Herbert Charles Woodcock (2 June 1871 – 18 January 1950) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. The son of Charles Woodcock of

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

and his wife, Annie (''née'' Robertson) of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, he entered business and local politics in the latter city. He was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

on Bristol City Council for many years and a member of the Bristol Stock Exchange from 1898. He was a director of a number of public companies including the Metropolitan Cinema Investment Corporation Limited and the British Benzol and Coal Distillation Limited. Woodcock held a commission in the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a Social movement, popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increa ...

and its successor the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

, and in 1911 became commanding officer of the 6th Battalion, the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

. With the outbreak of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

in 1914 he mobilised with the battalion, serving on the Western Front and in Italy. Woodcock was elected at the 1922 general election as the member of parliament (MP) for Thornbury division of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, defeating the sitting Liberal MP Athelstan Rendall by a majority only 104 votes (0.3% of the total). However, he lost the seat to Rendall at the next election, in 1923. Woodcock returned to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

a year later, when he was elected at the 1924 general election as MP for the Everton division of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He held that seat until the 1929 general election, which he did not contest. He was appointed in November 1922 as a deputy lieutenant of

. He was master of the court of the

Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights The Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, England. An organisation of Wheelwrights and Coachmakers petitioned for incorporation in 1630. The petition was granted forty years later, in 1670, ...

, a Chevalier de la

Légion d’Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and a Commander of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. He also served as vice-president of the

Royal Life Saving Society The Royal Life Saving Society UK is a drowning prevention charity founded in 1891 in the UK. It has had Royal Patronage since 1904. History The Royal Life Saving Society UK is a national charity, founded in 1891 by William Henry, with the purp ...

. He died at his home in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...

in January 1950, aged 78.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodcock, Herbert Charles 1871 births 1950 deaths Knights of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of St John Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Regiment officers Businesspeople from Bristol UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1924–1929 Politicians from Bristol 19th-century British Army personnel British Army personnel of World War I Volunteer Force officers Territorial Force officers