Sir Walter was the son of William Holmes Smiles, director of Belfast Ropeworks, and grandson of Samuel Smiles. Sir Walter served during the First World War and, in the 1920s, managed a tea estate in Assam, there he became involved in local government and was a member of the Assam Legislative Council.
walter, smiles, lieutenant, colonel, walter, dorling, smiles, november, 1883, january, 1953, northern, irish, politician, member, parliament, north, downin, office, february, 1950, january, 1953preceded, byconstituency, recreated, john, morrow, simms, 1922, su. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Walter Dorling Smiles CIE DSO DL 8 November 1883 31 January 1953 was a Northern Irish politician Walter SmilesMember of Parliament for North DownIn office 23 February 1950 31 January 1953Preceded byConstituency recreated John Morrow Simms 1922 Succeeded byPatricia FordMember of Parliament for DownIn office 5 July 1945 3 February 1950Preceded byViscount CastlereaghSucceeded byConstituency Abolished Himself North Down Member of Parliament for BlackburnIn office 27 October 1931 15 June 1945Preceded byMary HamiltonSucceeded byBarbara CastlePersonal detailsBornWalter Dorling Smiles 1883 11 08 8 November 1883Belfast IrelandDied31 January 1953 1953 01 31 aged 69 Donaghadee Northern IrelandNationalityBritishPolitical partyUlster Unionist PartyChildrenPatriciaProfessionSoldier Sir Walter was the son of William Holmes Smiles director of Belfast Ropeworks and grandson of Samuel Smiles Sir Walter served during the First World War and in the 1920s managed a tea estate in Assam there he became involved in local government and was a member of the Assam Legislative Council During the First World War he obtained a pilots certificate but due to the lack of aircraft he transferred to Royal Naval Armoured Car Division In 1915 he joined the British Armoured Car Expeditionary Force which was seconded to the Imperial Russian Army to fight against Turkish forces in the Caucasus Campaign In 1918 he had reached the rank of lieutenant commander and was highly decorated he received the DSO in 1916 with bar in 1917 and a MID along with Russian and Romanian decorations such as the St George of the 4th class 1 He was Conservative Member of Parliament MP for Blackburn from 1931 to 1945 Smiles was re elected in 1935 but stood for Down in Northern Ireland at the 1945 Westminster election as a Unionist The two seat constituency was split in 1950 into North Down and South Down Smiles won North Down that year and remained its MP until his death in 1953 he lost his life in the sinking of MV Princess Victoria off Larne Lough in the Great Storm He was succeeded by his daughter Patricia Ford He is the great grandfather of explorer Bear Grylls 2 References edit Grylls Bear Mud Sweat and Tears Channel 4 2012 ISBN 1905026498 ISBN 978 1905026494 thepeerage comExternal links editHansard 1803 2005 contributions in Parliament by Sir Walter Smiles Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byMary HamiltonThomas Gill Member of Parliament for Blackburn1931 1945 With George Elliston Succeeded byBarbara CastleJohn Edwards Preceded byJames LittleViscount Castlereagh Member of Parliament for Down1945 1950 With James Little 1945 1946C H Mullan 1946 1950 Constituency divided New constituency Member of Parliament for Down North1950 1953 Succeeded byPatricia Ford nbsp nbsp This article about a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for a constituency in Northern Ireland since 1922 is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp nbsp nbsp This article about a Conservative Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom representing an English constituency and born in the 1880s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Walter Smiles amp oldid 1217363419, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
