Willoughby Dickinson, 1st Baron Dickinson

Willoughby Dickinson

Willoughby Hyett Dickinson, 1st Baron Dickinson ( April 9, 1859 - May 31, 1943 ) was a British politician ( Liberal Party ).

Life and activity

Dickinson was a son of Member of Parliament Sebastian Dickinson . He was at Eton College trained and studied jurisprudence at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge . In 1884 he was admitted to the bar ( called to the bar ).

From 1889 to 1907 was a member of the London County Council : from 1892 to 1896 he served as its deputy chairman and from 1900 to 1901 as chairman.

In the British general election of 1906, Dickinson was elected as a candidate for the Liberal Party as MP for the constituency of St. Pancras North in the House of Commons , the British Parliament, of which he was a member for twelve years until 1918. Previously, he had run unsuccessfully in the general election of 1895 (in the constituency of Stepney) and 1900 (in the constituency of St. Pancras) as a candidate for the Liberal Party for a seat in parliament. During his time as a member of Parliament, Dickinson stood out as a proponent of women's suffrage , and he introduced several proposals to parliament to achieve this.

Within the Liberal Party, he served from 1901 to 1918 as chairman of the London Liberal Federation and from 1897 to 1908 as a member of the executive committee of the National Liberal Federation.

In 1914 Dickinson was made a member of the Privy Council , the British Privy Council . In 1930 he was raised to the nobility as Baron Dickinson, of Painswick in the County of Gloucester.

As a convinced pacifist served Dickinson long time the World Alliance for International Friendship ( World Alliance for Friendship through the Churches ) as general secretary and stood before her in 1931 as president. He is also considered to be one of the originators of the League of Nations idea and gave this organization sustained support after it was founded. He also served as Vice President of the British League of Nations Union (League of Nations Societies) at times.

Willoughby was a member of the Reform Club and the National Liberal Club.

After Dickinson's death, his title passed to his grandson Richard .

family

In 1891 Dickinson married Elizabeth, a daughter of General Richard John Meade, with whom he had three children.

literature

• Hope Costley-White: Willoughby Hyett Dickinson, 1859-1943: A Memoir , 1952.
• Current Biography , 1943, p. 173.
• Obituary in: The New York Times, June 2, 1943.