William Wilson (Westhoughton MP)

For other people named William Wilson, see William Wilson (disambiguation).

William Wilson
Member of Parliament
for Westhoughton
In office
12 January 1906 – 14 August 1921
Preceded byEdward Stanley
Succeeded byRhys Davies
Personal details
Born1855
Kendal
Died14 August 1921(1921-08-14) (aged 65–66)
Bolton
Political partyLabour

William Tyson Wilson (1855 – 14 August 1921) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician.

Tyson was born in Westmorland, moving to Bolton, Lancashire, in 1889.[1] He was a carpenter, and joined the Bolton branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. He was a member of the executive or general council of the union on several occasions from 1893, and was chairman of the general council in 1910.[2]

At the 1906 general election Wilson was one of 29 successful Labour Representation Committee candidates, being elected MP for Westhoughton. On 22 February 1906 he introduced a private member's bill seeking to amend the Education Acts and create a statutory school meals service. The bill received the support of the government and was enacted as the Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906.[3]

He was made a whip in 1915, and was promoted to chief whip in 1919, when the Labour Party became the official opposition.[4]

W T Wilson died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on a Bolton street on Sunday, 14 August 1921.[1][5] He was buried in St Peter's Churchyard, Halliwell on 17 August 1921.[6]

  1. ^ a b 'Labour MP's sudden death', The Times, 17 August 1921, p.10
  2. ^ "Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers including the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners". Trade Union Ancestors. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  3. ^ L Andrews, The School Meals Service, in British Journal of Educational Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (February 1972), pp. 70–75
  4. ^ 'Labour As Official Opposition', The Times, 8 January 1919, p.7
  5. ^ 'The Late Mr Tyson Wilson M.P.', The Times, 17 August 1921, p. 6
  6. ^ "Burials at St Peter in the District of Halliwell, Bolton le Moors, 1918–1922". OnLine Parish Clerks for the County of Lancashire. Retrieved 14 July 2016.