The Right Honourable The Lord Weatherill KStJ PC DL |
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Weatherill's official portrait as Speaker, by Norman Blamey (1986)
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Speaker of the House of Commons | |
In office 15 June 1983 – 9 April 1992 |
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Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | George Thomas |
Succeeded by | Betty Boothroyd |
Chairman of Ways and Means | |
In office 10 May 1979 – 11 June 1983 |
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Speaker | George Thomas |
Preceded by | Oscar Murton |
Succeeded by | Harold Walker |
Treasurer of the Household | |
In office 2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974 |
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Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Humphrey Atkins |
Succeeded by | Walter Harrison |
Comptroller of the Household | |
In office 7 April 1972 – 2 December 1973 |
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Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Reginald Eyre |
Succeeded by | Walter Clegg |
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household | |
In office 17 October 1971 – 7 April 1972 |
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Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Jasper More |
Succeeded by | Walter Clegg |
Member of Parliament for Croydon North East |
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In office 15 October 1964 – 9 April 1992 |
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Preceded by | John Hughes-Hallett |
Succeeded by | David Congdon |
Personal details | |
Born |
London, England, UK |
25 November 1920
Died | 6 May 2007 Caterham, Surrey, UK |
(aged 86)
Political party |
Crossbencher (1992–2007) None (1983–1992) Conservative (until 1983) |
Spouse(s) | Lyn Eatwell |
Children | 3 |
Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, KStJ, PC, DL (25 November 1920 – 6 May 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992.
He was the son of Bernard Bruce Weatherill (1883–1962) and Annie Gertrude née Creak (1886–1966). He married Lyn Eatwell (1928–) in 1949 and they had three children: Bernard Richard, QC (born 1951), Henry Bruce (born 1953) and Virginia (born 1955). Weatherill was known as "Jack", while his twin sister (baptismal name Margery) was called "Jill".
After attending Malvern College, he was apprenticed at age 17 as a tailor to the family firm Bernard Weatherill Ltd, Sporting Tailors, later of Savile Row. He became Director (1948), Managing Director (1958), and Chairman (1967) of the business. After it merged with Kilgour French & Stanbury Ltd., Tailors in 1969, he became Chairman of the combined firm. He resumed his role with the company after his retirement from the House of Commons in 1992, as President until the firm was acquired by others in 2003. Some of the clothes he designed are in the Victoria and Albert Museum and other museum collections.
Following his mother's advice, he always carried his tailoring thimble in his pocket as a reminder of his trade origins and the need for humility, no matter how high one rises. He said that he desired his epitaph to be "He always kept his word."
He was a member of three City of London Livery Companies: the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, and the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers.