Sir Rolf Dudley Dudley-Williams, 1st Baronet (17 June 1908 – 8 October 1987), born Rolf Dudley Williams, was a British

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

and Conservative Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Royal Air Force career

Williams was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and is the son of master draper Arthur Henry Williams (1872-1922) and Minnie Jane (d. 1924), née Edgcumbe. He was educated at

Plymouth College Plymouth College is a co-educational private school in Plymouth, Devon. History The school was established in 1877. In 1896 Plymouth College bought Mannamead School (founded in 1854), and was temporarily known as Plymouth and Mannamead Colleg ...

and joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

cadet scheme in 1926 and studied at the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell. He was

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

d in 1928 and appointed a

Flying Officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

in 1930. From 1933, he was stationed at the Central Flying School, but the next year an injury saw him invalided out of the service.

Jet engines

Deciding to go into business, Williams joined with fellow Cranwell pupil

Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 fo ...

and fellow ex-RAF officer

James Collingwood Tinling James Collingwood Burdett Tinling (24 March 1900 – 1983) was an ex- RAF officer who joined with Rolf Dudley-Williams and Frank Whittle in 1936 to set up Power Jets Ltd, which manufactured the world's first working jet engine. Tinling was born i ...

to set up

Power Jets Power Jets was a British company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines. The company was nationalised in 1944, and evolved into the National Gas Turbine Establishment. History The origins of Powe ...

Ltd in 1936 to develop Whittle's idea of

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

s for aircraft. In 1941, he was appointed Managing Director, and in 1943 he joined the Council of the

Society of British Aircraft Constructors 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. Soc ...

and was made a Companion of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

in 1944.

Politics

At the 1950 general election, Williams was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate for

Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and Ward (electoral subdivision), electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (originally in Staffordshire), England. It is located south of Dudley and north of Stourbr ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

but lost to Labour. He was then selected for

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, a Conservative held seat, and won it at the 1951 general election.

Parliament

While Williams concentrated on the aircraft industry and the RAF, he also introduced his own

Private Member's Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

to extend the legal protection against

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

in 1952. During the December 1954 controversy over

Rudolph Cartier Rudolph Cartier (born Rudolph Kacser, renamed himself in Germany to Rudolph Katscher; 17 April 1904 – 7 June 1994) was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, excl ...

's television adaptation of ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'' by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, Williams was one of five Conservative MPs who jointly tabled a motion in the House of Commons that attacked "the tendency, evident in recent

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

television programmes, notably on Sunday evenings, to pander to sexual and sadistic tastes". Williams' campaign to retain his seat at the 1955 general election was helped by Sir

, who had attempted to convert Williams to socialism while at Cranwell but was forcefully opposed to nationalisation after his treatment by Labour ministers in the 1940s. After his re-election, Williams advocated a hawkish approach to Egypt on the Suez issue, and supported police crackdowns on demonstrations for nuclear disarmament. He served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for War in 1958, and to the Minister of Agriculture from 1960 to 1964. From the 1960s he made a specialism of opposing other MPs' Private Members' Bills, especially from Labour MPs. He helped

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

take his seat when Churchill made a rare appearance 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 ...

chamber in 1963. On 29 June 1964 he adopted the new surname of Dudley-Williams by

Deed Poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of the City and County of the

City of Exeter A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

on 2 July 1964.

Later career

After an adverse swing at the 1964 general election, Dudley-Williams lost his seat in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Although taking some business appointments, he effectively retired from politics. However, in January 1975 during the Conservative Party leadership election, he joined with five other former Conservative MPs to write a letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' urging

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

to "now make way, so that the undoubted talents and leadership which he has kept muffled on the back benches should be given a chance to come to the fore". He is the grandfather of journalist

Marina Hyde Marina Hyde (born Marina Elizabeth Catherine Dudley-Williams; 13 May 1974) is an English journalist. She has been a columnist for ''The Guardian'' since 2000. Early life and education Hyde was born at St George's Hospital, London, the daughter ...

Arms

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley-Williams, Rolf Williams, Dudley 1987 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Companions of the Royal Aeronautical Society Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Williams, Dudley Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell People educated at Plymouth College Power Jets Williams, Dudley Williams, Dudley Williams, Dudley Williams, Dudley UK MPs 1964–1966 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Exeter