Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton

Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton

Frederick James Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton CH , PC (1883–1964) was a British businessman and politician.

Educated at Manchester Grammar School and the University of Manchester (where he was a Research Fellow) Woolton was an active member of the Unitarian Church.

In the 1930s he built up the department store Lewis's (not to be confused with the John Lewis department stores), of which he became Managing Director. He was awarded a peerage in 1939 for his contribution to British industry . Despite his wishes, he was informed that it was not possible to be Baron Marquis (because 'Marquis' is another grade of the nobility of England) and so he took the title Baron Woolton. He subsequently served on a number of government committees (including the Cadman committee). Geoffrey Dawson described him as "a cheerful cove".

In April 1940 he was appointed as Minister of Food by Neville Chamberlain, one of a number of ministerial appointments from outside politics. Woolton retained this position when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister the following month and was faced with the task of overseeing rationing due to wartime shortages. He took the view that it was insufficient to impose restrictions but that a programme of advertising to support it was undertaken. There were many new recipes made out of the restricted supplies, including the "Woolton pie" named after the minister which consisted of carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips in oatmeal, with a pastry or potato crust and served with brown gravy. It was Woolton's business skills that managed to make the Ministry of Food's difficult job a success and he engendered a strong personal popularity despite the shortages.

In 1943 Woolton entered the War Cabinet as Minister of Reconstruction, taking charge of the difficult task of planning for post-war Britain and in this role he appeared on the cover of Time Magazine on the issue of 26 March 1945.

In May 1945 he was included in Churchill's "Caretaker" government as Lord President of the Council, but in July the government fell when Churchill lost the 1945 general election. The very next day Woolton joined the Conservative Party and was soon appointed Party Chairman, with the job of improving the party's organisation in the country and revitalising it for future elections. Under Woolton many sweeping reforms were carried out and when the Conservatives returned to government in 1951, Woolton served in the Cabinet for the next four years.

* Maurice Cowling, "The Impact of Hitler - British Politics & Policy 1933-1940", Cambridge University Press, 1975, p.419, ISBN 0-521-20582-4


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Frederick Marquis, 1. Earl of Woolton — Frederick James Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton (* 1883 in Liverpool; † 1964) war ein britischer Politiker der Conservative Party und Geschäftsmann. Biografie Nach der Schulausbildung an der Manchester Grammar School studierte er Mathematik an der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Roger Marquis, 2nd Earl of Woolton — Roger David Marquis, 2nd Earl of Woolton (16 July 1922 ndash; 7 January 1969 [Darryl Landy. [http://www.thepeerage.com/p9554.htm#i95537 The Peerage: Roger David Marquis, 2nd Earl of Woolton] . Last edited 9 June 2007, and retrieved 28 January… …   Wikipedia

  • Earl of Woolton — The title of Earl of Woolton was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1956. It is still extant.The Earl bears the subsidiary titles of Viscount Woolton, of Liverpool in the County of Lancaster (1953), Viscount Walberton, of Walberton… …   Wikipedia

  • List of foods named after people — This is a list of food items named after people. :For other lists of eponyms (names derived from people) see eponym. :For a list of eponyms sorted by name see List of eponyms.A* Fillet of Beef Prince Albert – Queen Victoria s Consort Prince… …   Wikipedia

  • List of statisticians — Statisticians or people who made notable contributions to the theories of statistics, or related aspects of probability, or machine learning. NOTOC CompactTOC8 side = yes seealso = yes nobreak = yes extlinks = yes x = A * Odd Olai Aalen (1947 ) * …   Wikipedia

  • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington — Duke of Wellington and The Iron Duke redirect here. For subsequent dukes, see Duke of Wellington (title). For the film, see The Iron Duke (film). Field Marshal His Grace The Duke of Wellington KG GCB …   Wikipedia

  • President of the Royal Statistical Society — The President of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS). This is not an honorary position; the president actively oversees the running of the Society and chairs its council meetings. In recent years,… …   Wikipedia

  • Magnus Pyke — Born 29 December 1908(1908 12 29) Paddington, London, England Died 19 October 1992(1992 10 19) (aged …   Wikipedia

  • Don Boyd — Born Donald William Robertson 11 August 1948(1948 08 11) Nairn, Scotland Years active 1974 Spouse Hilary Children Amanda, Clare, Kate …   Wikipedia

  • Lord President of the Council — Infobox minister office border = parliamentary minister = not prime office = Lord President of the Council incumbent = The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon tookoffice = 3 October 2008 appointed by = Gordon Brown governor = Prime Minister first… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”