Beresford Craddock

Sir George Beresford Craddock (7 October 1898 – 22 September 1976) was a British Conservative politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne at the 1950 general election, and held the seat until his retirement at the 1970 general election. He should not be confused with George Craddock, the Labour politician who served as an MP at the same time.

Craddock was educated at Harris Academy, Dundee and St Andrews University, Scotland,^[1] where he gained a First in Physics and Chemistry (B. Sc.), with special distinction in Chemistry, and an MA in Economics and Philosophy. In the First World War he first served in the Royal Garrison Artillery, then as a Staff Lieutenant, Royal Engineers Chemical Warfare Staff. He held major business executive posts in India and Africa, 1921-39. During the Second World War he was Assistant Director at the Ministry of Supply.

He became Barrister at Law, Gray's Inn, from 1947 with chambers in the Middle Temple.

His political ambitions had surfaced in the 1930s when he contested Lichfield, Staffordshire, for the National Government in a by-election (as National Labour) in 1938 and contested the same seat in 1945 as a National candidate. He was elected to Parliament as Conservative member for the Spelthorne Division of Middlesex in 1950 and held the seat until his retirement in 1970. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Harold Watkinson, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, 1956-9, and to Watkinson as Minister of Defence, 1959-62. He was a member of the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen, 1966-70.

Craddock married Ethel Martin Bradford in 1936.

His home in later life was Henley Down House, Battle, Sussex. Like many Conservative MPs he was a member of the Carlton Club.

References

1. Times House of Commons 1951. London: The Times Office. 1951. p. 147.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Who's Who, London : A. & C. Black, 1974;

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Beresford Craddock