Robert Hudson, 1st Viscount Hudson
Robert Spear Hudson, 1st Viscount Hudson CH PC (15 August 1886 – 2 February 1957)[1] was a British Conservative Party politician who held a number of ministerial posts during the Second World War.
He was the eldest son of Robert William Hudson who had inherited the substantial family soap business and sold it, and Gerda Frances Marion Bushell. Hudson was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He entered the Diplomatic Service in 1911, becoming an attaché and first minister before entering politics.
Hudson was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Whitehaven in 1924 and served there until losing in 1929.[2] In 1931 he was returned for Southport.[2] He served in several ministerial posts, becoming a Privy Counsellor in 1938 and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1940, a post he would hold until the 1945 election. In the opinion of Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton, Hudson "was by far the best of Ministers of Agriculture in either war...he was determined to see that farmers and landowners alike utilised every acre of soil to help keep the nation from starvation".[3]
He had a particular interest in farming and was a member of the council of the Royal Agricultural Society.
Hudson was created Viscount Hudson in 1952.
References
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Robert Hudson
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Whitehaven 1924 – 1929 |
Succeeded by Morgan Philips Price |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Southport 1931 – 1952 |
Succeeded by Roger Fleetwood Hesketh |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Pensions 1935–1936 |
Succeeded by Herwald Ramsbotham |
| Preceded by | Secretary for Overseas Trade 1937 - 1940 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Shakespeare |
| Preceded by | Minister of Shipping 1940 |
Succeeded by Ronald Cross |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1940–1945 |
Succeeded by Tom Williams |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Hudson 1952–1957 |
Succeeded by Robert William Hudson |
- Accuracy disputes from March 2012
- Articles lacking reliable references from March 2012
- Wikipedia articles incorporating an LRPP-MP template without an unnamed parameter
- Use dmy dates from January 2012
- 1886 births
- 1957 deaths
- Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- People educated at Eton College
- Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
- Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
- UK MPs 1924–29
- UK MPs 1931–35
- UK MPs 1935–45
- UK MPs 1945–50
- UK MPs 1950–51
- UK MPs 1951–55
- Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers
