Eldon Griffiths

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Sir Eldon Griffiths
Minister for Sport
In office
19 June 1970 – 4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byDenis Howell
Succeeded byDenis Howell
Member of Parliament
for Bury St Edmunds
In office
14 May 1964 – 16 March 1992
Preceded byWilliam Traven Aitken
Succeeded byRichard Spring
Personal details
Born(1925-05-25)25 May 1925
Wigan, Lancashire, England
Died3 June 2014(2014-06-03) (aged 89)
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Sigrid Gante
​
​
(m. 1949; div. 1985)​

Betty Stannard
​
​
(m. 1985; died 2010)​
[1]
Susan Donnell
​
(m. 2013)​
[2]
Children2, including John Griffiths
Alma materEmmanuel College, Cambridge
ProfessionJournalist and farmer

Sir Eldon Wylie Griffiths (25 May 1925 – 3 June 2014) was a British Conservative politician and journalist.

Early life[edit]

Griffiths was born on 25 May 1925 in Wigan, Lancashire.[3] His Welsh father was a police sergeant. He attended Ashton-under-Lyne Grammar School. Following the Second World War service in the Royal Air Force he gained a double first class degree in history from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and an MA from Yale University.[4][5]

Career[edit]

Journalism[edit]

After university Griffiths worked in the Conservative Research Department and became a journalist and farmer. He was managing editor of Newsweek.

Political career[edit]

He became the MP for Bury St Edmunds after a by-election in 1964, and represented the seat until he retired in 1992. His Daily Telegraph obituary claimed he was "rangy, articulate, but dour... a political loner, and not over-popular on the Tory benches." However, it listed many achievements as MP and in other spheres.[6] He served as Minister for Sport during the Edward Heath government of 1970 to 1974. He also served as parliamentary spokesman for the Police Federation. In 1985, he was made a Knight Bachelor for "political service".[7]

Academia[edit]

For a brief period while an MP, Griffiths worked as a professor at the University of California, Irvine,[1] a role in which The Times said led to him being called the member for Orange County.[8]

Director appointments[edit]

Griffiths was a director of one of Gerald Carroll's Carroll Group companies.[9]

Personal life[edit]

In June 2013, aged 88, he announced his third marriage, to Susan Donnell.[10]

Honours[edit]

He was a Freeman of the borough of St Edmundsbury.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "GRIFFITHS, Sir Eldon (Wylie)". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2024 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Sir Eldon Griffiths obituary, theguardian.com, 4 June 2014.
  3. ^ Langdon, Julia (4 June 2014). "Sir Eldon Griffiths obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  4. ^ Eldon Griffiths Obituary in the Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2014
  5. ^ Eldon Griffith obituary in The Guardian Retrieved 4 June 2014
  6. ^ Daily Telegraph, London 4 June 2014
  7. ^ "No. 50154". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1985. p. 1.
  8. ^ Kidd, Patrick. "Times Diary". The Times. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  9. ^ "SFO looks at 500m fall of Carroll empire", Dominic O'Connell, Sunday Business, 1 October 2000, p. 1.
  10. ^ Former MP of Bury St Edmunds to marry for third time at the age of 88, Bury Free Press. Accessed 18 January 2023.

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds
1964–1992 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Sport
1970–1974 		Succeeded by


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