Cyril Bence
Cyril Raymond Bence (26 November 1902 – 7 September 1992) was a Welsh toolmaker, part-time lecturer and politician.[1]
Earlier career
Bence was born in South Wales in 1902 into a skilled craftsman's family. As a teenager he saw the horrors of the First World War and became a member of the Pacifist Tendency.[1] He went to school in Newport, Monmouthshire, but left school when he was 14. After working at first as an articled clerk to a solicitor, he moved into engineering with an apprenticeship at Ashworth, Son and Company, a weighing machine company. He later became a weighing machine manager. During the depression of the 1930s, he went into farming, but in 1938 he moved to Birmingham to go back into the skilled engineering trade.
Wartime work
He made a name for himself during the Second World War (he was in a 'reserved occupation' not liable to call-up, but was also a pacifist), leading increased production and lecturing to other factories on how to contribute to the war effort. He also served on the Birmingham Trades Council from 1942 to 1945. He was a member of the National Union of Scalemakers, and later joined the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers.
Politics
At the 1945 general election, Bence was the Labour Party candidate in Birmingham Handsworth. He fought the same seat in the 1950 general election and at a by-election in November 1950, but could not defeat the Conservatives.
Parliament
For the 1951 general election, Bence was chosen as candidate by the Labour Party in East Dunbartonshire, a constituency in two parts which included some heavy industry on the north bank of the River Clyde. He kept the seat for Labour, and represented it until he retired at the 1970 general election.
Always on the back-benches, Bence served as a member of the Estimates Committee in the 1964-1966 Parliament, and was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Patrick Gordon Walker from 1964 and to Anthony Crosland from 1965 to 1967. He played a key role in securing government subsidy for the building of the Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner.
Family
Cyril Raymond Bence, politician, born 26 November 1902, Member Birmingham Trades Council 1942- 45, MP (Labour) Dunbartonshire East 1951-70, married 1926 Florence Bowler (died 1974; one son, one daughter), 1975 Mrs IN Hall (nee Lewis), died Taunton 7 September 1992/[1] Bence was the father of Valerie Pearl, the historian and President of New Hall, Cambridge.
References
- ^ a b c Dalyell, Tam (7 September 1992). "Obituary: Cyril Bence". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
Sources
- Stenton, Michael; Lees, Stephen, eds. (1976). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: A Biographical Dictionary of the House of Commons Based on Annual Volumes of Dod's Parliamentary Companion and Other Sources. Harvester Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-391-01087-1.
- "Cyril Bence; Obituary". The Times. 10 September 1992. p. 17. Gale A116257279.