LOUGHER, Sir LEWIS (1871 - 1955), industrialist and politician

Born 1 October 1871, second son of Thomas Lougher of Llandaff, Glamorganshire, and Charlotte, daughter of David Lewis, a farmer of Radyr Farm, Radyr, Cardiff. His family was deeply rooted in Glamorganshire; his father came from Wenvoe and his paternal grandfather from Garn-llwyd, Llancarfan. He was educated in Cardiff Secondary School and Cardiff Technical College, and was apprenticed to corn merchants. But Lewis soon entered the shipping business, and succeeded spectacularly as Cardiff developed into the world's chief port for exporting coal, until in 1910 he established the shipping company Lewis Lougher and Co., Ltd. having a fleet of ships in Bute docks, and he grew into a figure typifying Cardiff at the zenith of the city's mercantile power. He became chairman of a large number of shipping companies in Cardiff, Penarth and Barry, chairman of the federation of Bristol Channel shipowners in 1919, chairman of the Cardiff Chamber of Trade when the Chamber was particularly powerful, and an expert on the problems of exporting and handling coal as a member of the National Trimming Board.

He was a member of Glamorgan County Council from 1922 to 1949, a member and chairman of Cardiff Rural Council, and M.P. (C) for Cardiff East, 1922-23, and for Cardiff Central, 1924-29. His parliamentary career was notable in that he succeeded in getting an act of parliament on the statute book, namely the Road Transport Lighting Act, which he presented as a private member's bill in February 1927, and which to the present day requires that every vehicle shall have a white light at the front and red light at the rear.

He was J.P. for Glamorganshire, High Sheriff in 1931, and he received a knighthood in 1929. During the 1930s he was responsible for developing parts of Radyr through his land company and the building of Danybryn Estates. He was a leading member of the Freemasons, and contributed generously to all kinds of organisations and philanthropic causes in the Cardiff area.

He was a bachelor, and lived for a long time in a mansion called Dan-y-bryn, Radyr (now the Cheshire Homes), but about 1939 he and his unmarried sister Charlotte Lougher moved to live nearby in Northlands, Radyr, where he died 28 August 1955.

Author

• Prys Morgan

Sources

• Who's who?
• Who was who?
• John Lougher, The Loughers of Glamorgan. Their descent and connections (Cardiff 1952) (1952, private circulation)
• personal acquaintance

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Lewis Lougher

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q6536806

Published date: 2001

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/