Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
13 June 1963 – 22 August 1989
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born(1904-01-15)15 January 1904
London, United Kingdom
Died22 August 1989(1989-08-22) (aged 85)
SpouseMarion Spencer Wallace
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
OccupationBusinessman, administrator

Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton,

PC (15 January 1904 – 22 August 1989) was a British physician and medical spokesman, radio speaker, member of parliament, government minister and broadcasting executive.[1]

Early life and career

Charles Hill was born in

MRCP in 1927 and later he gained MB, BCh and MD. He became Deputy Medical Officer of Oxford in 1930. He became Assistant Secretary of the British Medical Association from 1932 and Secretary from 1944 to 1950.[2]

During the

Ministry of Food, but the BBC warned that this would not be effective and would be viewed by listeners as patronising. Consequently, Hill's role as the "Radio Doctor" became part of the Ministry of Food's programme, Kitchen Front, broadcast every morning from 1942.[3] Because of the then rules about members of the medical profession advertising he could not broadcast under his own name, and so was just 'The Radio Doctor'. His distinctive rich voice helped make an impact.[1]

Hill was still the BMA's Secretary when the National Health Service was introduced in 1948. He negotiated with Aneurin Bevan and ensured that general practitioners did not simply become salaried employees.[2][4]

Political career

Hill stood for

University of Cambridge in 1945 as an independent. He was successful in 1950, becoming MP for Luton as a Conservative and National Liberal.[5]

He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food in 1951. He became the Postmaster-General (a non-cabinet ministerial position with responsibilities that included broadcasting) in 1955; during his period in office he publicly berated the BBC for its reporting of the Suez Crisis. In May 1956, Hill attempted to formalise the existing agreement by which discussions or statements about matters before Parliament could not be broadcast in the fortnight preceding any debate (the 'fourteen-day rule'). However, the Suez Crisis rendered this policy unworkable in practice and the government agreed to its suspension at the end of the year. Hill, who had been uneasy about the implications of the rule for freedom of expression, was relieved.[6]

From 1957 to 1961, he was

Welsh Affairs,[7] but he lost his place in the Cabinet in Harold Macmillan's 'Night of the Long Knives' reshuffle in 1962.[4]

Post-political career

He was appointed as the Chairman of the Independent Television Authority in 1963, where he continued his hostile attitude towards the BBC. He was created a life peer on 13 June 1963 as Baron Hill of Luton, of Harpenden in the County of Hertford.[8] In 1967, Hill announced that all the ITV contracts were to be re-advertised, because he was concerned about the large profits being made by the major companies and their lack of regional identity. This resulted in a radical reorganisation of the ITV network.[9]

He succeeded

Eighth Army on the eve of Alamein".[11][1]

Harold Wilson encouraged Lord Hill to be active in editorial decisions. Hill had a difficult relationship with the

Charles Curran. He retired from the BBC in 1972 and died in 1989, aged 85.[2]

He married Marion Spencer Wallace, with whom he had two sons and three daughters.[12]

Selected Publications

Hill of Luton Charles Hill. (1936) The Development of Osteopathy.

Hill Charles and H. A Clegg. (1937). What Is Osteopathy? London: J.M. Dent & Sons.

Hill of Luton Charles Hill and Great Britain Ministry of Information. (1943) Wise Eating in Wartime. H.M. Stationery Office

Hill of Luton Charles Hill. (1944) Your Body; How It Works and How to Keep It Working Well. London: Burke.

Hill of Luton Charles Hill. (1950). Bringing Up Your Child. London: Phoenix House.

Hill of Luton Charles Hill. (1952) The Radio Doctor’s Dictionary of Health. Phoenix House.

Hill of Luton Charles Hill. (1964) Both Sides of the Hill [by] Lord Hill of Luton. Heinemann.

Luton, Hill of (1974). Behind the screen: the broadcasting memoirs of Lord Hill of Luton. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.

ISBN 978-0-283-98181-4
.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Obituary - Baron Hill of Luton". Times Digital Archive. 23 August 1989. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  2. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40159
    . Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  3. ISSN 0007-1447
    .
  4. ^
    PMC 1837582
    .
  5. ISSN 0007-1447
    .
  6. ISSN 0248-9015
    .
  7. ISSN 0007-1447
    .
  8. ^ "No. 43027". The London Gazette. 14 June 1963. p. 5077.
  9. ^ "BFI Screenonline: TV in the 1960s". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  10. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Greene, Sir Hugh (1910-1987) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  11. ^ Ashworth, Margaret (5 April 2019). "The Lost BBC: The Kitchen Front". The Conservative Woman. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Charles Hill - 'The Radio Doctor' - 1904-1989". Harpenden History. Retrieved 14 March 2024.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Luton
1950–1963 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Postmaster General
1955–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1957–1961 		Succeeded by
Media offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Independent Television Authority
1963–1967 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors
1967–1972 		Succeeded by
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