| Biography | James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater, GCB, PC, JP, DL (1 April 1855 27 March 1949) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1905 and 1921.
He was Member of Parliament for Rutland in 1883; contested Mid Cumberland in 1885; and sat for Penrith from 18861921. He was appointed 4th Charity Commissioner in 1887, and held junior ministerial office as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 18911892. He was Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker from 18951905 and Speaker of the House of Commons from 19051921.
Lowther represented Great Britain at the International Conference at Venice in 1892, and at the International Conference on Emigration at Rome in 1924. He was Chairman of the Speakers' Electoral Reform Conference in 19161917, of the Buckingham Palace Conference (on the partition of Ulster) in 1914, of the Boundary Commissions (Great Britain and Ireland) in 1917, of the Royal Commission on Proportional Representation in 1918, Devolution Conference in 1919, of the Royal Commission on London Government, 19211922; of Review Committee Political Honours, 19231924, and Statutory Commission on Cambridge University, 1923; of the Agricultural Wages Board from 19301940; of the Lords and Commons Committee on Electoral Reform, 19291930; and of BBC Enquiry Committee, 1935. He was a Trustee of the British Museum from 19221931 and a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery from 1925. In 1907 his portrait was painted by Philip de Laszlo. |