Ivor Bulmer-Thomas

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FSA (30 November 1905 – 7 October 1993), born Ivor Thomas, was a British journalist and scientific writer who served eight years as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP). His career was much influenced by his conversion to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

in his youth, and he became a pious believer on the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

wing of the Church. A brilliant scholar and champion athlete while at university, Bulmer-Thomas wrote biographies and worked as a sub-editor on ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' during his early life. His experience in wartime

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

propaganda led him to doubt its value. Serving in the Attlee Labour Party government in junior roles made him resent the influence of the Labour left; he fell out with party policy on nationalisation and moved to the Conservative Party. He was a workaholic and after leaving politics he became a leading layman in the

; an interest in historic buildings led him to set up the

Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As of April ...

group, which campaigns to prevent churches falling into disuse, and play a key role in founding the charity known today as

The Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

Family and faith

Thomas was born in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

, Monmouthshire; his father A.E. Thomas, was working class.Matthew Saunders, "Ivor Bulmer-Thomas" (Obituary), ''The Independent'', 8 October 1993. He went to

West Monmouth School West Monmouth School (Welsh: ''Ysgol Gorllewin Mynwy''; colloquially: West Mon) is a state-funded and non-selective secondary school in Pontypool, Torfaen, south Wales. Admissions Pupils who attend the school generally live in the Torfaen area. ...

in Pontypool, where he abandoned his father's

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

faith in favour of the

wing of the

,"Ivor Bulmer-Thomas" (Obituary), ''The Times'', 8 October 1993. a decision that was to affect his future career profoundly. Although a pious believer, his personal piety was described by

Robin Denniston Robin Denniston (25 December 1926 – 6 April 2012) was a British publisher, author and minister. He worked for Collins, Hodder and Stoughton, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Thomson Publications and Oxford University Press. ''The Guardian'' indicated in ...

in his ''Guardian'' obituary as "always gentle and humble".Robin Denniston, "Dissenter in the Pews: Ivor Bulmer-Thomas" (Obituary), ''The Guardian'', 9 October 1993.

Oxford

Performing well at school, Thomas won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

to St John's College, Oxford, where he studied both Mathematical Mods. and Literae Humaniores (known unofficially as 'Greats' and as 'Classics' at other universities), obtaining Firsts in both. He then turned to study divinity, but fell into dispute with the president of the college and moved instead to

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

where he became Senior Demy in Theology."Thomas, Ivor Bulmer- (1905–1993)" in

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

". He was the Liddon Student in 1928, the Ellerton Essayist in 1929, and the Junior Denyer and Johnson Scholar in 1930."Who Was Who", A & C Black. Thomas' achievements at Oxford were not confined to academic life; he also became a competitive cross country runner. He represented

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

es against

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

from 1925 to 1927, in which year he won the three miles race. In 1926 he had represented his country,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, in international cross-country running. But for an injury he would have stood a good chance of selection in the Great Britain team for the 1928 Summer Olympics in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Author

On leaving Oxford, Thomas became the Gladstone Research Student at St Deiniol's Library in Hawarden, the residential library founded at

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

's former house. The product of his research there was a book on Gladstone's son, published under the title "Gladstone of Hawarden" in 1936. This book was preceded into print by a biography of Lord Birkenhead, published in 1930 (the year its subject died). Thomas had come to know Birkenhead through his interest in university athletics and the book has been described as witty and entertaining; it was dedicated to "my creditors". David Fowler noted the following works *''Illustrating the History of Greek Mathematics'' (1939–1941), Loeb Classical Library * ''The Socialist Tragedy'', Latimer House (1949) *Contributed substantial articles to the authoritative ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' (1970–1990) *The section on ''Greek geometry'' in ''Geschichte der Algebra'' (1990) *Sections in ''Lehrbücher zur Didaktik der Mathematik'' *Reviewer for Classical Reviews on ancient science and mathematics; contributor of articles to journals and encyclopaedias.

Journalism

Thomas joined the staff of ''

'' newspaper in 1930, where he served in the sub-editors' room. He also wrote occasional leader columns and specialist articles on scientific subjects as well as being a sports correspondent for a brief period. He married Dilys Llewelyn Jones in 1932, who bore him a son. In 1935, owed some leave from ''The Times'', Thomas took it to coincide with the general election for which he had been chosen as Labour Party candidate for Spen Valley in July."News in Brief", ''The Times'', 16 July 1935, p. 9. The sitting Member of Parliament was Sir John Simon, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

and the contest was a high-profile one; although Simon was elected, his margin of 642 votes was closer than expected and was said to have given him a fright.

Bereavement

Thomas moved to the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...

'' in 1937 as chief leader writer, finding the time to write a biography of Welsh industrialist David Davies which was published the following year. However, tragedy struck with the death of his wife in childbirth in the same year. Thomas' reaction was to write "Dilysia", a threnody which combined his increasing love of

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...

(especially

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

) with a Christian philosophical analysis of suffering and bereavement. In later life Thomas was to identify it as his favourite piece of writing, and it was republished in 1987. Thomas needed only four hours sleep, and kept volumes of Dante in the original mediaeval

by his bedside to read at night.

Wartime service

As the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

threatened, Thomas enlisted in 1938 in a Territorial battalion of the Royal Fusiliers as a fusilier, equivalent in rank to a private. In 1940 he was commissioned into the

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

. While in the Army, he wrote a two-volume work "Selections Illustrating the History of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Mathematics" which was published by the Loeb Classical Library; he was promoted to captain in 1941.

Propaganda work

As a fluent

speaker, Thomas was drafted into the psychological warfare department of the Foreign Office and Ministry of Information with a brief to develop propaganda for use against Mussolini's

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Thomas wrote a 1942 book for

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.

Parliament

Election

After leaving propaganda work, Thomas was appointed as intelligence officer in the

area. In January 1942, he was chosen as Labour Party candidate for the Keighley byelection caused by the death of Hastings Lees-Smith."Keighley By-Election", ''The Times'', 26 January 1942, p. 2. The political parties had agreed an electoral truce, and a threatened

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidacy by B. D. Margerison of

Wibsey Wibsey (population 14,530 – 2001 UK census) is a ward within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire, England. The population had increased to 14,671 at the 2011 Census. Wibsey is named after Wibsey village which m ...

in Bradford came to nothing when Margerison decided not to stand (despite having issued an election address)."Keighley candidate's withdrawal", ''The Times'', 6 February 1942, p. 2. Thomas was therefore elected unopposed on 13 February."New Labour M.P. for Keighley", ''The Times'', 14 February 1942, p. 2.

Maiden speech

Thomas'

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 12 March concerned pensions, during which he argued that the means test was "a blot on our national honour". He described the principle of supporting those unable to work as "the iron ration of citizenship"."Parliament", ''The Times'', 13 March 1942, p. 8. In his early period in Parliament he concentrated on propaganda concerns, in which he disagreed with Stephen King-Hall's call for it to be treated on the same level as the three services. Thomas argued that this was an "entirely false perspective" and that propaganda was a "valuable but

ancillary weapon An ancillary weapon is a weapon used for secondary or auxiliary purpose, such as a sidearm. Until the early 20th century, an officer's side arm was typically a sword, with the inclusion of a revolver or pistol between the mid-19th century to Wor ...

".Letters, ''The Times'', 20 April 1942, p. 5.

Activity

In November 1942, Thomas worked with Aneurin Bevan and an all-party group of Members of Parliament to put down a motion opposing British co-operation with Admiral Darlan in

French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. I ...

."Terms of Commons Motion", ''The Times'', 27 November 1942, p. 4. He was also active on domestic issues, supporting the movement to allow Sunday opening of theatres,"Sunday Theatre Opening", ''The Times'', 4 February 1943, p. 2. and for his stance he was denounced by the

Lord's Day Observance Society Day One Christian Ministries, formerly known as the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS), is a Christian organisation based in the United Kingdom that lobbies for no work on Sunday, the day that many Christians celebrate as the Sabbath, a day of r ...

. At a meeting of the society in February 1943, one prayer asked God to "deal with Ivor Thomas as he dealt with

Saul of Tarsus Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

"."Protest Against Sunday Theatres", ''The Times'', 9 February 1943, p. 2. (Saul is said in

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

9:4 to have been converted hearing a voice from Heaven saying "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?") Thomas became a very active Member of Parliament, intervening in many debates on diverse subjects both domestic and foreign. In January 1945 he was also a speaker at the inaugural meeting of the League for European Freedom, a group which worked to restore the sovereignty of all "lesser European Powers existing in 1937" and for democratic government throughout Europe."League For European Freedom", ''The Times'', 20 January 1945, p. 2. With the end of the war in sight, in April 1945 Thomas drew attention to a speech by

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–194 ...

which called for Government and Opposition to share common ground on foreign policy and defence by sharing information.Letters, ''The Times'', 13 April 1945, p. 5.

Government

Ministry of Civil Aviation

At the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

Thomas was easily re-elected. When he saw the list of Government Ministers appointed by Clement Attlee, Thomas took the unusual step of writing to the new prime minister to ask why his own name had not appeared on it. Attlee decided to find Thomas an appointment, and made him Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 10 August 1945."More Ministerial Appointments", ''The Times'', 11 August 1945, p. 2. He was the Ministry's spokesman in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

as the Minister was Lord Winster. Thomas took over responsibility for the building of

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

, then known as 'Heath Row', which had been started by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the war."House of Commons", ''The Times'' 11 October 1945, p. 8. Thomas felt that he could only truly understand his job if he obtained a Private Pilot's Licence, and took up flying until he passed. In 1946 he had responsibility for taking the Civil Aviation Bill through the House of Commons; the Bill was controversial in that it nationalised air transport into three corporations which were originally intended to have commercial freedom. Winster and Thomas were forced by left-wing pressure within the Labour Party to revisit the plans and make the corporations public monopolies."Civil Aviation", ''The Times'', 6 April 1946, p. 2.Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, "The Growth of the British Party System" (John Baker, 1965), vol. ii, p. 168. Some Labour Members were concerned that Thomas, still a young man with little experience of the heavy work of Parliament, was in charge of such an important Bill. Despite a gruelling passage, including an all day Standing Committee session,"Standing Committee's Long Day", ''The Times'', 28 June 1946, p. 4. the Bill was enacted on schedule on 1 August.

Colonies Office

On 4 October 1946 Thomas was moved to be Under-Secretary for the Colonies,"Cabinet And Defence", ''The Times'', 5 October 1946, p. 4. a shift which he later ascribed to an act of weakness by Attlee in giving in to left-wing pressure after the dispute over the Civil Aviation Bill. With this appointment he was also a delegate to the General Assembly of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

."British Delegation", ''The Times'', 14 October 1946, p. 4. He negotiated at the United Nations over continued British administration of the colonies of Tanganyika,

Togoland Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kn ...

and the

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

s, against attempts by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to limit the extent of control."Trustee Agreements", ''The Times'', 12 December 1946, p. 4. Early the next year he intervened in a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, helping to persuade 7,000 municipal labourers to return to work."Singapore strike over", ''The Times'', 17 February 1947, p. 3. The Colonies Office also had responsibility for Palestine under the British mandate, in which he followed government policy of resisting illegal immigration (which was predominantly Jewish)."House of Commons", ''The Times'', 13 August 1947, p. 6.

Crossing the floor

Despite thoughts that Thomas might be 'leadership material', Attlee dropped him from the government on 7 October 1947, a dismissal which was unexpected."New Members of Cabinet", ''The Times'', 8 October 1947, p. 4. The reason was Thomas' increasing disillusion with

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. In March 1948 he spoke at an Italian election rally for the moderate Italian Socialist Party calling for a federation of Europe;"Mr. Ivor Thomas on European Union", ''The Times'', 1 April 1948, p. 3. when it was revealed that left-wing Labour Members of Parliament had sent a telegram of support to

Pietro Nenni Pietro Sandro Nenni (; 9 February 1891 – 1 January 1980) was an Italian socialist politician, the national secretary of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and senator for life since 1970. He was a recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1951. He ...

, leader of the rival left-wing Italian Socialists, Thomas signed a motion calling for a Select Committee to investigate."Party Discipline", ''The Times'', 20 April 1948, p. 4. On 13 October 1948 Thomas wrote to ''The Times'' to urge the government to "drop all contentious legislation" in the forthcoming Parliamentary session, specifically the Parliament Bill and the Iron and Steel Bill,"Unity at Home", ''The Times'', 15 October 1948, p. 5. prompting considerable debate. Immediately after the King's Speech in which both Bills were included, Thomas wrote to Attlee announcing his resignation from the Labour Party. He said he had been "particularly disturbed by the growing concentration of power in the hands of the State" and accused the government of surrendering "to its more extreme members and supporters"."M.P. resigns from Labour Party", ''The Times'', 27 October 1948, p. 6.

Stormy speech

When Thomas rose to speak in the debate the following day, it became clear that leaving the Labour Party had cost him many friendships. Hyacinth Morgan intervened in his speech to ask whether he would stand for re-election immediately under his new colours; Thomas replied that he had consulted the precedent of Tom Horabin who had moved from the Liberals to Labour without so doing. When Thomas declared that the Labour slogan reversed the Christian declaration 'What is mine is thine' to say 'What is thine is mine', Morgan shouted at him "You are a dirty dog!". The

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

ordered Morgan to withdraw the words. In his conclusion, Thomas implicitly praised the leadership of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

."Mr. Ivor Thomas in Stormy Scene", ''The Times'', 28 October 1948, p. 4. During the rest of the Parliament, Thomas was treated by Labour Members as a pariah. He formed an unofficial group of two with Alfred Edwards who had also left Labour over the nationalisation of steel, and in the new year he formally announced he had joined the Conservative Party; simultaneously it was announced that he had been adopted as Conservative Party candidate for Newport (Monmouthshire), near his birthplace."Mr. Ivor Thomas", ''The Times'', 4 January 1949, p. 4. However, he did not receive the Conservative Whip until

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the ...

."Mr. A. Edwards Joins Conservatives", ''The Times'', 20 August 1949, p. 4. Thomas made an attacking speech at the 1949 Conservative Party conference: referring to Harold Wilson's remark that half the children in his class never had any boots, Thomas gibed that "if ever he went to school without any boots it was because he was too big for them".

Nigel Rees Nigel Rees (born 5 June 1944 near Liverpool) is an English writer and broadcaster, known for devising and hosting the Radio 4 panel game '' Quote... Unquote'' (1976–2021) and as the author of more than fifty books, mostly works of reference on ...

, "Sayings of the Century" (Unwin Paperbacks, 1987), p. 150. He wrote a book called ''The Socialist Tragedy'' which was published that year.

Defeat

When the general election came round, Thomas found himself with a formidable task in trying to win Newport. Thomas had family connections and his stance on steel nationalisation was thought to be popular, but he found the voters not very interested."S. Wales apathy on steel", ''The Times'', 18 February 1950, p. 3. Thomas was defeated by the heavy margin of 9,992 votes.

Return to journalism

Thomas' first action on losing his seat was to go with a group of friends to drive across the Sahara desert. He then returned to journalism, becoming a reviewer for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' and writing

obituaries An obituary (obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Acc ...

for ''The Times''. His contributions were anonymous in print but he is known to have been responsible for many important obituaries including that of

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

. From 1953 to 1954, he was acting deputy editor of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. By this time, he had changed his surname. In 1940 he had married (at Hereford Cathedral) Joan Bulmer, from Hereford, by whom he had a son and two daughters; in April 1952 he took the additional surname 'Bulmer-' by deed poll to acknowledge her. His son by his second marriage is Victor Bulmer-Thomas, formerly director of

Chatham House Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...

Church of England

In the same year as losing his Parliamentary seat, Bulmer-Thomas had found a seat in the House of Laity of the Church Assembly. There, as he had at Westminster, he intervened frequently in debate with some extravagant and controversial speeches The issue which had become the most pressing for Bulmer-Thomas on the Church Assembly was the care of the fabric of churches. In 1951 he was appointed chairman of the London Diocesan Advisory Committee on the care of Churches,"Roofing of Churches" (letter), ''The Times'', 3 May 1952, p. 7. and in June of that year he successfully moved a motion in the Church Assembly to set up a £4 million trust for the preservation of historic churches."Maintenance of Churches", ''The Times'', 20 June 1952, p. 3. The Historic Churches Preservation Trust achieved its desired funding and persuaded the Church Assembly to pass the Inspection of Churches Measure, to properly assess the condition of old churches every five years."Expert Inspection of Churches", ''The Times'', 9 May 1955, p. 5. Bulmer-Thomas' obituary in ''The Independent'' commented that "more than any other single Act, this modest Measure has prevented many of those sudden 'repairs crises' which carry off too many fine churches".

Dispute with the archbishop

On 13 July 1956 long-running tensions within the Historic Churches Preservation Trust came out in the open. Bulmer-Thomas wanted the trust to save every threatened church, which included intervening with

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s to persuade them not to demolish unwanted churches which had lost their congregations. Other trustees, allied with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, thought that local autonomy should be preserved. When Bulmer-Thomas failed to persuade the trust to adopt his policy, the trust was dissolved and a new executive committee set up in which he was not involved."Church Preservation Trust Difference on Policy", ''The Times'', 14 July 1956, p. 6. At the Church Assembly on 15 November 1956, Bulmer-Thomas attacked Fisher, saying that he "held a pistol to my face while the Dean of Gloucester plunged his dagger into my back", which shocked some listeners."Assembly Clash On "Neglect" Of Historic Churches", ''The Times'', 16 November 1956, p. 7. Bulmer-Thomas went away and made his own plans.

Friends of Friendless Churches

On 12 August 1957 Bulmer-Thomas announced the formation of "The

", with himself as acting chairman and honorary secretary; he stressed that the group "is in no sense a rival to any existing body"."Saving 'Friendless Churches'", ''The Times'', 13 August 1957, p. 5. The Friends followed the policy Bulmer-Thomas had hoped the trust would adopt, opposing any suggestion of the demolition of a church. He saw some considerable success but became an even more controversial figure with those who saw new uses of old churches as being an inevitable development. By the time of Bulmer-Thomas' death, it was estimated that the Friends had by their own efforts actively saved 17 churches, and helped to rescue many more; They had become the guardians of 21 separate churches. While many disagreed with Bulmer-Thomas' approach, his commitment was clear.

The Churches Conservation Trust

In 1969 Bulmer-Thomas was made the first chairman of the Redundant Churches Fund, known today as The Churches Conservation Trust, the national charity protecting historic churches at risk."Latest Appointments", ''The Times'', 3 April 1969, p. 12. Bulmer-Thomas was in charge of it for seven years. As of 2015 this body has over 345 historic churches in its care, visited by almost 2 million people a year.

Other activity

Bulmer-Thomas had other involvement in the field of heritage, being Secretary of the Ancient Monuments Society from 1958; he served on the society's council for more than 30 years and was its chairman from 1975 to 1990. In 1970 he became a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

. In addition he became a

Churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

at St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, where he conducted an "Advanced Sunday School"; he had a special bond to the Church, having fought to have it rebuilt after bomb damage in the Second World War. His interest in journalism and connection to the Church led him to get involved in the Society of the Faith and the Faith Press, which it owned as a specialist printing firm.

Honours

He never attempted to return to politics, but he did write "The Growth of the British Party System" in two volumes in 1965; it was poorly received. In 1981 he became a member of the Social Democratic Party, although he was not active. He was a hard worker, but in 1985 he stood down from the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church of ...

after 35 years membership of it and its predecessor. He received several honours, including an honorary Fellowship of St John's College Oxford, and the

for his work in preserving Churches in 1984, which Bulmer-Thomas quipped stood for "Churches Before Evangelism". He received two honorary degrees, that from the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

in 1979 being at the insistence of the Mathematics Department. On his 80th birthday, the Ancient Monuments Society published a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' in his honour, paying tribute to the diversity of his interests. Bulmer-Thomas was reported to have been working "literally till a few minutes before his death" on a letter to the ''Daily Telegraph'', which was published on the same day as his obituary appeared.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer-Thomas, Ivor Military personnel from Monmouthshire People from Cwmbran Welsh male journalists Royal Fusiliers soldiers Royal Norfolk Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Thomas, Ivor Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Thomas, Ivor Thomas, Ivor Thomas, Ivor British Anglo-Catholics Alumni of St John's College, Oxford 1905 births 1993 deaths Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951