Roderic Bowen

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Roderic Bowen
QC
Member of Parliament
for Ceredigion
In office
5 July 1945 – 31 March 1966
Preceded byOwen Evans
Succeeded byElystan Morgan
Personal details
Born(1913-08-06)6 August 1913
Died(2001-07-18)18 July 2001
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
Residence(s)Dole, Ceredigion, Wales
Alma materAberystwyth University
St John's College, Cambridge

Evan Roderic Bowen QC (6 August 1913 – 18 July 2001)[1][2] was a Welsh lawyer and Liberal Party politician.

Bowen was educated at

Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1952.[2][3]. He served in the Army for five years during World War II
, reaching the rank of captain.

At the

Cardiganshire, succeeding Owen Evans. With only a Labour opponent he comfortably held the seat. He was re-elected in the 1950 general election with the largest Liberal majority at that election, despite facing both Conservative and Labour opposition. During most of the 1950s he was one of a tiny group of only five or six Liberal MPs left at Westminster. He failed to succeed Clement Davies as leader of the Liberal Party in 1956 when Jo Grimond was chosen. Politically, he was on the right of the Liberal Party. During the Suez Crisis
, he defended the Conservative Government against opposition "carping criticisms". One of the chief opposition critics of the Government over Suez was his own party leader, Jo Grimond.

Safely returned at the 1959 general election, Bowen's seat was regarded as "the most secure Liberal seat in the whole of the United Kingdom".[4] Even so, it was widely believed that Bowen saw his political career as secondary to his work as a lawyer, a belief that was strengthened by his appointment as Recorder of Cardiff in 1950 and Recorder of Merthyr Tydfil in 1953. His legal work in south Wales resulted in very infrequent appearances in the constituency and his attendance and voting record at Westminster was sporadic.[4]

Bowen's political career came second to his judicial career although he was a President of the

House of Commons was just four seats, he was persuaded by the Government to accept the position of Deputy Speaker
. This put the Labour majority in the House up to five.

His seat remained safe until the 1964 election when a Conservative candidate intervened and Labour cut his majority to around 2,000. At the 1966 general election, he was defeated by the Labour candidate by just 523 votes.

He served as National Insurance Commissioner for Wales, 1967–86, and as president of St Davids University College, Lampeter, 1977–92. One of the libraries and a research centre at Lampeter carry his name and Roderic Bowen is also the name of one of the student halls of residence. In 1971-72 he chaired a governmental committee set up to examine road signs policy in Wales.

References

  1. ^ Obituary: Roderic Bowen. The Guardian, 25 July 2001.
  2. ^ a b c Jones, John Graham (20 June 2011). "BOWEN, EVAN RODERIC (1913-2001), Liberal politician and lawyer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  3. ^ "Queen's Counsel". The Times. No. 52283. London. 10 April 1952. p. 6. The Queen, on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, has approved the appointment of the following as Queen's Counsel:– [...] Evan Roderic Bowen
  4. ^ a b Jones 2004, p. 97.

Sources

  • Jones, J. Graham (June 1993). "The Liberal Party and Wales, 1945-79".
    Welsh History Review
    . 16 (3): 326–55. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  • Jones, J. Graham (1994). "The Cardiganshire Election of 1959" (PDF). Ceredigion. 12 (2): 94–105.
  • "Grimond's rival: the life and political career of the Liberal MP for Cardiganshire from 1945-1966, Captain E. Roderic Bowen MP (1913–2001)" by J Graham Jones, Journal of Liberal History, Issue 34/35, Spring/Summer 2002
  • Jones, John Graham (2004). "The Cardiganshire Election of 1966" (PDF). Llafur: Journal of Welsh People's History. 9 (1): 95–106. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ceredigion
1945–1966 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by President of the
Welsh Liberal Federation

1948–1949 		Succeeded by
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