British politician
Peter John Mitchell Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir
,
PC
,
QC
(31 July 1920 ? 4 February 2008) was a British
Conservative
politician. He was the first Welshman to become
Chairman of the Conservative Party
, serving from 1970 to 1972, and the first Conservative to serve as
Secretary of State for Wales
, holding that office from 1970 to 1974.
Early life and career
[
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]
Thomas was born in
Llanrwst
, where his father was a
solicitor
.
[1]
He was educated at the village school, and then
Epworth College
in
Rhyl
, before reading law at
Jesus College, Oxford
. He joined the
Royal Air Force
(RAF) in 1939, on the outbreak of the
Second World War
. He was shot down while serving as a bomber pilot in 1941, and spent four years in prisoner-of-war camps in
Germany
, moving from
Stalag Luft VI
to
Stalag Luft III
and then at
Stalag XI-B
.
[2]
He continued his legal studies while imprisoned, and was also an amateur actor.
He became a
barrister
after the war, and was called to the Bar in 1947 at
Middle Temple
. He practised on the
Wales and Chester circuit
, and
took silk
in 1965.
[3]
He became deputy chairman of Cheshire
quarter sessions
in 1966,
[4]
and then of Denbighshire quarter sessions in 1968,
[5]
serving in both offices until 1970. He was a
Crown Court
recorder
from 1974
[6]
to 1988, and also sat as an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration of the
International Chamber of Commerce
in Paris.
He was bilingual in Welsh and English, and took an active part in the
Gorsedd
, attending
Eisteddfodau
under the
bardic
name Pedr Conwy (Welsh: Peter from Conway).
Marriage
[
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]
He married Tessa Dean in 1947. She was the daughter of actor and film and theatrical producer
Basil Dean
and his wife, Lady Mercy Greville. His wife died in 1985, and he outlived both of their two sons. He was survived by his two daughters upon his death in February 2008 at the age of 87.
Political career
[
edit
]
Thomas was elected to
Parliament
as MP for
Conway
in 1951,
[7]
winning a narrow majority in the marginal seat over the Labour incumbent. He turned down the position of
Under-Secretary of State
for Wales at the
Home Office
to concentrate on his legal career, but later served as
Parliamentary private secretary
to Sir
Harry Hylton-Foster
(the
Solicitor General
and later
Speaker
) from 1954 to 1959. He was a member of the
Council of Europe
from 1957 to 1959, and sponsored the
private members bill
that became the
Eisteddfod Act 1959
.
He served as
Parliamentary Secretary
at the
Ministry of Labour
1959?61, taking charge of the measures that abolished the requirements for employees to be paid in cash and the maximum wage for professional footballer (£14 per week in November 1960). He moved to become
Under-Secretary of State
at the
Foreign Office
in 1961, travelling to
Moscow
with
Lord Home
in 1963 to sign the
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
. He was promoted to
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
in 1963, and was sworn of the
Privy Council
in the
Queen's Birthday Honours
of 1964,
[8]
but left office when his party lost the
1964 general election
. In opposition, he was a spokesman on foreign affairs and then law from 1965 to 1966. Although he had held his Conway seat (and steadily increased his majority) since 1951,
[9]
[10]
[11]
he narrowly lost to Labour at the
1966 general election
,
[12]
but returned as MP for
Hendon South
at the
general election in June 1970
,
[13]
a position which he held until retiring in 1987.
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
During the whole of
Edward Heath
's premiership he held the position of
Secretary of State for Wales
. He was Secretary of State during a period of violent activism by proponents of the Welsh language, including bombings and a campaign by the
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg
(Welsh Language Society) to remove English road signs. In February 1971, paralleling plans to reorganise local government in England, Thomas announced the plans to replace the existing 181 local councils with 7 new
county councils
counties and 36
district councils
. An extra county council was added later, for Cardiff. Thomas also served as
Chairman of the Conservative Party
between 1970 and 1972.
Thomas remained Welsh spokesman after the Conservative Party lost the
general election in February 1974
, but left the front bench when
Margaret Thatcher
became party leader in February 1975. He became active on backbench committees, and was president of the
Conservative Friends of Israel
. He retired from the House of Commons at the
1987 general election
, and was raised to the peerage
for life
in the
Dissolution Honours that year
,
[18]
gazetted
as
Baron Thomas of Gwydir
, of Llanrwst in the County of
Gwynedd
.
[19]
Arms
[
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]
Coat of arms of Peter Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir
- Crest
- A grassy mount Proper statant thereon a stag armed and unguled Or resting the dexter foreleg upon a staff raguly also Or and between the attires a cross egrailed Gold.
- Escutcheon
- Per pale Vert and Gules in pale a sword point upwards Argent hilt pommels and quillons Or between in chief two portcullises also or all within a bordure engrailed of the last thereon eight pellets.
- Supporters
- Dexter, a dragon statant erect tail nowed Gules gorged with a crown rayonny Gold; Sinister, a lamb statant erect Or gorged with a crown rayonny Gules.
- Motto
- Nac Anobeithier
[20]
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1964?1970
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1970?1974
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1974?1979
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1979?1997
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2010?present
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