George Nugent, Baron Nugent of Guildford

For other people named George Nugent, see George Nugent (disambiguation).

George Richard Hodges Nugent, Baron Nugent of Guildford PC, JP (6 June 1907 – 16 March 1994), known as Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet between 1960 and 1966, was a British Conservative politician.

Background

Nugent was the son of Colonel George Roubiliac Hodges Nugent and his wife Violet Stella, daughter of Henry Theopphilus Sheppard. He was educated at the Imperial Service College and went then to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Career

In 1926, Nugent was commissioned into the British Army, leaving it after three years. He joined the County Council for Surrey in 1944 and became an alderman in 1951, representing the county later as a Justice of the Peace. Nugent entered the British House of Commons in 1950, sitting as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford until 1966. He became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1951, an office he held until 1957. Subsequently he served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport until October 1959. Nugent was created a Baronet, of Dunsfold in the County of Surrey on 27 January 1960 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1962. He received a life peerage with the title Baron Nugent of Guildford, of Dunsfold, in the County of Surrey on 31 May 1966.

In 1944, Nugent became a member of the National Farmers Union's executive council and in 1948 a vice-chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs, occupying both posts until 1951. He chaired the Thames Conservancy Board for fourteen years from 1960 and was nominated a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1962. Two years later, he became chairman of the Animal Virus Research Institute until 1977. Nugent became the first chairman of the National Water Council in 1973, resigning after five years. He was president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and in 1981 he succeeded in introducing seat belt legislation through an amendment to the Transport Bill.

Family

On 29 July 1937, Nugent married Ruth Stafford, daughter of Hugh Granville Stafford. He and his wife were both awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Surrey in December 1968. Nugent died at Dunsfold in 1994.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Nugent

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir John Jarvis, Bt	Member of Parliament for Guildford 1950 – 1966	Succeeded by David Howell
Political offices
Preceded by Arthur Champion The Earl of Listowel	Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 1951–1957 With: The Lord Carrington 1951–1954 The Earl St Aldwyn 1954–1957 Harmar Nicholls 1955–1957 Bill Deedes 1955–1957	Succeeded by The Earl St Aldwyn Joseph Godber as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Preceded by Hugh Molson John Profumo	Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport 1957–1959 With: Airey Neave 1957–1959 John Hay Jan – Oct 1959	Succeeded by John Hay The Lord Chesham
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Dunsfold) 1960 – 1994	Extinct