Beveridge, William Henry Beveridge, baron, 1879-1963

Sir William Henry Beveridge was Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Coal Industry, 1925-1926. For a biography, see the Beveridge personal papers (Ref: Beveridge).

William Beveridge, 1879-1963: William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse and Balliol College, Oxford. He was sub-warden of Toynbee Hall 1903-1905, and leader-writer on "social problems" for the "Morning Post" 1906-1908. From 1905 to 1908 Beveridge was a member of the Central (Unemployed) Body for London, and was also the first Chairman of the Employment Exchanges Committee. He was a member of the Board of Trade 1908-1916 and Director of Labour Exchanges 1909-1916. During World War I he was Assistant General Secretary of the Ministry of Munitions (1915 - 1916) and Second Secretary in the Ministry of Food (1916-1918). In 1919 Beveridge became Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Food. In the same year he was knighted. He then retired from the civil service and was appointed director of the London School of Economics (1919-1937). He then moved on to be Master of University College, Oxford (1937-1944). During World War II he was Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Labour (1940) and was Chairman of the Social Service Inquiry (1941-1942) he produced 'Social Insurance and Allied Services', a report prepared for government which proposed a social system 'from the cradle to the grave' for British citizens. This report became known as the 'Beveridge Report' and became the blueprint for the welfare-state legislation of 1944-1948. Beveridge was Liberal MP for Berwick on Tweed 1944-1945, and was made 1st Baron Beveridge of Tuggal in 1946. His publications include: Unemployment: A problem of industry (1909); Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939); Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942) (Beveridge Report); Full Employment in a Free Society (1944); The Economics of Full Employment (1944); Report on the Methods of Social Advance (1948); Voluntary Action (1948); A Defence of Free Learning (1959).

The Ministry of Reconstruction was set up in July 1917, and covered a wide range of economic, social and political issues, from administrative reform and improvement of industrial relations, to the position of women in society and the prevention of post-war unemployment. It was split into several committees, including the Reconstruction Committee and the Civil War Workers Committe. For a biography, see the Beveridge personal papers (Ref: Beveridge).

Epithet: Captain

Born in Rangpur, Bengal, 1879; educated at Charterhouse, and Balliol College, Oxford University; Stowell Civil Law Fellow, University College, Oxford University, 1902-1909; Sub-Warden, Toynbee Hall, 1903-1905; leader writer for the Morning Post , 1906-1908; Member of the Central (Unemployed) Body for London and first Chairman of the Employment Exchanges Committee, 1905-1908; employed at Board of Trade, 1908-1916, as Director of Labour Exchanges and Assistant Secretary in charge of the Employment Department; Assistant General Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, 1915-1916; CB, 1916; 2nd Secretary, 1916-1918, and Permanent Secretary, 1919, Ministry of Food; Director of the London School of Economics, 1919-1937; Senator of the University of London, 1919-1937 and 1944-1948; KCB, 1919; Member of the Royal Commission on the Coal Industry, 1925; Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, 1926-1928; Chairman, Unemployment Insurance Statutory Committee, 1934-1944; Chairman, Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence on Food Rationing, 1936; Master of University College, Oxford University, 1937-1945; Chairman, Committee on Skilled Men in Services, 1941-1942; Fuel Rationing Enquiry for the President of the Board of Trade, 1942; Chairman, Inter-Departmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1941-1942; Liberal MP for Berwick-on-Tweed, 1944-1945; President of the Royal Economic Society, 1940-1944, and the Royal Statistical Society, 1941-1948; Chairman of the Aycliffe Development Corporation, 1947-1953, and the Peterlee Development Corporation, 1949-1951; Chairman, Broadcasting Committee, 1949-1950; died 1963. Publications: Insurance for all and everything (Daily News, London, 1924); John and Irene: an anthology of thoughts on wome n (Longmans and Co, London, 1912); New Towns and the case for them (University of London Press, London, 1952); Planning under socialism and other addresses (Longmans and Co, London, 1936); Power and influence: an autobiography (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1953); A defence of free learning (Oxford University Press, London, 1959); An urgent message from Germany (Pilot Press, London, 1946); Blockade and the civilian population (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1939); British food control (Oxford University Press, London, 1928); Causes and cures of unemployment (Longmans and Co, London, 1931); Changes in family life (Allen and Unwin, London, 1932); Contributions for social insurance: a reconsideration of rates (Reprinted from The Times , 1945); Full employment in a free society (Liberal Publication Department, London, 1944); India called them (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1947); Peace by federation? (London, 1940); Security and adventure (Council for Education in World Citizenship, London, 1946); Tariffs: the case examined. By a committee of economists under the chairmanship of Sir William Beveridge (Longmans and Co, London, 1932); The conditions of peace; The London School of Economics and its problems, 1919-1937 (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1960); The past and present of unemployment insurance (Oxford University press, London, 1930); The pillars of security and other war-time essays and addresses (G Allen and Unwin, London, 1943); The price of peace (Pilot Press, London, 1945); The problem of the unemployed (1907); The public service in war and peace (Constable and Co, London, 1920); Unemployment: a problem of industry (Longmans and Co, London, 1909); Voluntary action: a report on methods of social advance (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1948); Why I am a Liberal (Herbert Jenkins, London, 1945).

For a biography, see the Beveridge personal papers (Ref: Beveridge).

The price and wages material was collected by Beveridge and his research assistants for a proposed four volume history which was never completed. The first volume was printed in 1939, following which work was halted by World War Two. A grant from the Nuffield Foundation in 1954 allowed research work to resume, though nothing was published, perhaps due to Beveridge's death in 1963. For a biography, see the Beveridge personal papers (Ref: Beveridge).

William Beveridge, 1879-1963: William Beveridge was educated at Charterhouse and Balliol College, Oxford. He was sub-warden of Toynbee Hall 1903-1905, and leader-writer on "social problems" for the "Morning Post" 1906-1908. From 1905 to 1908 Beveridge was a member of the Central (Unemployed) Body for London, and was also the first Chairman of the Employment Exchanges Committee. He was a member of the Board of Trade 1908-1916 and Director of Labour Exchanges 1909-1916. During World War I he was Assistant General Secretary of the Ministry of Munitions (1915 - 1916) and Second Secretary in the Ministry of Food (1916-1918). In 1919 Beveridge became Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Food. In the same year he was knighted. He then retired from the civil service and was appointed director of the London School of Economics (1919-1937). He then moved on to be Master of University College, Oxford (1937-1944). During World War II he was Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Labour (1940) and was Chairman of the Social Service Inquiry (1941-1942) he produced "Social Insurance and Allied Services", a report prepared for government which proposed a social system "from the cradle to the grave" for British citizens. This report became known as the "Beveridge Report" and became the blueprint for the welfare-state legislation of 1944-1948. Beveridge was Liberal MP for Berwick on Tweed 1944-1945, and was made 1st Baron Beveridge of Tuggal in 1946. His publications include: Unemployment: A problem of industry (1909); Prices and Wages in England from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century (1939); Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942) (Beveridge Report); Full Employment in a Free Society (1944); The Economics of Full Employment (1944); Report on the Methods of Social Advance (1948); Voluntary Action (1948); A Defence of Free Learning (1959).

1903-1905 sub-warden, Toynbee Hall, Oxford Settlement, East End, London; 1905-1908 leader writer on social problems, the Morning Post; 1905-1908 member of the Central (Unemployed) Body for London; 1905-1911 editor, St George's Papers; 1908 appointed as a non-established civil servant; 1908 personal assistant to Winston Churchill, Board of Trade; 1908-1916 chairman, the Employment Exchanges Committee; 1909 appointed as a permanent civil servant; 1909-1916 director, Labour Exchanges; 1913 assistant-secretary, Employment department; 1915-1916 assistant-general secretary, the Ministry of Munitions; 1916 CB; 1916-1919 second secretary, the Ministry of Food; 1919 KCB; 1919 permanent secretary, the Ministry of Food; 1919 resigned from the civil service; 1919-1937 director, the London School of Economics; 1919-1937 and 1944-1948 senator, the University of London; 1922-1924 participated in the liberal summer school movement; 1925-1926 member of the Royal Commission on the Coal Industry; 1926-1928 vice-chancellor, the University of London; 1934-1944 chairman, the Unemployment Insurance Committee; 1937-1945 mastership, the University College of Oxford; 1936 chairman, the sub-committee of Imperial Defence on Food Rationing; 1937 elected a fellow of the British Academy; 1940 under-secretary, the Ministry of Labour; 1940-1944 president, the Royal Economic Society; 1941-1942 chairman, the Committee on Skilled Men in Services; 1941-1943 president, the Royal Statistical Society; 1941-1944 chairmanship, inquiry into Social Services (resulting in the Beveridge report); 1942 Fuel Rationing Inquiry; 1944-1945 Member of Parliament for Berwick upon Tweed; 1946 baronetcy; 1946-1963 peer of the House of Lords; 1947-1952 chairman, the Newton Aycliffe New Town Corporation; 1949-1951 chairman, the broadcasting committee.

Epithet: social reformer and economist

Title: 1st Baron Beveridge