Charles Ammon, 1st Baron Ammon
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Charles George Ammon, 1st Baron Ammon PC DL JP (22 April 1873 - 2 April 1960) was a British Labour politician.
The son of Charles George and Mary Ammon, he was educated at Public Elementary schools. He worked with the Post Office for twenty-four years. He was Secretary of the Union of Post Office Workers from 1920-28.
[edit] Local politics
He was London County Councillor for North Camberwell from 1919-1925 and 1934-1946, and Chairman of London County Council in 1941-1942. He was an Alderman on Camberwell Borough Council from 1934-1953 and Mayor of Camberwell, 1950-1951. Freedom of Borough of Camberwell, 1951.
[edit] Parliament
He was Member of Parliament for Camberwell North from 1922-1931 and 1935-1944, unsuccessfully contesting the seat in 1918 and 1931. He was Labour Party whip in 1923 and a member of the National Executive of the Labour Party, 1921-1926.
He held office as Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty in 1924 and again in 1929-1931. He was a member of the West African Mission of 1938-1939 and a Member of the Select Committee on National Expenditure, 1939-1944. He was temporary Chairman of Committees, 1943. In 1943 he was Chairman of a Parliamentary commission to investigate the future of the dominion of Newfoundland.
He was raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Ammon, of Camberwell, in 1944 and appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1945. In the House of Lords he was Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms (Chief Whip) from 1945-1949, and a Deputy Speaker of the House from 1945-1958. In 1947 he was Chairman of a Parliamentary Mission to China.
He was first Chairman of the National Dock Labour Board from 1944-1950. His political career was effectively ended when he clashed with the government over the 1949 London dock strike.
Outside Parliament, . He was President of the UK Band of Hope Union and a Methodist Local Preacher. He was President of the International Arbitration League, Vice-President of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a Governor of the London School of Economics and Dulwich College and Chairman of the Trustees of Crystal Palace. He was a Member of the Channel Islands Commission in 1947.
He was predeceased by his only son Charles Kempley Ammon (1907-1909) and the title Baron Ammon became extinct on his death.
