Arthur James Waugh, born 1909 in Warrington, Lancashire, died 1995), was an English politician, and the son of a railwayman.
His left wing political beliefs were forged early in his life when, as an apprentice fitter in Rugby, he was sacked during the 1926 General Strike at 17 years of age. That experience was never forgotten and was the basis for the many years of Trade Union membership and Union activist.
He married Edith Muriel Collins (Lila) in 1935 and fathered two daughters and five sons. He left the railways in 1940 and moved to Coventry only to see the family home and all possessions destroyed in the wartime bombing within months of settling. His Union activities and membership of the local Labour Party was to propel him to being elected to the Coventry City Council in 1945.
Within 15 years he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Labour Group and leading the various committees responsible for the redevelopment of the war torn City, regarded by many as one of the chief architects of the Coventry's reconstruction.
Elected Lord Mayor in 1962, he presided at the Consecration of the Coventry Cathedral and made an Honorary Freeman of the City in later years, retiring from active politics in 1990 after 45 years as a Councillor. A man of great political skills whose motto was "The rent of life is service."
Waugh died in 1995 less than a year after losing his wife.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Waugh, Arthur James |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | British politician |
| Date of birth | 1909 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 1995 |
| Place of death | |
Famous quotes containing the words arthur james, arthur, james and/or waugh:
“The General Strike has taught the working class more in four days than years of talking could have done.”
—A.J. (Arthur James)
“Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“Essential truth, the truth of the intellectualists, the truth with no one thinking it, is like the coat that fits tho no one has ever tried it on, like the music that no ear has listened to. It is less real, not more real, than the verified article; and to attribute a superior degree of glory to it seems little more than a piece of perverse abstraction-worship.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)