Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton

Frederick James Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton,CH,PC(23 August 1883 – 14 December 1964), was an English businessman and politician who served aschairman of the Conservative Partyfrom 1946 to 1955.
In April 1940, he was appointedMinister of Foodand established therationing system. During this time, he maintained food imports from America and organised a programme of free school meals. The vegetarianWoolton piewas named after Woolton, as one of the recipes commended to the British public due to a shortage of meat, fish, and dairy products during theSecond World War. In 1943, Woolton was appointedMinister of Reconstruction, planning forpost-war Britain.
Lord Woolton was born at 163 West Park Street inOrdsall,Salford,Lancashire, in 1883. He was the only surviving child of a saddler, Thomas Robert Marquis (1857–1944), and his wife, Margaret Marquis,néeOrmerod (1854–1923). Educated atArdwick Higher Elementary School, then atManchester Grammar Schooland theUniversity of Manchester, Woolton was an active member of theUnitarian Church. He was active in social work inLiverpool(1906–1918).
Woolton hoped to pursue an academic career in the social sciences, but his wish was frustrated by his family's financial circumstances, and he became a mathematics teacher atBurnley Grammar School. He was forced to turn down a research fellowship in Sociology at theUniversity of Londonbut was elected a research fellow in Economics at the University of Manchester in 1910, where he took the degree ofMAin 1912.
Having been judged unfit for military service, Woolton became a civil servant, first in theWar Office, then at the Leather Control Board, where he served as a civilian boot controller. At the end of the war, he became secretary of the Boot Manufacturers' Federation, joiningLewis'sdepartment store in Liverpool, where he was an executive (1928–1951), becoming director in 1928 and chairman in 1936.In 1938, he responded to theAnschlussby announcing that his stores would boycottNazi Germangoods. Despite public support, he was reprimanded byHorace Wilsonon behalf ofNeville Chamberlain'sNational Governmentfor diverging from itsEuropean policyofappeasement.
Woolton wasknightedin 1935 and was raised to the peerage in 1939 for his contribution to British industry. Despite his wishes,Garter King of Armsinformed him that it was not possible to take the title ofBaron Marquis(because "Marquess", or "Marquis", constitutes arankofBritish peerages), so he was createdBaron Wooltonafter the Liverpool suburb ofWooltonin which he had lived. He subsequently served on several government committees (including the Cadman Committee). He refused to affiliate himself with any political party.
In April 1940, Woolton was appointed asMinister of FoodbyNeville Chamberlain, one of several ministerial appointments from outside politics. Woolton retained this position until 1943. He supervised 50,000 employees and over a thousand local offices where people could obtainration cards. His ministry had a virtual monopoly of all food sold in Britain, whether imported or local. His mission was to guarantee adequate nutrition for everyone. With food supplies cut sharply because of enemy action and the needs of the services,rationingwas essential. Woolton and his advisors had one scheme in mind, but economists convinced them to instead try point rationing.Everyone would have a certain number of points a month that they could allocate any way they wanted. The experimental approach to food rationing has been considered successful; indeed, food rationing was a major success story in Britain's war.
In late June 1940, with aGerman invasionthreatened, Woolton reassured the public that emergency food stocks were in place that would last "for weeks and weeks" even if the shipping could not get through. He said "iron rations" were stored for use only in great emergency. Other rations were stored in the outskirts of cities liable to German bombing.Whenthe Blitzbegan in late summer 1940, he was ready with more than 200 feeding stations in London and other cities under attack.
Woolton had the task of overseeing rationing due to wartime shortages. He took the view that it was insufficient to merely impose restrictions but that a programme of advertising to support it was also required. He warned thatmeatandcheese, as well asbaconandeggs, were in very short supply and would remain that way. Calling for a simpler diet, he noted that there was plenty ofbread,potatoes,vegetable oils, fats, andmilk.
By January 1941, the usual overseas food supply had fallen in half. By 1942, however, ample food supplies were arriving throughLend Leasefrom the U.S. and a similar Canadian programme. Worried about children, he made sure that by 1942 Britain was providing 650,000 children with freeschool meals; about 3,500,000 children received milk at school, in addition to priority supplies at home. However, hisnational loafofwholemealbrown breadreplaced the ordinarywhite variety, to the distaste of most housewives.Children learned that sweets supplies were reduced to save shipping space.
Woolton keptfood pricesdown by subsidizing eggs and other items. He promoted recipes that worked well with the rationing system, including the "Woolton pie," which consisted ofcarrots,parsnips, potatoes, andturnipsinoatmeal, with a pastry or potato crust, and served withbrown gravy. Woolton's business skills made the Ministry of Food's job a success, and he earned a strong personal popularity despite the shortages.
Sworn of thePrivy Councilin 1940, Lord Woolton was appointed aCompanion of Honourin 1942. In 1943, Woolton joined theWar CabinetasMinister of Reconstruction, taking charge of the difficult task of planning forpost-war Britainand in this role, he appeared on the cover ofTimeon the issue of 26 March 1945.In May 1945, he was a member ofWinston Churchill's "Caretaker" Government asLord President of the Council.
In July 1945, Churchill lost the1945 general election, and his government fell. The next day, Woolton joined theConservative Partyand was soon appointedparty chairman, with the job of improving the party's organisation in the country and revitalising it for future elections. Under Woolton, many sweeping reforms were carried out, and when the Conservatives returned to government in 1951, Woolton served in the Cabinet for the next four years.
Woolton rebuilt the local organisations with an emphasis on membership, money, and a unified national propaganda appeal on critical issues. To broaden the base of potential candidates, the national party provided financial aid to candidates and assisted the local organisations in raising local money. Woolton also proposed changing the name of the party to the Union Party and later emphasised a rhetoric that characterised opponents as "Socialist" rather than "Labour".He was given credit for the Conservative victory in1951, their first since 1935.
In May 1950, Woolton, with Churchill's approval, called for a form ofcoalitionwith theLiberal Partybased on nine principles he said they agreed upon:
The Liberal leadership rejected the coalition proposal as one that the Conservatives would control. Labour had recently narrowly won the1950 general election. The Conservatives without Liberal help won the1951 general election.
In the1953 Coronation Honours, he elevated asViscount Woolton.And in 1956, he was advanced asEarl of Wooltontaking thesubsidiary titleViscount Walberton.
In November 1945, Woolton gave his inaugural address asPresidentof theRoyal Statistical Society.
From 1943 until 1963 he served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of theBritish Red Cross Societyand was appointed aKnight of the Order of St Johnin 1947.
AFreeman of the City of London, Lord Woolton served asMasterof theWorshipful Company of Saltersfor 1951/52.
Woolton died 14 December 1964 at his home, Walberton House, inArundel, Sussex, when his titles devolved upon his son,Roger.
Lord Woolton is buried atSt Mary's Church, Walberton, Sussex.
Citations
Bibliography
Michael Kandiah & Judith Rowbotham (Editors), The Diaries and Letters of Lord Woolton 1940–1945. Records of Social and Economic History Series, vol. 61. Oxford: University Press for the British Academy, 2020. Hardcover. xxvii+324 p.ISBN978-0-19-726684-7.