Richard Nugent, Baron Nugent of Guildford

George Richard Hodges Nugent, Baron Nugent of Guildford, Bt PC JP FRSA (6 June 1907 – 16 March 1994),[1] known as Sir Richard Nugent, 1st Baronet between 1960 and 1966, was a British Conservative politician.

Background

edit

Nugent was the son of Colonel George Roubiliac Hodges Nugent and his wife Violet Stella, daughter of Henry Theopphilus Sheppard.[2] He was educated at the Imperial Service College and went then to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.[1]

Career

edit

In 1926, Nugent was commissioned into the Royal Artillery, leaving it after three years.[1] He joined the County Council for Surrey in 1944 and became an alderman in 1951, representing the county later as a Justice of the Peace.[3] Nugent entered the British House of Commons in 1950, sitting as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford until 1966.[4] He became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1951, an office he held until 1957.[1] Subsequently, he served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport until October 1959.[1] Nugent was created a Baronet, of Dunsfold in the County of Surrey, on 27 January 1960[5] and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1962.[3] He received a life peerage with the title Baron Nugent of Guildford, of Dunsfold in the County of Surrey on 31 May 1966.[6]

In 1944, Nugent became a member of the National Farmers Union's executive council and in 1948 a vice-chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs, occupying both posts until 1951.[3] He chaired the Thames Conservancy Board for fourteen years from 1960 and was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1962.[1] Two years later, he became chairman of the Animal Virus Research Institute until 1977.[3] Nugent became the first chairman of the National Water Council in 1973, resigning after five years.[3] He was president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and in 1981 he succeeded in introducing seat belt legislation through an amendment to the Transport Bill.[7]

Family

edit
 
Grave in Dunsfold, Surrey

On 29 July 1937, Nugent married Ruth Stafford, daughter of Hugh Granville Stafford.[2] He and his wife were both awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Surrey in December 1968.[8] Nugent died at Dunsfold in 1994.[3]

Arms

edit
Coat of arms of Richard Nugent, Baron Nugent of Guildford
 
 
Coronet
Coronet of a baron
Crest
A Cockatrice with wings expanded Vert charged with a Rose Argent barbed and seeded proper
Escutcheon
Ermine two Bars Gules a Canton of the last
Supporters
Dexter: a Cockatrice wings addorsed Vert beaked combed and wattled Gules; Sinister: a Swan wings addorsed Argent, each gorged with a Collar Or charged with thee Crescents Sable
Motto
Degrevi (I have resolved)[9]


References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f NUGENT OF GUILDFORD, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
  2. ^ a b "ThePeerage – George Richard Hodges Nugent, Baron Nugent of Guildford". Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Elliott, Robert William (28 March 1994). "Obituary – Lord Nugent of Guildford". The Independent. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  4. ^ "Leigh Rayment – British House of Commons, Guildford". Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "No. 41945". The London Gazette. 2 February 1960. p. 858.
  6. ^ "No. 44001". The London Gazette. 2 June 1966. p. 6413.
  7. ^ "The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Official Website – History, RoSPA in the Eighties". Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  8. ^ "University of Surrey, Honorary doctorates". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  9. ^ "Life Peerages - N". Cracroft's Peerage.
edit
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Guildford
19501966
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

1951–1957
With: The Lord Carrington 1951–1954
The Earl St Aldwyn 1954–1957
Harmar Nicholls 1955–1957
Bill Deedes 1955–1957
Succeeded byas Parliamentary Secretary to the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport
1957–1959
With: Airey Neave 1957–1959
John Hay Jan – Oct 1959
Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Dunsfold)
1960–1994
Extinct