in despatches. After the end of the war Delacourt-Smith was admitted to the British House of Commons in 1945, having been elected for Colchester. He represented the constituency until 1950 and during this time was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Philip Noel-Baker in the latter's capacity as Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. In 1947, he was chosen as an executive member of Labour's Research Department, a position he held for the next four years.
Delacourt-Smith was created a life peer as Baron Delacourt-Smith, of New Windsor, in the Royal County of Berks in 1967 and thus was ennobled to a seat in the House of Lords. Two years later he was appointed Minister of State for Technology and on this occasion sworn of the Privy Council. In 1970, when the Conservative Party took office he was replaced as Minister.
Personal life
In 1939, he married Margaret, the daughter of Frederick Hando. They both had one son and two daughters. Together with his wife and younger daughter, he assumed the additional surname Delacourt by a deed poll in 1967. He died, aged 55, at the Westminster Hospital, London in 1972, after suffering a stroke while making a speech in the House of Lords, being survived by his wife. Two years after his death she received a life peerage in her own right.
Works
- Democratic Sweden (1938), Smith, G. and Cole, M. (eds), Routledge
- Britain's Food Supplies in Peace and War (1940), Smith, C., Routledge
- Modern Turkey (1940), Parker, J. and Smith, C., Routledge
Notes
- ^ Silva (1973), p. 510
- ^ Who's Who (1963), p. 2825
- ^ Dod (1969), p. 78
- "No. 44432". The London Gazette. 17 October 1967. p. 11275.
- ^ Dod (2004), p. 538
- "No. 44422". The London Gazette. 3 October 1967. pp. 10717–10718.
- "No. 46352". The London Gazette. 24 September 1974. p. 7918.
References
- Who's Who 1963. London: Adam & Charles Black Ltd. 1963.
- Charles Roger Dod; Robert Philip Dod (1969). Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1969. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd.
- Charles Roger Dod; Robert Phipps Dod (2004). Dod's Parliamentary Companion 2004. Vacher Dod Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-905702-43-3.
- Michel Silva, ed. (1973). Britannica Book of the Year 1973. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ISBN 0-85229-282-1.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith
- Portraits of Charles Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith at the National Portrait Gallery, London
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byOswald Lewis | Member of Parliament for Colchester 1945–1950 |
Succeeded byCuthbert Alport |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded byDouglas Coward | General Secretary of the Post Office Engineering Union 1953–1972 |
Succeeded byBryan Stanley |
| Preceded byRon Smith | President of the Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International 1967–1969 |
Succeeded byJoseph A. Beirne |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byReg Prentice Joseph Mallalieu |
Minister of State for Technology 1969–1970 With: Eric Varley |
Succeeded bySir John Eden The Earl of Bessborough |
- 1917 births
- 1972 deaths
- Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford
- British Army personnel of World War II
- General secretaries of the Post Office Engineering Union
- Labour Party (UK) life peers
- British trade union leaders
- Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Members of the Fabian Society
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970
- Royal Army Service Corps officers
- Royal Engineers soldiers
- Spouses of life peers
- UK MPs 1945–1950
- UK MPs who were granted peerages
- Life peers created by Elizabeth II