Charles Frank Byers, OBE PC DL

At Christ Church, Oxford he read PPE and won a Blue for athletics. At Oxford he was president of the Union of Liberal Students and president of the University Liberal Club. His treasurer was Harold Wilson, later Labour Party prime minister.

An exchange scholar at Milton Academy, Massachusetts. While at Oxford, he met Joan Oliver, whom he married in 1939. They had a son and three daughters. Joan Oliver was a committed Liberal in her own right and was a constant help to her husband during his political career.

Byers was admitted to Gray's Inn after university, but broke off his legal education to enlist. During the Second World War, Byers served in the Royal Artillery, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and for a time serving on Field Marshal Montgomery's staff. He was mentioned in dispatches three times, was created a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. In 1944 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

In the 1945 general election, Byers gained the formerly Conservative seat of North Dorset, with the absence of a Labour candidate being a key factor in this success. In 1946 Byers was appointed Liberal Chief Whip and gained a reputation for hard work and effective organisation both in parliament and at Liberal Party headquarters. However he was unable to hold North Dorset in 1950, losing by just 97 votes to the Conservatives following Labour's decision to stand a candidate. He unsuccessfully tried to re-enter the House of Commons in 1960 at the Bolton East by-election.

On 22 December 1964 Byers was created a life peer as Baron Byres, of Lingfield in the County of Surrey and three years later he became leader of the Liberal peers. He was created a Privy Councillor in 1972.

Outside Parliament, Byers was a businessman, a director of Rio Tinto Zinc from 1962–73 and a broadcaster.

A memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey on 5 April 1984

[Wikipedia]