Sir William Arthur Colegate (1884 – 10 September 1956) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1941 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1955.

Biography

Colegate was born in

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

, London, the son of Robert Colegate and Sarah Elizabeth Pearce. He was educated privately before he entered

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

and acted as a research assistant to Beatrice and Sydney Webb. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering in 1904. He then became a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

when he entered the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

in 1910, before moving into business. He enlisted in the army during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but the Board of Trade seconded him for special service during the war. He was a director of Brunner Mond and Company until 1927 (following their amalgamation into ICI) and British Overseas Stores and was chairman of W.G. Allen & Sons (

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeas ...

) Ltd and of the Wright Saddle Company. From 1925 to 1929, he served as President of the Industrial Property Committee of the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. ICC represents over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries who have interest ...

, was a Governor of Harper Adams Agricultural College from 1941 to 1947, and President of the Rural District Councils Association. Abandoning his youthful ideology, Colegate joined the Conservative Party and unsuccessfully contested the Sowerby constituency at the 1929 general election, but he was elected for

The Wrekin The Wrekin ( ) is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire Council, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of ...

at a by-election in September 1941, following the death at sea of James Baldwin-Webb. He lost the seat at the 1945 general election, but was successful in Burton, (where he had been adopted as candidate in 1947), at the 1950 general election, holding his seat in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, and standing down at the 1955 general election,''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'' (1951), p.157 the same year that he was knighted.

Personal life

On 22 November 1917, Colegate married Winifred Mary Pemberton, daughter of Sir William Worsley, 3rd Baronet, and widow of Captain Francis Percy Campbell Pemberton of the 2nd Life Guards who had been killed in action in the

in 1914. The couple had four daughters, one of whom was the writer

Isabel Colegate Isabel Diana Colegate (10 September 1931 – 12 March 2023) was a British author and literary agent. Early life and education Born in Paddington in London, England, Colegate was the youngest of her parents' four daughters. Her father was Arthu ...

. His wife predeceased him in 1955.

Estates

Besides in London, Colegate had homes at Redbourne Hall near

Gainsborough, Lincolnshire Gainsborough () is a market town and civil parish in the West Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. The population was 20,842 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 23,243 in 2019. It lies on the east bank of the ...

and Church Aston Manor near

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...

in 1945 and at the time of his death lived at

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by so ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colegate, Arthur 1884 births 1956 deaths Alumni of University College London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 People associated with Harper Adams University Politicians from the London Borough of Southwark People from Walworth Church Aston