80-469: Alfred Robens, Baron Robens of Woldingham , PC (18 December 1910 – 27 June 1999) was an English trade unionist , Labour politician and industrialist . His political ambitions, including an aspiration to become Prime Minister , were frustrated by bad timing, but his energies were diverted into industry: he spent 10 years as Chairman of the National Coal Board , and later – despite
160-513: A committee on workplace health and safety. This led to the 1972 Robens Report which controversially championed the idea of self-regulation by employers. The Report itself led to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the creation of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive . Following the Conservative victory in the 1970 general election , Robens found
240-476: A digitised ODNB included what Christopher Warren calls Matthews's "data internationalism". In a 1996 essay, Matthew prophesied, "Who can doubt that in the course of the next century, as nationality in Europe gives way to European Union , so national reference works, at least in Europe, will do so also....Just as the computer is collapsing national library catalogues in a single world-wide series, so I am sure that in
320-827: A few institutions in the United Kingdom . The Judicial Committee also hears very occasional appeals from a number of ancient and ecclesiastical courts. These include the Church Commissioners , the Arches Court of Canterbury , the Chancery Court of York , prize courts, the High Court of Chivalry , and the Court of Admiralty of the Cinque Ports . This committee usually consists of members of
400-567: A part-time member of the Board, rose to his feet and told Robens that in doing so he had acted correctly. In the wake of the disaster, Robens was asked that the NCB should fund the removal of the remaining tips from Aberfan. He was advised, however, that the cost of doing so would have obliged the NCB to exceed its borrowing limits, set by the government. He had acceded to a request from the bereaved mothers of Aberfan to meet them to hear their views, and he
480-416: A part-time member of the NCB, Richard Marsh was advised that Robens was "taking the coal industry through a period of painful contraction without big strikes" and the strong support for him within the coal industry and the union movement were crucial to the decision to retain him. When Robens told a meeting of the full Board that he had offered his resignation, there was surprise and consternation; Cecil King ,
560-449: A search for people by area of interest, religion and "Places, Dates, Life Events". This accesses an electronic index that cannot be directly viewed. Response to the new dictionary has been for the most part positive, but in the months following publication there was occasional criticism of the dictionary in some British newspapers and periodicals for reported factual inaccuracies. However, the number of articles publicly queried in this way
640-739: A secretary of state. The Committee, which last met in 1988, is concerned with the design and usage of wafer seals . The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the executive committee of the Privy Council and the senior decision-making body of British Government . The Judicial Committee serves as the final court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies , the British Overseas Territories , some Commonwealth countries, military sovereign base areas and
720-625: A smaller working committee which evolved into the modern Cabinet . By the end of the English Civil War , the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber , the House of Commons , instituted a Council of State to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons;
800-555: A variety of talents from veteran journalists to young scholars who cut their academic teeth on dictionary articles at a time when postgraduate historical research in British universities was still in its infancy. While much of the dictionary was written in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, who included several respected writers and scholars of the late nineteenth century. By 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to
880-612: A volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research . There were various versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography , which covered everyone in the main work but with much shorter articles; some were only two lines. The last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986. In the early 1990s, Oxford University Press committed itself to overhauling
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#1732776125886960-446: Is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom . Its members, known as privy counsellors , are mainly senior politicians who are current or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords . The Privy Council formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the royal prerogative . The King-in-Council issues executive instruments known as Orders in Council . The Privy Council also holds
1040-515: Is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history , published since 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ( ODNB ) was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives. Hoping to emulate national biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, such as the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875), in 1882
1120-654: The Aberfan disaster – headed a major inquiry which resulted in the Robens Report on occupational health and safety . His outlook was paternalistic; in later life, he moved away from his early socialism towards the Conservative Party . His reputation remains tarnished by his failure to have foreseen and prevented the Aberfan disaster, followed by actions widely regarded as grossly insensitive during
1200-653: The Cabinet . With the creation of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801, a single Privy Council was created for Great Britain and Ireland, although the Privy Council of Ireland continued to exist until 1922, when it was abolished upon the creation of the Irish Free State as an independent Dominion outside the United Kingdom, but within the British Empire . The Privy Council of Northern Ireland
1280-663: The DNB was performed by the Alliance Photosetting Company in Pondicherry , India. The new dictionary would cover British history, "broadly defined" (including, for example, subjects from Roman Britain , the United States of America before its independence , and from Britain's former colonies , provided they were functionally part of the Empire and not of "the indigenous culture", as stated in
1360-589: The DNB . Work on what was known until 2001 as the New Dictionary of National Biography , or New DNB , began in 1992 under the editorship of Colin Matthew , professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford . Matthew decided that no subjects from the old dictionary would be excluded, however insignificant the subjects appeared to a late twentieth-century eye; that a minority of shorter articles from
1440-474: The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 ). The Crown-in-Council was formerly the supreme appellate court for the entire British Empire , but a number of Commonwealth countries have now abolished the right to such appeals. The Judicial Committee continues to hear appeals from several Commonwealth countries, from British Overseas Territories , Sovereign Base Areas and Crown Dependencies . The Judicial Committee had direct jurisdiction in cases relating to
1520-601: The Scotland Act 1998 , the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 , but this was transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009. The Scottish Universities Committee considers proposed amendments to the statutes of Scotland's four ancient universities . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The Dictionary of National Biography ( DNB )
1600-648: The Suez Crisis of 1956 because he had been briefed in confidence by the Conservative Prime Minister, Anthony Eden , on the night before the invasion; sworn to secrecy, he was unable to oppose the invasion effectively in the debate in the House of Commons . Furthermore, Gaitskell felt him too left-wing . He was replaced as Shadow Foreign Secretary by Bevan, and felt that his political ambitions had been frustrated. Thus, when Harold Macmillan (Eden's successor as prime minister) offered Robens
1680-960: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and senior judges of the Commonwealth of Nations who are Privy Counsellors. Within the United Kingdom, the Judicial Committee hears appeals from ecclesiastical courts , the Admiralty Court of the Cinque Ports, Prize Courts and the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons , appeals against schemes of the Church Commissioners and appeals under certain Acts of Parliament (e.g.,
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#17327761258861760-420: The final court of appeal for the entire British Empire (other than for the United Kingdom itself). It continues to hear judicial appeals from some other independent Commonwealth countries , as well as Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories . The Privy Council of the United Kingdom, created on 1 January 1801, was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland , the Privy Council of England , and
1840-611: The Civil Service (Amendment) Order in Council 1997, permitted the Prime Minister to grant up to three political advisers management authority over some Civil Servants. In the 1960s, the Privy Council made an order to evict an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 inhabitants of the 55-island Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for the establishment of a joint United States–United Kingdom military base on
1920-478: The Council — which later became the Court of the Star Chamber — was during the 15th century permitted to inflict any punishment except death, without being bound by normal court procedure . During Henry VIII 's reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation. The legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIII's death. By 1540
2000-821: The Court of Appeal were persuaded by this argument, but in 2007 the Law Lords of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords found the original decision to be flawed and overturned the ruling by a 3–2 decision, thereby upholding the terms of the Order in Council. As of 2023, negotiations between the Mauritian and UK governments that included the sovereignty of the Chagossians were still ongoing. The Privy Council has committees: The Baronetage Committee
2080-462: The Introduction), up to 31 December 2000. The research project was conceived as a collaborative one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. It would remain selective – there would be no attempt to include all members of parliament , for example – but would seek to include significant, influential or notorious figures from the whole canvas of
2160-535: The King-in-Council, although in practice its actual work of hearing and deciding upon cases is carried out day-to-day by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . The Judicial Committee consists of senior judges appointed as privy counsellors: predominantly justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and senior judges from the Commonwealth . The Privy Council formerly acted as
2240-712: The Lord Protector, subject to Parliament's approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy , the Protector's Council was abolished. King Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. The formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 combined the Privy Councils of England and Scotland,
2320-513: The NCB in 1961 at a salary believed to be £10,000 a year (which was never increased throughout his ten years in office) and was created a life peer as Baron Robens of Woldingham , of Woldingham in the County of Surrey , on 28 June. Amongst those critical of this sudden elevation were his successor as MP for Blyth, Eddie Milne . Robens's leadership of the NCB was high-handed. He expected unflinching loyalty from colleagues and subordinates alike, and
2400-571: The Privy Council of Great Britain (1708–1800). Its continued existence has been described as "more or less a constitutional and historical accident". The key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below: In Anglo-Saxon England , the Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England . During the reigns of the Norman monarchs , the English Crown
2480-531: The Wilson Labour government. Industrial relations deteriorated during his tenure, and there was an unofficial strike in 1969 that lost £15 million and 2.5 million tonnes of coal as a result of walkouts at 140 of the 307 NCB collieries. Robens expressed concern at the poor occupational health and safety record of the coal industry, and championed campaigns to reduce accidents and to counter chronic occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis . Although
Alfred Robens, Baron Robens of Woldingham - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-528: The aftermath of the disaster. Robens was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock , Manchester, the son of George Robens, a cotton salesman , and Edith Robens ( née Anderton). He left school aged 15 to work as an errand boy, but his career truly began when he joined the Manchester and Salford Co-operative Society as a clerk ; he became a director when he was 22, one of the first worker-directors in
2640-559: The body was headed by Oliver Cromwell , de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector , and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs. The Council became known as the Protector's Privy Council ; its members were appointed by
2720-787: The chairmanship of the National Coal Board (NCB) in 1960, he accepted enthusiastically. Gaitskell died in January 1963. Geoffrey Tweedale, writing in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , has expressed the view that, had Robens persisted in politics, he, rather than Harold Wilson , would have become prime minister. Indeed, George Brown (the runner-up to Wilson in the election to succeed Gaitskell) stated in his autobiography that had Robens been in Parliament he himself would not have opposed him, and even if he had, Robens would have defeated him. Robens took up his appointment at
2800-517: The country. He was an official in the Union of Distributive and Allied Workers from 1935 to 1945; certified medically unfit for military service in the Second World War , he was a Manchester City Councillor from 1941 to 1945. He married Eva Powell on 9 September 1936; the couple adopted a son, Alfred (born 1935). Following the war, in the dramatic Labour landslide victory of 1945 , Robens
2880-523: The course of the next fifty years we will see the gradual aggregation of our various dictionaries of national biography. We will be much blamed by our users if we do not!" Following Matthew's death in October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Brian Harrison , in January 2000. The new dictionary, now known as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (or ODNB ),
2960-913: The dates of bank holidays . The Privy Council formerly had sole power to grant academic degree-awarding powers and the title of university , but following the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 these powers have been transferred to the Office for Students for educational institutions in England. Before the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 the Civil Service was governed by powers of royal prerogative . These powers were usually delegated to ministers by Orders in Council , and were used by Margaret Thatcher to ban GCHQ staff from joining trade unions. Another,
3040-466: The delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. It advises the sovereign on the issuing of royal charters , which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, and city or borough status to local authorities. Otherwise, the Privy Council's powers have now been largely replaced by its executive committee, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom . Certain judicial functions are also performed by
3120-415: The dictionary had "proved of inestimable service in elucidating the private annals of the British", providing not only concise lives of the notable deceased, but additionally lists of sources which were invaluable to researchers in a period when few libraries or collections of manuscripts had published catalogues or indices, and the production of indices to periodical literatures was just beginning. Throughout
3200-558: The disaster, a blunder that was compounded by the actions of NCB staff, who falsely informed the Minister of Power , Richard Marsh , that Robens was at Aberfan. It was always his policy to send the most senior mining engineer to the scene of a disaster to coordinate rescue operations. Speaking to the media on the Sunday after the disaster, Robens was concerned that the initial shock and sorrow might give way to anger, possibly directed towards
3280-404: The disaster. This was later taken by the Aberfan disaster enquiry to imply that the Board was contesting liability, notwithstanding the 19th-century case of Rylands v Fletcher which meant that the Board had absolute liability for damage caused by a 'dangerous escape' of material. Conversely, in a later interview Robens claimed that the disaster had been caused by "natural unknown springs" beneath
Alfred Robens, Baron Robens of Woldingham - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-471: The event, when it was clear that his earlier comments to reporters had been misinterpreted at the Tribunal as a denial of responsibility, he offered to appear at the inquiry to set the matter straight. He conceded that the NCB was at fault, an admission which would have rendered much of the inquiry unnecessary had it been made at the outset, notwithstanding the advice of Lord Edmund-Davies that his appearance
3440-474: The former's resignation in protest of National Health Service prescription charges in 1951, but the Conservative Party won the general election later that year. In opposition, Robens continued to rise in the party, being appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary by Clement Attlee while Bevan was indisposed, and he began to be considered as a future candidate for party leader. Robens himself "yearned to become Prime Minister". However, he failed to impress during
3520-586: The home of the 7th Earl of Lucan . Robens suffered the first of two debilitating strokes in 1992, and died in 1999 aged 88. Robens's period at the National Coal Board was mentioned in the folk songs of the period. Ed Pickford, who was a miner in the Durham Coalfield , was highly critical of Robens: his song The Pound a Week Rise criticises the low wages paid to coal miners during Robens's reign, and his song One Miner's Life refers to
3600-764: The job with vigour and enthusiasm, visiting pits, arguing with miners at the coalface and developing a deep knowledge of the industry. In 1963 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland . He chose the subject "Coal - Its Place in the National Economy". As Chairman of the NCB, Robens oversaw substantial cuts in the mining industry, many of them reflecting market forces and government policies originated before he assumed
3680-541: The largest island in the archipelago, Diego Garcia . In 2000, the High Court of Justice ruled that the inhabitants had a right to return to the archipelago. In 2004, the Privy Council, under Jack Straw 's tenure, overturned the ruling. In 2006, the High Court of Justice found the Privy Council's decision to be unlawful. Justice Kentridge stated that there was no known precedent "for the lawful use of prerogative powers to remove or exclude an entire population of British subjects from their homes and place of birth", and
3760-405: The latter body coming to an end in 1708. Under King George I , even more power transferred to a small committee of the Council, which began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the Sovereign; the role passed to a committee of the Council, now known as
3840-420: The life of the United Kingdom and its former colonies, overlaying the decisions of the late-nineteenth-century editors with the interests of late-twentieth-century scholarship in the hope that "the two epochs in collaboration might produce something more useful for the future than either epoch on its own", but acknowledging also that a final definitive selection is impossible to achieve. Matthews's dedication to
3920-424: The men who worked at the top of the spoil heaps. To avoid this, he said that those men could not have foreseen what happened. A television interview, during which he made that comment, proved to be unacceptable for broadcasting, owing to the atmospheric conditions; instead, the interviewer broadcast a paraphrase of the interview that wrongly made it seem that Robens had claimed that no one in the NCB could have foreseen
4000-435: The new administration's distaste for nationalisation at odds with his own rather paternalistic views. He fell into conflict with Prime Minister Edward Heath and Minister of State for Industry Sir John Eden . Robens left the NCB in 1971 but always insisted that his tenure was a success. Robens had become a director of the Bank of England in 1966 and a member of the board of directors of Times Newspapers in 1967. He
4080-428: The nineteen-member council had become a new national institution, most probably the creation of Thomas Cromwell , without there being exact definitions of its powers. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became a primarily administrative body. In 1553 the Council consisted of forty members÷, whereas Henry VII swore over a hundred servants to his council. Sovereigns relied on
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#17327761258864160-423: The number of fatal and serious accidents fell by over 60% during his tenure, there was also a fall in the workforce of over 50%, from 583,000 to 283,000. The largest single blow to his reputation came from his reaction to the catastrophic 1966 industrial accident at Aberfan , in the Taff Valley , South Wales. On the morning of 21 October, a massive spoil heap from the nearby Merthyr Vale Colliery collapsed onto
4240-624: The old DNB (the old DNB entries on these subjects may be accessed separately through a link to the "DNB Archive" – many of the longer entries are still highly regarded). A small permanent staff remain in Oxford to update and extend the coverage of the online edition. Harrison was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Lawrence Goldman , in October 2004. The first online update was published on 4 January 2005, including subjects who had died in 2001. A further update, including subjects from all periods, followed on 23 May 2005, and another on 6 October 2005. New subjects who died in 2002 were added to
4320-491: The online dictionary on 5 January 2006, with continuing releases in May and October in subsequent years following the precedent of 2005. The ODNB also includes some new biographies on people who died before the DNB was published and are not included in the original DNB , because they have become notable since the DNB was published through the work of more recent historians, for example William Eyre (fl. 1634–1675). The online version has an advanced search facility, allowing
4400-406: The original DNB included 29,120 lives; the supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who died in the twentieth century. In 1993, a volume containing missing biographies was published. This had an additional 1,086 lives, selected from over 100,000 suggestions. L. G. L. Legg was editor of the DNB in the 1940s. In 1966, the University of London published
4480-437: The original alphabetical sequence. The supplements brought the whole work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. Corrections were added. After issuing a volume of errata in 1904, the dictionary was reissued with minor revisions in 22 volumes in 1908 and 1909; a subtitle said that it covered British history "from the earliest times to the year 1900". In the words of the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition ,
4560-456: The original dictionary would remain in the new version in revised form, but most would be rewritten; and that room would be made for about 14,000 new subjects. Suggestions for new subjects were solicited through questionnaires placed in libraries and universities and, as the 1990s advanced, online. The suggestions were assessed by the editor, the 12 external consultant editors, and several hundred associate editors and in-house staff. Digitisation of
4640-424: The post. Although he lobbied to protect the industry, his reputation as a socialist necessarily suffered: when he took over as NCB chair there were 698 pits employing 583,000 miners, but by the time he left the post 10 years later there were only 292 pits employing 283,000 miners. For a while Robens had a constructive working relationship with the miners' leader Will Paynter , but he had a combative relationship with
4720-445: The power to grant royal assent to legislation, are a form of primary legislation, while orders made under statutory powers are a form of secondary legislation. Orders of Council , distinct from Orders in Council, are issued by members of the Privy Council without requiring the approval of the sovereign. Like Orders in Council, they can be made under statutory powers or royal prerogative. Orders of Council are most commonly used for
4800-440: The publisher George Smith (1824–1901), of Smith, Elder & Co. , planned a universal dictionary that would include biographical entries on individuals from world history. He approached Leslie Stephen , then editor of the Cornhill Magazine , owned by Smith, to become the editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom and its present and former colonies. An early working title
4880-513: The regulation of public institutions and regulatory bodies. The sovereign also grants royal charters on the advice of the Privy Council. Charters bestow special status to incorporated bodies ; they are used to grant chartered status to certain professional, educational or charitable bodies, and sometimes also city and borough status to towns. The Privy Council therefore deals with a wide range of matters, which also includes university and livery company statutes, churchyards , coinage and
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#17327761258864960-399: The supreme legislature of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, rather than on the advice of Parliament, were accepted as valid. Powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. For example, a committee of
5040-404: The tip; but evidence emerged that the existence of these springs was common knowledge. The report of the Edmund-Davies Tribunal , which inquired into the disaster, was highly critical of the NCB and Robens. He had proposed to appear at the outset of the inquiry to admit the NCB's full responsibility for the disaster, but the Chairman of the Tribunal advised him that this would not be necessary. In
5120-460: The twentieth century, further volumes were published for those who had died, generally on a decade-by-decade basis, beginning in 1912 with a supplement edited by Lee covering those who died between 1901 and 1911. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co., to Oxford University Press in 1917. Until 1996, Oxford University Press continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during
5200-777: The twentieth century. These include the 3rd supplement in 1927 (covering those who died between 1912 and 1921), 4th supplement in 1937 (covering those who died between 1922 and 1930), 5th supplement in 1949 (covering those who died between 1931 and 1940), 6th supplement in 1959 (covering those who died between 1941 and 1950), 7th supplement in 1971 (covering those who died between 1951 and 1960), 8th supplement in 1981 (covering those who died between 1961 and 1970), 9th supplement in 1986 (covering those who died between 1971 and 1980), 10th supplement in 1990 (covering those who died between 1981 and 1985), 11th supplement in 1993 (covering missing persons, see below), and 12th supplement in 1996 (covering those who died between 1986 and 1990). The 63 volumes of
5280-401: The village of Aberfan, burying 20 houses and the Pantglas Junior School in a landslide, 30 ft (9.1 m) deep, of water-saturated slurry that killed 116 schoolchildren and 28 adults. Robens nonetheless went ahead with his installation as the first Chancellor of the new University of Surrey before going to Aberfan, and did not arrive until the evening of the Saturday following the day of
5360-1045: The widespread pit closures. Jock Purdon , a miner who was made redundant on the closure of Harraton Colliery in Durham , wrote the song Farewell to Cotia about the migration of redundant miners across the country and particularly to Nottinghamshire , which he referred to as "Robens's promised land". The Pound a Week Rise has subsequently been covered by various folk and left-wing artists, including Dick Gaughan and Rathkeltaír . Her Majesty%27s Most Honourable Privy Council King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The Privy Council (formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council )
5440-433: The work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, when the series closed with volume 63. The year of publication, the editor and the range of names in each volume is given below . Since the scope included only deceased figures, the DNB was soon extended by the issue of three supplementary volumes, covering subjects who had died between 1885 and 1900 or who had been overlooked in
5520-521: Was Chairman of Vickers from 1971 to 1979, opposing the Labour plans for nationalisation that led to the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 . He was Chairman of Johnson Matthey from 1971 to 1983, and a director of Trust House Forte and several other companies. His lifestyle was increasingly at odds with his socialist beginnings and by 1979, he had become aligned with the Conservative Party. He left public life in 1982, retiring with his wife (who died in 2008) to Laleham Abbey in Surrey, once
5600-408: Was "unquestionably unlawful" under charity law – but the Charity Commission took no action to protect the Fund from this misappropriation of funds. There is no evidence that prosecution for corporate manslaughter was considered at the time. Robens was exonerated by the official history of the NCB but he remains condemned in other quarters. In 1969, Robens was selected by Barbara Castle to chair
5680-400: Was advised by a royal court or curia regis , which consisted of magnates , ecclesiastics and high officials . The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration and justice. Later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice , while Parliament became
5760-462: Was confrontational with politicians. He enjoyed the trappings of power including a Daimler with the vehicle registration number "NCB 1", an executive aeroplane (a six-seater De Havilland Dove which he and other Board members used to visit the far-flung coalfields) and a flat in Eaton Square . His behaviour earned him the nickname "Old King Coal", a pun on Old King Cole . He threw himself into
5840-483: Was created in 1922, but became defunct in 1972, when the Parliament of Northern Ireland was closed down. The sovereign may make Orders in Council upon the advice of the Privy Council. Orders in Council, which are drafted by the government rather than by the sovereign, are forms of either primary or secondary legislation , depending on the power they are made under. Orders made under prerogative powers, such as
5920-656: Was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the mining constituency of Wansbeck in Northumberland . He started to rise through the parliamentary ranks, serving in junior posts at the Ministry of Transport (1945–1947) and at the Ministry of Fuel and Power under Hugh Gaitskell . In 1950, following boundary changes, Robens moved to the new constituency of Blyth , later Blyth Valley . He briefly replaced Aneurin Bevan as Minister of Labour and National Service following
6000-659: Was established by a 1910 Order in Council, during Edward VII 's reign, to scrutinise all succession claims (and thus reject doubtful ones) to be placed on the Roll of Baronets . The Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey recommends approval of Channel Islands legislation. The Committee for the purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877 consists of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Privy Seal as well as
6080-624: Was not necessary. After the report was published in August 1967, Robens wrote to Marsh, the Minister of Power, offering his resignation; this was rejected by him and by the Prime Minister Wilson, although several cabinet members argued strongly that Robens ought to be removed. There have been allegations that the resignation offer was "bogus" and Robens had been assured that it would not be accepted. According to Ronald Dearing , then
6160-423: Was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print at a price of £7,500, and in an online edition for subscribers. Most UK holders of a current library card can access it online free of charge. In subsequent years, the print edition has been obtainable new for a much lower price. At publication, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives, including entries on all subjects included in
6240-538: Was received by them with courtesy. Eventually the cost was met partly by the Board and partly by the Government, with a levy made on the charitable Aberfan Disaster Fund. The Trustees of the Disaster Fund, which had been raised by public appeal, were put under "intolerable pressure" to make a contribution of £150,000 (equivalent to £3,500,000 in 2023) to cover the cost of removing the tips – an action that
6320-508: Was small – only 23 of the 50,113 articles published in September 2004, leading to fewer than 100 substantiated factual amendments. These and other queries received since publication are being considered as part of an ongoing programme of assessing proposed corrections or additions to existing subject articles, which can, when approved, be incorporated into the online edition of the dictionary. In 2005, The American Library Association awarded
6400-541: Was the Biographia Britannica , the name of an earlier eighteenth-century reference work . The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885. In May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee , Stephen's assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor. A dedicated team of sub-editors and researchers worked under Stephen and Lee, combining
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