Rhodes Boyson

Sir Rhodes Boyson (11 May 1925 – 28 August 2012) was a British educator, author and politician; Conservative Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987.

Early life

Born in Haslingden, Lancashire, the son of Alderman William Boyson MBE JP, Rhodes Boyson was educated at Haslingden Grammar School, University College Cardiff, the University of Manchester, the London School of Economics and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

He was awarded a PhD in 1967 by London University, his thesis being on Henry Ashworth, a Victorian Lancashire cotton manufacturer, brother-in-law of Richard Cobden and a Radical campaigner who also had a reputation as a model employer. It was published in 1970 by Oxford University Press as The Ashworth Cotton Enterprise. The Rise and Fall of a Factory Firm. 1818-1880.

Early career

Called up towards the end of the Second World War, Boyson served with the Royal Navy, based in India at the time of Independence, and from his late 20s he was a Methodist lay preacher.