Herbert Lewis
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Sir John Herbert Lewis (27 December 1858 - November 10, 1933) was a British Liberal politician.
Born at Mostyn Quay, Flintshire, the only son of Enoch Lewis and Elizabeth Roberts, he resided at Plas Penucha, Caerwys, Flintshire.
Lewis was educated at McGill University and Exeter College, Oxford. He was the first Chairman of Flintshire County Council. He was MP for Flint Boroughs 1892-1906, Flintshire 1906-1918 and the first Member of Parliament for the University of Wales, 1918-1922. In 1894, he resigned the Liberal Whip in the so-called 'Welsh Revolt', joining David Alfred Thomas, David Lloyd George and Frank Edwards. In a letter to T. E. Ellis, Lewis wrote to his friend, then Chief Whip: 'I will never again fight a constituency as an official Liberal.' Although he later recanted, this episode was illustrative of Herbert Lewis' moral seriousness. With Lloyd George, Lewis was an enthusiastic supporter of Cymru Fydd, a nationalist movement within Welsh Liberalism. Along with Lloyd George and David Alfred Thomas, he opposed the Boer War at the 1900 General Election.
Lewis was a Lord of the Treasury, 1905-1900; Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, 1909-1915; and Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, 1915-1922. He was awarded the OBE in 1922. He was offered a peerage on his retirement from Parliament in 1922, but declined the honour.
Herbert Lewis was a keen supporter of the National Library of Wales, located in Aberystwyth. In 1909 he became a Vice President of the Library. In 1925, while walking in the hills above the town prior to a meeting of the Library's council, Sir John Herbert Lewis suffered a fall down a quarry which left him paralyzed for the rest of his life. Although elected President of the Library in 1926, this was a largely honorific appointment.
An active lay member of the Calvinistic Methodist Connexion, Lewis was elected Moderator of the denomination in 1925, although he declined the post. He was an interested correspondent in the trial for heresy of Tom Nefyn Williams. Among his other correspondents in religious matters was the Welsh Revivalist Evan Roberts.
Sir John Herbert Lewis was married twice, first in 1886 to Adelaide (d.1895), daughter of Charles Hughes, publisher, Wrexham and in 1897 to Ruth, daughter of W. S. Caine, MP. By his second marriage he had a son and a daughter.
Sir John Herbert Lewis was made a Privy Councillor in 1912, a freeman of the towns of Flint and Aberystwyth, Constable of Flint Castle, honorary LL.D of the University of Wales in 1918. He was awarded the gold medal of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion in 1927.
Sir John Herbert Lewis died at his home, Plas Penucha in 1933.
Further reading
Lloyd George's Flintshire Loyalist, The Political Achievement of John Herbert Lewis: by K O Morgan in Journal of Liberal History Issue 57, Winter 2007-08
Sources:
- National Library of Wales: Sir John Herbert Lewis Papers.
- National Library of Wales: Lloyd George Papers.
- National Library of Wales: T. E. Ellis Papers.
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
