Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford

Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford ( born November 19, 1870 in South Shields, † November 14, 1949 ) was a British politician. As a longtime liberal member of the House of Commons, he was several times minister in various British governments.

Life

Walter Runciman was the son of Sir Walter Runciman ( 1847-1937 ). He began to work for the Walter Runciman & Co., and then became director of the Moor Line Ltd .. in 1899 he became a deputy in the House of Commons. The following year he defeated Winston Churchill, whom he had previously defeated, but was re-elected in 1902. From 1908 to 1937 he held several ministerial posts. He was from 1908 to 1911 Minister of Education, 1911 Agriculture Minister and finally for two periods of British Trade Minister ( 1915-1916, 1931-1937 ). During the various divisions of the Liberal Party, he stood in opposition to David Lloyd George in 1918 and lost his seat. Only in 1924 he was re-elected.

In June 1937 given the title Viscount Runciman of Doxford, of Doxford in the County of Northumberland was awarded. His father had been four years earlier raised to Baron Runciman; this item Runciman inherited two months after his own elevation to the peerage. From 1938 to 1939 he was Lord President of the Council.

Runciman Mission ( 1938)

August 3, bis September 5, 1938 Lord Runciman was sent by the British government Chamberlain in the Czechoslovak Republic, to mediate in the Sudeten crisis.

Family

Runciman married in 1898 Hilda Stevenson ( 1869-1956 ). They had two sons and three daughters. One of the daughters, Margaret, nee Fairweather (1901-1944), was the first woman to fly a Spitfire; she fell in World War II as a pilot in the transfer of aircraft.

His title was inherited the oldest son Leslie (1900-1989), father of the sociologist Walter Runciman; the second son, Steven Runciman, was an important historian.