Biography of David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George was Prime Minister during the First World War.

When and Where was David Lloyd George Born?

17th January 1863, Manchester, England.

Family Background:

David Lloyd George was the son of William George a Welsh Headmaster of a Manchester Elementary School. His mother was the daughter of David Lloyd, a Baptist minister.

Education:

Village School in Llanystumdwy, Wales. Later qualified as an Articled Clerk.

Timeline of David Lloyd George:

1865: Death of his father. He and his mother move to Llanystumdwy near Cricieth in Gwynedd, North Wales and live with his uncle Richard Lloyd a shoemaker and baptist Minister.

1879: He goes to work in a local Solicitor’s office.

1888: He marries Margaret Owen.

1890: David Lloyd-George is elected to Parliament by Caernarvon Boroughs for the first time by the Liberal party, a constituency he was to hold for 55 years.

1905: The Liberal Party gain power and he is elected as the President of the Board of Trade.

1906: Lloyd-George is responsible for the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act.

1907: He is responsible for the passing of the Patents Act.

1908: He is appointed as the Chancellor of the Exchequer and proposes the first Act allowing Old Age Pensions.

1909: Lloyd-George presides over the so-called People’s Budget which is rejected by the House of Lords.

1911: Lloyd-George leads the National Insurance Act through Parliament. The Lords are stripped of their power of veto after their performance in the previous year against Lloyd George’s budget.

1914: At the outbreak of the First World War the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith has an urgent reshuffle of his government and makes Lloyd George Minister of Munitions to try and combat the shortages that British troops were then experiencing.

1916: After his successes in galvanising war production in British factories he is made Minister of War. He comes into conflict with Asquith when he proposes a war Committee of four Ministers to run the war effort. Lloyd George doesn’t want Asquith to Chair this Committee as he felt him to be an unsuitable war leader. The newspapers get hold of this story and eventually Asquith resigns leaving the way for Lloyd George to become Prime Minister.

1917: Lloyd-George states that it would be more efficient for the English and French armies to fight under one leader.

1918: Eventually everyone agreed to fight under the French General Foch and in November the war finally comes to an end.

1919: He goes to Versailles outside Paris to attend the Peace Conference where he warns about the problems that revenge would cause and fights against some of the more harsh penalties proposed in the Treaty.

1921: David Lloyd-George negotiates with Sinn Fein and concedes the setting up of the Irish Free state.

1922: His unpopularity about the Irish Question leads to his downfall at the General Election.

1931: Following defeat at the General Election he resigns as leader of the Liberal Party and becomes the leader of a group of independent Liberal M.P’s.

1945: Lloyd-George retains his Parliamentary seat up until his death and is made an Earl in his last few months.

When and Where did he Die?

26th March 1945, Ty-Newydd, near Llanystumdwy, Caernarvonshire, Wales of prostate cancer.

Age at Death:

82.

Written Works:

1933: “War Memoirs”
1938: “The Truth about War Treaties”.

Marriage:

1888: To Margaret Owen.

Site of Grave:

Llanystumdwy in the steeply wooded valley of the Afon Dwyfor in Gwynedd, Wales. The grave monument was designed by the Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis. A memorial stone designed by Jonah Jones is in the nave of Westminster Abbey and was unveiled in 1970.

Places of Interest:

LONDON:

Houses of Parliament, Westminster.
Westminster Abbey.

WALES:

Ty-Newydd, Caernarvonshire.
Llanystumdwy.
Statue in Cardiff.