George Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith

Charles George Percy Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith PC, JP (25 April 1917 – 2 August 1972),^[1] commonly known as George Delacourt-Smith 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.^[2] He was educated at The Windsor Boys' School and went then to Wadham College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Arts^[3]

Working life

Delacourt-Smith worked as librarian for the Oxford Union Society until 1938, when he became employed at the New Fabian Research Bureau as a research assistant.^[2] In 1939, he came to the Civil Service Clerical Association and was an assistant secretary until 1953.^[2] Subsequently he joined the Post Office Engineering Union, serving as its general secretary for the rest of his life.^[1] In 1960, he was nominated a Justice of the Peace, assigned to the County of London.^[2]

Political career

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Delacourt-Smith entered the Royal Engineers in July 1940.^[2] 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.^[3] After the end of the war Delacourt-Smith was admitted to the British House of Commons in 1945, having been elected for Colchester.^[3] 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.^[3] In 1947, he was chosen a executive member of Labour's Research Department, a position he held for the next four years.^[2]

Delacourt-Smith was created a life peer as Baron Delacourt-Smith, of New Windsor, in the Royal County of Berkshire in 1967 and thus was ennabled to a seat in the House of Lords.^[4] Two years later he was appointed Minister of State for Technology and on this occasion sworn of the Privy Council.^[1] In 1970, when the Conservative Party took office he was replaced as Minister.^[1]

Personal life

In 1939, he married Margaret, the daughter of Frederick Hando.^[5] They both had two sons and a daughter.^[5] Together with his family, he assumed the additional surname Delacourt by a deed poll in 1967.^[6] He died at Windsor in 1972, being survived by his wife.^[5] Two years after his death she received a life peerage in her own right.^[7] He and his wife both held noble titles in their own right.

Works

• Democratic Sweden, (1938)
• Britain's Food Supplies in Peace and War, (1940)
• Modern Turkey, (1940)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Silva (1973), p. 510
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Who's Who (1963), p. 2825
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Dod (1969), p. 78
4. ^ London Gazette: no. 44432. p. 11275. 17 October 1967. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Dod (2004), p. 538
6. ^ London Gazette: no. 44422. pp. 10717–10718. 3 October 1967. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
7. ^ London Gazette: no. 46352. p. 7918. 24 September 1974. Retrieved 26 December 2009.

References

• Who's Who 1963. London: Adam & Charles Black Ltd.. 1963. 
• Charles Roger Dod and Robert Philip Dod (1969). Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1969. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd.. 
• Charles Roger Dod and Robert Philip Dod (2004). Dod's Parliamentary Companion 2004. Vacher Dod Publishing Ltd.. ISBN 0905702433. 
• Michel Silva, ed (1973). Britannica Book of the Year 1973. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.. ISBN 0852292821. 

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 by Oswald Lewis	Member of Parliament for Colchester 1945–1950	Succeeded by Cuthbert Alport
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by D. J. W. Coward	General Secretary of the Post Office Engineering Union 1953–1972	Succeeded by Bryan Stanley
Political offices
Preceded by Reg Prentice Joseph Mallalieu	Minister of State for Technology 1969–1970 With: Eric Varley	Succeeded by Sir John Eden The Earl of Bessborough

Persondata
Name	Delacourt-Smith, George
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 April 1917
Place of birth
Date of death	2 August 1972
Place of death