William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate

Air Commodore The Right Honourable The Viscount Stansgate DSO DFC PC
Secretary of State for India
In office 7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Viscount Peel
Succeeded by	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt
Secretary of State for Air
In office 3 August 1945 – 4 October 1946
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Harold Macmillan
Succeeded by	Philip Noel-Baker
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal In office 20 January 1942 – 17 November 1960 Hereditary Peerage Succeeded by Anthony Wedgwood Benn Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton In office 18 February 1937 – 20 January 1942 Preceded by Joseph Compton Succeeded by William Oldfield Member of Parliament for Aberdeen North In office 16 August 1928 – 7 October 1931 Preceded by Frank Rose Succeeded by John George Burnett Member of Parliament for Leith In office 14 December 1918 – 15 February 1927 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Ernest Brown Member of Parliament for St George In office 8 February 1906 – 25 November 1918 Preceded by Thomas Dewar Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1877-05-10)10 May 1877 Hackney, London, England
Died	17 November 1960(1960-11-17) (aged 83) Westminster, London, England
Political party	Liberal (until 1927) Labour (from 1927)
Spouse	Margaret Holmes ​ (m. 1920)​
Children	4, including Tony Benn
Parent(s)	Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet Elizabeth Pickstone
Alma mater	University College, London
Awards	DSO (1917) DFC (1918) Bronze Medal of Military Valor (Italy; 1918)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy  British Army  Royal Air Force
Years of service	1914–1918, 1940–1945
Rank	Air Commodore
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War Battle of Gallipoli

William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, DSO, DFC, PC (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 1931 and Secretary of State for Air between 1945 and 1946. He was the father of Tony Benn and the paternal grandfather of Hilary Benn.