Talk:Waldron Smithers

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Anecdotes[edit]

My grandmother worked in the Houses of Parliament while this chap was about and told me the following little snippet. At some point in his career Smithers was given a position in the BBC. Being a staunch Conservative in a largely liberal organisation there was a little rhyme knocking about at the time which went like this:

"Hithery Smithery, Tory me,
All alone in the BBC."

A quick Google search reveals what a colourful chap he was, including the following anecdote:

"Sir Waldron Smithers, who sat for Chislehurst, was an extreme Tory out of a vanished age. Deeply religious - he had an organ on which he played hymns in his house at Chislehurst and he preached whenever he could find the opportunity - he was also not insensitive to the consoling effect of alcohol. On one occasion Hugh Dalton, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, was winding up in a crowded House about the action he had taken to deal with one of the periodic economic crises of the time. In his booming voice, which was his greatest handicap, he quoted with self-satisfied emphasis, the particular date on which he had taken what he claimed was the necessary action. Sir Waldron, who was sitting on the back bench under the Gallery on the Opposition side, and did not appear to be very clearly following the argument, sprang to life at the mention of the date. 'My birthday!' he exclaimed in a voice as loud as Dalton's. It was some minutes before the Chancellor could proceed, and his peroration was ruined." Source: [1]

82.14.87.70 12:39, 16 August 2007 (UTC) (davehs@gmail.com)[reply]

Good, I've sourced the quote and added a reference to it. Too long in itself to go in the article, unfortunately. Rbreen 14:24, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]