Ivor Owen Thomas

Ivor Owen Thomas (5 December 1898 – 11 January 1982)[1] was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician.

Thomas was the son of Benjamin L. Thomas from Briton Ferry in South Wales.[2] He was educated at Vernon Place School in Briton Ferry. He was employed as a barber's lather boy,[3] and then at Gwalia Tinplate Works from 1912 to 1919, and then as a tinplate cleaner on the Great Western Railway from 1921 to 1923.[2] He won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London, where he studied from 1923 to 1925, then worked at the head office of the National Union of Railwaymen until 1945.[3]

Thomas was a Labour Party councillor on Battersea Metropolitan Borough Council from 1928[3] or 1929[2] to 1945.[2] At the 1945 general election he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for The Wrekin in Shropshire.[4][5] He was re-elected in 1950[6] and 1951,[7] and held the seat until his defeat at the 1955 general election by the Conservative William Yates.[3]

He then returned to work at the NUR headquarters until 1958, and worked for British Rail at London Waterloo station from 1960 to 1965.

There is a road named after him in the village of St Georges, situated in Telford (formerly the Wrekin constituency).

Personal life

In 1929, Thomas married Beatrice Davis, daughter of William Davis.[3] They had one daughter.[3]

Beatrice died in 1978, and Thomas died in 1982, aged 83.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Stenton, Michael; Lees, Stephens (1981). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume IV, 1945–1979. Brighton: The Harvester Press. p. 365. ISBN 0-85527-335-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Obituary: Mr Ivor Owen Thomas". The Times. London. 16 January 1982. p. 8, col F. Retrieved 10 February 2011. (subscription required)
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 37238. p. 4294. 24 August 1945. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  5. ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 453. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 38851. p. 1040. 28 February 1950. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  7. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 39372. p. 5664. 30 October 1951. Retrieved 10 February 2011.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Arthur Colegate		 Member of Parliament for The Wrekin
1945 – 1955 		Succeeded by
William Yates
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