Gerald Wills
| Sir Gerald Wills |
|---|
Sir Gerald Wills, MBE (3 October 1905 – 31 October 1969) was a British barrister and politician who was Member of Parliament for Bridgwater from 1950 until his death.
Wills was born in Long Ashton, Somerset to a working family, and at 21 was adopted into a wealthy family living in Wiltshire who educated him privately. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge to study law and was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1932. He was a member of the Territorial branch of the Royal Artillery and during the Second World War he was a Staff member at the Corps' headquarters.
At the end of the war Wills fought Bridgwater as a Conservative candidate, but could not gain the seat from Vernon Bartlett who had won it as an 'Independent Progressive' in a 1938 byelection. He returned to the Bar, but at the 1950 general election, Wills was successful.
He was appointed an Assistant Government Whip in 1952, and was promoted to be Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in October 1954. He retained this position under Anthony Eden. When Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister, he appointed Wills as Comptroller of Her Majesty's Household (third highest in the Whip's Office). Wills left office in October 1958, being Knighted to mark his service.
Wills died in office in October 1969.
References
- M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs", Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981)
Ancestry.com
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Gerald Wills
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Bridgwater 1950–1969 |
Succeeded by Tom King |
- Articles which use infobox templates with no data rows
- 1905 births
- 1969 deaths
- Royal Artillery officers
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1950–51
- UK MPs 1951–55
- UK MPs 1955–59
- UK MPs 1959–64
- UK MPs 1964–66
- UK MPs 1966–70
