Hervey Rhodes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes KG, PC, DFC (12 August 1895—11 September 1987) was a Labour politician.
Rhodes was educated at St Mary's School, Greenfield, then at Huddersfield Technical College. The writer is unclear about the years until the Great War. As he was only 19 when it began, he is unlikely to have become an important businessman.
During the Great War he served with the Royal Flying Corps, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar as an Observer. He was badly wounded during the War and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He left with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
During the Second World War, Rhodes, by then a mill-owner and Chairman of the Saddleworth Rural District Council, became the Commanding Officer of the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV), formed in 1940 to defend England against the Armies of the Third Reich, then in occupation of much of North Europe and having succeeded in expelling the British Expeditionary Force from Europe at Dunkirk.
Initially, the LDV were issued only with an armband and brought along to parades and training such implements as they could lay their hands on. Quite soon some wag named the LDV "The Look, Duck & Vanish". The name was quickly changed to Home Guard and within a few short weeks the Home Guard was equipped with .303 Lee-Enfield rifles, khaki uniform, like the Army and had Officers and NCOs appointed. Hervey Rhodes became the CO of the 36th (West Riding) Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment. Major Rhodes (soon Lt.Col.) came round to his various companies, limping, complete with stick and pipe. The Battalion was soon quite well-together and equipped with Thompson sub-machine guns and later, Sten guns and other weaponry. Rhodes served as CO of the Battalion until the Home Guard was disbanded. He then was able to develop his political career, alongside his business interests at his Mill at Delph.
In the 1945 general election, Rhodes stood without success as the Labour candidate in Royton. A few months later, however, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Ashton under Lyne in a by-election created by William Jowitt's elevation to the peerage.
Rhodes was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hilary Marquand, as Paymaster-General and Minister of Pensions. In 1950, he was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, serving until Labour's election defeat in 1951.
He served as MP until 1964, when he was succeeded by Robert Sheldon. He was made a life peer in 1964 as Baron Rhodes, of Saddleworth in the West Riding of the County of Yorkshire. He again held office as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1964 until 1967. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire from 1968. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1969 and a Knight of the Garter in 1972.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: William Jowitt |
Member of Parliament for Ashton under Lyne 1945–1964 |
Succeeded by: Robert Sheldon |
| Honorary Titles | ||
| Preceded by: The Earl of Derby |
Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire 1968–1971? |
Succeeded by: The Lord Clitheroe |
Categories: 1895 births | 1987 deaths | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | Labour MPs (UK) | Life peers | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | Knights of the Garter | UK MPs 1945-1950 | UK MPs 1950-1951 | UK MPs 1951-1955 | UK MPs 1955-1959 | UK MPs 1959-1964
