First published 1995 by
FRANK CASS & CO. LTD.
Published 2013 by Routledge
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Copyright 1995 David A. Thomas
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Thomas, David A.
Churchill: Member for Woodford
I. Title
941.082092
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thomas, David Arthur, 1925-
Churchill : the member for Woodford / David A. Thomas.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Churchill, Winston, Sir, 18741965. 2. Wanstead and Woodford (London, England)Politics and government. 3. Prime ministersGreat BritainBiography. I. Title.
DA566.9.C5T35 1995
941.084092dc20
[B]
94-31527
CIP
ISBN 13: 978-0-714-64586-5 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-714-64143-0 (pbk)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Typeset by Vitaset, Paddock Wood, Kent
T HIS VOLUME attempts to tell the story of Sir Winston Churchills association with his Essex constituencies covering a period of very nearly forty years from 1924 until 1964. His first constituency the Epping Division stretched from Aldersbrook to Harlow, embracing Loughton and Woodford and lasting from 1924 to 1945. Thereafter boundary changes effectively reduced the constituency to Wanstead and Woodford; thus from 1945 until his retirement in 1964 he was the Member for Woodford.
These forty-odd years see Churchill intimately concerned with the Conservative Associations and constituents of South West Essex while in and out of office, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, as an outcast in the political wilderness for ten years including the period of Munich when he was roughly treated and almost ejected while he fought for his political life among his own Woodford colleagues. These years also saw him as Prime Minister during a period of global war and imminent invasion, as a relatively ineffective leader of the opposition, as a back-bencher and as Father of the House.
The story is told principally through his own words in speeches which, though not recorded in bound volumes, were nevertheless carefully reported by the range of local newspapers covering the constituencies.
I am indebted to the Guardian Gazette and Independent Group of newspapers which have provided a faithful record of Sir Winstons constituency life. Specific attributions are made throughout the book but where no such reference is made, the attribution is to the Express & Independent newspaper of that time. A substantial amount of material is available in the bound volumes of these newspapers lodged in the archives of the Epping Forest District Museum at Waltham Abbey and in the Local History section of the Redbridge Central Library.
John Yates, lately Editorial Director of the newspaper group, permitted the generous use of these reports and I am grateful for the groups kind support.
I am most grateful to the archivists, custodians of archives and librarians who have given generously of their time and knowledge: Ian Dowling at the Redbridge Central Library was especially patient and helpful, as were his staff, Linda Whitehead, Katherine Easton and Catherine Harper. At Waltham Abbey I was helped by Susan Dalloe and Anne Hunt.
Thanks are due to the staff of the House of Commons Library, the staff of the Cambridge University Library (Stanley Baldwin Papers), to Dr B. S. Benediktz of the University of Birmingham Library (Neville Chamberlain Papers). The Donald Forbes Papers were of considerable interest, and I am grateful for having had free access to them. I am happy to acknowledge the generosity of Donald Forbes, CBE JP FCA, and of Valda Forbes for their unfailing kindness and willingness to help, without which this account would have been much more difficult to compile.
Sir James Hawkeys Papers, according to his son, Sir Roger, were passed to Randolph Churchill (I have forwarded to Randolph Churchill quite a considerable quantity of letters that passed between Sir Winston and my father: letter to Donald Forbes, 23 November 1966: and by implication were never returned). Forbes confirms, too, that masses of Association archives were scrapped in 1946 when the Broomhill Road headquarters was requisitioned for housing. However, not all were destroyed; some were salvaged and found their way to the Essex Record Office. Members of staff at the Essex Record Office at Chelmsford earn my gratitude for their customary help in producing in particular the Woodford Conservative Association scrapbooks and other archival material, post-Second World War, including the Colvin Collection.
In 1974 the Association staged a Centenary Celebration Exhibition at the Sir James Hawkey Hall for which I was given full responsibility. This enabled me to locate and catalogue a vast collection of Churchilliana in the Woodford/Epping district, and to interview and correspond with numerous constituents with Churchill recollections and memories. I have drawn upon these for this book. My appreciation for their help is acknowledged.
I wish to express my gratitude to John Harvey, CBE, who kindly read the book in typescript, correcting many errors and making helpful suggestions: he generously put at my disposal his collection of Churchilliana, including letters which had escaped Martin Gilberts trawl. I am most grateful, too, to Harry Packford who kindly loaned the prized 1924 general election address; and to the following: the late Major J. C. Robinson for his recollections of Major Ralph Bury and other pre-Second World War personalities; Robert (Bob) Mitchell, OBE MA; Hazel Kemp for recollections of her mother, Kathleen. Others who recorded their recollections but have since died deserve to have their names listed because they, too, contributed: Doris Moss, OBE MA, Kathleen Kemp, Ralph Prout, MBE, A. H. (Jack) Frost, F. C. Mountier, MBE, T. C. (Tommy) Welsh, A. E. (Tim) Healey, Colonel Sir Stuart Mallinson, CBE DSO MC DL JP, and Colonel William Hubert (Hugh) Barlow-Wheeler, DSO OBE.
I am also indebted to Valerie Thomas, LRPS, for the professionalism of her photographic work.
In addition to the generous use I have made of the local newspapers of the Guardian Gazette and Independent Group, for which I am greatly indebted, I have quoted specifically from the following, many of which no longer exist: The Bancroftian, Buckhurst Hill Express & Independent, Chigwell Times, Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily News, Daily News (New York), Encounter Magazine, Globe and Mail (Canada), Stratford Express, The Times, Times & West Essex Star, Waltham Abbey Weekly Telegraph, Wanstead Express & Independent, West Essex Gazette, Woodford & Chigwell Express & Independent, Woodford Guardian, Woodford Times
