NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Josiah Wedgwood IV

George Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood also known as Josiah Wedgwood IV (16 March 1872 - 26 July 1943) was a British Liberal and Labour politician who served in government under Ramsay MacDonald. He was the great-great-grandson of the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood. March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party (the SDP) to form a new party which would become... The Labour Party has since its formation in the early 20th century been the principal left wing political party of the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866â€“9 November 1937) was a British politician and twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (July 12, 1730 â€“ January 3, 1795) was an English potter, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. ...

Biography

Family

Josiah Wedgwood was born at Barlaston in Staffordshire, the son of Clement Wedgwood. He was the great-great-grandson of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. His mother Emily Catherine was the daughter of the engineer James Meadows Rendel. He was schooled at Clifton College and then studied at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (July 12, 1730 â€“ January 3, 1795) was an English potter, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. ... James Meadows Rendel FRS (1799-1856) was a British civil engineer. ... Founded in 1862, Clifton College is a major coeducational public school in Clifton, Bristol, England. ... Crest on the gate of the Royal Naval College The Royal Naval College was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, in the centre of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site in London, United Kingdom. ... Greenwich (pronounced grenn-itch , or by the locals) is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ...

He married The Hon. Ethel Kate Bowen, daughter of Sir Charles Bowen, 1st Baron Bowen in 1894 but they divorced amidst some scandal in 1919. They had seven children: Charles Synge Christopher Bowen (January 1, 1835 _ April 10, 1894) was an English judge. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the English railway promoter, see Edward Pease (1767-1858). ... Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley OM FRS (born 22 November 1917, Hampstead, London, England, UK) is a British physiologist and biophysicist, who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with Alan Lloyd Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials, the electrical impulses that enable the... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Camilla Hildegarde Wedgwood (March 25, 1901 Barlaston, England - May 17, 1955) was a British anthropologist best known for research in the Pacific and her pioneering role as one of the British Commonwealths first female anthropologists. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Military and Parliament

Proficient in mathematics, he joined the workshops of an arms manufacturer, Elswick. He worked for a year from 1895 as an Assistant Naval Constructor in Portsmouth before returning to Newcastle upon Tyne to head the drawing office of another arms manufacturer, Armstrong. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899 he was given the army rank of captain and for three years commanded a battery of the Royal Field Artillery equipped by Elswick. He remained in South Africa after the war, spending two years as a Resident Magistrate in the district of Ermelo in the Transvaal. His studies of native land laws gave him an interest in Land Reform. Influenced by the writings of Henry George, he developed a life-long belief in the Single Tax, advocating a tax on property to replace taxes on income and goods as a way of securing for workers the full reward for their work. He became president of the League for the Taxation of Land Values in 1908. Euclid, detail from The School of Athens by Raphael. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Portsmouth is a city of about 196,000 people located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of Great Britain. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Combatants British Empire Orange Free State, South African Republic Commanders Frederick Roberts later Lord Kitchener Christiaan Rudolf de Wet and Paul Kruger Casualties Military dead:22,000 Civilian dead:N/A Total dead:22,000 Military dead:6,500 Civilian dead:24,000 Total dead:30,500 The Second Boer... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Royal Field Artillery came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1st July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924. ... A magistrate is a judicial officer with limited authority to administer and enforce the law. ... Ermelo is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. ... Flag of Transvaal The Transvaal (lit. ... Land reform (also agrarian reform although that can have a broader meaning) is the government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of â€” i. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Georgism, named for Henry George (1839-1897), is a philosophy and economic theory that follows from the belief that although everyone owns what they create; land, and everything else supplied by nature, belongs equally to all humanity. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Having returned to England, Wedgwood was elected as MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme at the 1906 General Election. Though he stood for the Liberal Party, he made it clear that he would take an independent line in Parliament if necessary, in accordance with his conscience. He was re-elected at both elections in 1910, and that year was also elected to Staffordshire County Council, remaining a Councillor until 1918. He became disillusioned with the Liberals after 1910, when it became clear that the government would not honour campaign commitments to land reform and opposing vested interests. His disillusionment was increased by the government's reaction against the Suffragettes, who he also supported. In 1913 he staged a filibuster against the government's Mental Deficiency Bill, which he saw as authoritarian and unjust. Over the course of two days in Parliament he tabled 120 amendments and made 150 speeches in Parliament, sustaining himself with only barley-water and chocolate according to press reports, until his voice gave out. This campaign brought him to public attention outside of his own constituency and the Land Reform movement, and he became known as a leading backbencher. Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area â€“ Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 kmÂ² Population â€“ Total (mid-2004) â€“ Total (2001... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Newcastle-under-Lyme is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The UK general election of 1906 was from 12th January – 8th February 1906. ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party (the SDP) to form a new party which would become... Insert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text here:This article is about the legislative institution. ... -1... In the British Isles, a county council is a council that governs a county. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Suffragette with banner, Washington DC, 1918 The title of suffragette was given to members of the womens suffrage movement in the United Kingdom. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... In a legislature or other decision making body, a filibuster is an attempt to extend debate upon a proposal in order to delay or completely prevent a vote on its passage. ... Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk, and white varieties, with cocoa solids contributing to the brown coloration. ...

World War I

Following the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered for service with the R. N. V. R., holding the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. He returned to mechanical work and was posted with the Royal Naval Air Service and Armoured Cars. He served in France in 1914 and was wounded in the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915, receiving the D. S. O. for his service during the landing at Cape Helles on the SS River Clyde. Back in Parliament he expressed concern at under-staffing and support for national service, though he also defended the rights of conscientious objectors. Later that year he was posted as an army captain to the staff of General Jan Smuts in East Africa. Promoted to Major he commanded a Machine Gun company in the 2nd South African Infantry Brigade in 1916. In 1917 he became Assistant Director of Trench Warfare with the rank of Colonel. At the start of 1918 he was sent to Siberia where his mission was to encourage continued Russian participation in the war and to gathering intelligence on Bolshevik control in Siberia. In the 1918 General Election he ran as an independent Radical, and was returned unopposed. Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. ... The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of World War I. When the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was founded on April 13, 1912 it was intended to encompass all military flying. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Battle of Gallipoli Conflict First World War Date 19 February 1915 - 9 January 1916 Place Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey Result Ottoman victory The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ... Landing at Cape Helles Conflict First World War Date 25 April 1915 Place Cape Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey Result British victory The Landing at Cape Helles was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on April 25, 1915 during World War I. Helles, at... The SS River Clyde was a 4,000 ton collier built in Glasgow in 1905 and named after the River Clyde in Scotland. ... National service describes a form of military service in which all citizens (or all male citizens) of one particular nation can participate, either voluntarily or (more often) non-voluntarily. ... A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, perhaps with any role in the armed forces or just with a particular war. ... Jan Smuts Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM (May 24, 1870 â€“ September 11, 1950) was a prominent South African statesman and general. ... Eastern Africa (UN subregion) East African Community Central African Federation (defunct) geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 - The Royal Army Medical Corps first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ... Leaders of the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International, a painting by Malcolm McAllister on the Pathfinder Mural in New York City and on the cover of the book Leninâ€™s Final Fight published by Pathfinder. ... The United Kingdom general election of 1918 held on 14th December 1918, after the Representation of the People Act 1918. ...

Joining Labour

In 1919, Wedgwood took the Labour whip in the House of Commons and joined the Independent Labour Party. He enjoyed the freer atmosphere of Labour and the party warmly welcomed him, electing him joint Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 1921. Wedgwood maintained his reputation for championing new ideas and the interests of outsiders and underdogs. He supported a number of unpopular causes, including opposition to the reparations from Germany contained in the Treaty of Versailles. In 1920 he criticised the government's partition of British dominions in Palestine and continued to attack what he saw as its bias against Zionism for the next two decades. That year he also lead a commission from the Labour Party and the TUC to Hungary, which reported on the extremely brutal treatment of suspected communists under the new authoritarian regime. He supported refugee causes in Britain, particularly that of anarchists from the Soviet Union, such as Emma Goldman. Most of all he became known for his support of the Indian independence movement. 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Labour Party has since its formation in the early 20th century been the principal left wing political party of the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) consists of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s: Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian), in small (down) text is written First Palestinian sound movie 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ... Trades Union Congress headquarters at Congress House in Great Russell Street near Tottenham Court Road, Camden, London. ... Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 â€“ May 14, 1940) was a Lithuanian-born anarcho-communist known for her anarchist writings and speeches. ... The Indian Independence Movement was a series of revolutions empowered by the people of India put forth to battle the British Empire for complete political independence, beginning with the Rebellion of 1857, reaching its climax with Mahatma Gandhis Quit India Movement (1942-1945), and Subhash Chandra Boses Indian...

Cabinet and the Lords

There was tacit co-operation between Labour and the opposition Liberals in some seats at the 1923 General Election, and Wedgwood ran unopposed in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Having been re-elected Vice-Chairman of the party in 1922 and 1923, Wedgwood expected a seat in the Cabinet when Labour formed its first government at the start of 1924. There was speculation in the press that he would be made First Lord of the Admiralty and some expectation that he would become Secretary of State for the Colonies or for India. Sidney Webb believed Wedgwood would prefer to become President of the Board of Trade, and was willing to step aside in his favour. However, Ramsay MacDonald initially only offered him the junior position of Financial Secretary to the Treasury. After some pressing, MacDonald gave him a seat in the Cabinet, but with the sinecure title of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster rather than a departmental portfolio. In this capacity he performed various de facto tasks in government. Later in the year he was appointed Chief Industrial Commissioner, succeeding Arthur Henderson in a difficult position as the government's decision to maintain some of its predecessor's policies on industrial action caused much friction within the Labour movement. He chaired a Cabinet Committee to contemplate the use of the Emergency Powers Act against strikes in the transport industry. He took a strong line on a number of issues, opposing disarmament and the promise of a loan to the Soviet Union. He was also wary of the state undertaking public works purely for the sake of doing so, without any utilitarian benefit. The UK general election of 1923 was held on 5th December 1923. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The First Lord of the Admiralty was a British government position in charge of the Admiralty. ... The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. ... Categories: UK Labour Party politicians | British MPs | Peers | Secretaries of State for the Colonies (UK) | 1859 births | 1947 deaths | People stubs ... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866â€“9 November 1937) was a British politician and twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... In the United Kingdom, there are at least five Secretaries to the Treasury, officials officially acting as secretaries to the Treasury board. ... The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a sinecure office in the British government. ... The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 â€“ October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ... The notion of internal improvements or public works is a concept in economics and politics. ...

After the fall of the government, Wedgwood publicly criticised MacDonald's leadership and Labour's reliance on civil servants. He sat on Labour's front bench in opposition, speaking on, amongst other policy areas, local government, where he encouraged Clement Attlee. He was not offered a position in the second Labour government. In March 1929, he became chairman of the House of Commons Records Committee. He began compiling a history of the Commons, a subject that consumed his interest. He wrote a history of Staffordshire's parliamentary representatives from the thirteenth century to the First World War, and two volumes of biographies of MPs of the fifteenth century. Throughout the 1930s he continued to speak in the Commons on issues of importance to him, particularly the Single Tax and native resistance to colonialism. From the mid-30s he was critical of appeasement and of limitations on the migration of Jews to Palestine and of German refugees to Britain. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Home Guard. In 1941 he toured the United States of America, putting Britain's case against Germany at public meetings. Whilst Wedgwood was in America, Winston Churchill offered him a peerage, inviting him to sit for Labour in the House of Lords. Wedgwood accepted, resigning as MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme after thirty-six years and becoming Baron Wedgwood of Barlaston in 1942. The following year he died in London at age of 71. Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883â€“8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... A Home Guard is a part-time civilian reserve military force similar to a militia. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 â€“ 24 January 1965) was a British politician, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... For the Peerage in France, see French peerage. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Baron Wedgwood is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the year. ... This article is about the British city. ...

Contents

Biography

Family

Military and Parliament

World War I

Joining Labour

Cabinet and the Lords

See also

External links

Books About