John Llewellin, 1st Baron Llewellin

John Jestyn Llewellin, 1st Baron Llewellin GBE MC TD PC (6 February 1893 – 24 January 1957) was a British army officer, Conservative Party politician and minister in Winston Churchill's war government.

Colonel The Right Honourable The Lord Llewellin GBE MC TD PC
Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
In office 4 September 1953 – 24 January 1957
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Sir Robert Clarkson Tredgold
Minister of Aircraft Production
In office 22 February 1942 – 22 November 1942
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	The 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara
Succeeded by	Sir Stafford Cripps
President of the Board of Trade
In office 4 – 22 February 1942
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Sir Andrew Duncan
Succeeded by	Hugh Dalton
Member of Parliament for Uxbridge
In office 30 May 1929 – 5 July 1945
Preceded by	Sir Dennistoun Burney, Bt
Succeeded by	Frank Beswick
Personal details
Born	6 February 1893
Died	24 January 1957 (aged 63)
Political party	Conservative

Background

Llewellin was the son of William Llewellin, of Upton House, Dorset, and Frances Mary, daughter of L. D. Wigan. He was educated at Eton.[1]

Military career

Llewellin was commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1914 and reached the rank of Major during the First World War, winning the Military Cross in 1917.[2] He remained in the Territorial Army after the war and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Dorset Heavy Brigade in 1932. He was promoted Colonel in 1936 and retired in 1938. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1926,[3] promoted to a Commander (CBE) in 1939,[4] and then was made a Knight Grand Cross (GBE) in 1953.[5]

Political career

Llewellin was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge in Middlesex in 1929. He held a number of ministerial posts in the Coalition government, eventually serving as President of the Board of Trade for two weeks in 1942. He subsequently became Minister of Aircraft Production until replaced by Sir Stafford Cripps in November 1942.[6] Later, Llewellin served on the Combined Policy Committee set up by the British and United States governments under the Quebec Agreement of 1943 to oversee the construction of the atomic bomb.

In December 1943 Llewellin's seat on the committee was assumed by Sir Ronald Campbell and Llewellin became Minister of Food, the position he held until the Churchill government fell to the Labour Party of Clement Attlee in July 1945. Llewellin lost his seat in the election and was raised to the peerage as Baron Llewellin, of Upton in the County of Dorset.[7] After the war he served as Governor General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between 1953 and his death in January 1957.

Personal life

Lord Lewellin died in January 1957, aged 63. The barony became extinct with his death.

Arms

Coat of arms of John Llewellin, 1st Baron Llewellin

Crest A lamb passant Argent supporting with the dexter forefoot a flagstaff in bend sinister Proper therefrom flowing a banner Gules charged with a spear head Or between two wings of the third on each a like spear head. Escutcheon Gules three chevronels couped Ermine between as many spear heads Or. Supporters Dexter a farmer holding in the exterior hand a hay-fork; sinister an officer of the Merchant Navy holding in the exterior hand a pair of binoculars all Proper. Motto Duw Fo Ar Fy Rhan [8]

References

1. thepeerage.com John Jestyn Llewellin, 1st and last Baron Llewellin
2. "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1918. p. 40.
3. "No. 33179". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 July 1926. p. 4408.
4. "No. 34633". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1939. p. 3858.
5. "No. 39933". The London Gazette. 7 August 1953. p. 4303.
6. Butler & Butler 1994, pp. 17–20.
7. "No. 37287". The London Gazette. 28 September 1945. p. 4814.
8. Burke's Peerage. 1856.

Bibliography

• Butler, David; Butler, Gareth (1994). British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7 ed.). Basingstoke and London: The Macmillan Press.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Jestyn Llewellin