Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Tim Beaumont has died

Sad news from Another Green World. Tim Beaumont the Liberal, and latterly Green, peer has died.

The blog gives a full biography of him:
Timothy Wentworth Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (born 22 November 1928) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is the only person to sit in the House of Lords as a member of the Green Party.

Beaumont's father, Michael Beaumont, was a Conservative Member of Parliament; his maternal grandfather was Liberal politician Joseph Albert Pease, 1st Baron Gainford. Timothy was educated at Eton College, Gordonstoun School, Christ Church, Oxford and Westcott House. He became an Anglican priest in Kowloon, Hong Kong 1957-59.

He was created a Liberal Life peer as Baron Beaumont of Whitley, of Child's Hill in Greater London in 1967. He was chair of the Liberal Party 1967-8 and President 1969-70. In 1973 he resigned his holy orders, but resumed them in 1984, becoming Vicar of All Souls, Kew in the Diocese of Southwark, now retired. He joined the Liberal Democrats but objected to their support for free trade and joined the Green Party in 1999.

Beaumont is a patron of transgender equality campaign group Press for Change.

He is married to Mary Rose Wauchope, with whom he has had two sons and two daughters named Hubert, Aleric, Atalanta, and Ariadne and has a total of ten grandchildren: Amelia, George, Richard, Felix, Michael, Oliver, Milo, Casper, Clio and Isabella.

In May 2006 Lord Beaumont put forth a bill to "draw up a plan to prohibit piped music and the showing of television programmes in the public areas of hospitals and on public transport; and to require the wearing of headphones by persons listening to music in the public areas of hospitals and on public transport."

He strongly supported the current Green Party system of having Principal Speakers rather than a leader, saying that "in 60 years in politics I have only known one good party leader".

3 comments:

jonthanfryer said...

Sad news indeed. I knew Tim for over 30 years, and we had many common interests, even if our political paths parted in recent times.

I am currently writing his obituary, so if anyone has any amusing anecdote that might be appropriate to include, do please contact me directly on: jonathanfryer@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

I was so shocked to hear this news. Lord Beaumont was a huge supporter of anti-noise campaigning. In particular he took up the daunting task of getting a private member's bill to ban piped music in hospitals. He was successful in the House of Lords but haven't managed to get an MP to take it up yet. I will personally miss him as he was such a lovable character, sincere and passionate in things he did.

Val Weedon MBE
Noise Campaigner
UK Noise Association

Nigel Rodgers said...

Lord Beaumont's death is a huge loss to Pipedown, the campaign against piped music, as to all environmental campaigners. He had recently piloted a bill through the House of Lords to ban piped music/television in hospitals and similar places where bed bound patients may find it literally impossible to escape, and was looking for an MP to introduce his bill into the Commons. He had a splendidly independent mind, never brow-beaten by officials or the media. He was also a most warm-hearted and sympathetic man.