Born on this date in 1863 was David Lloyd George, a former British Prime Minister. 10 things you might not know about him:
Although he was born in Manchester, David Lloyd George was the only Welshman ever to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the only one to speak Welsh as his first language. Lloyd George’s father was a Welshman from Pembrokeshire and had become headmaster of an elementary school in Manchester. His mother was the daughter of David Lloyd, a Baptist minister.
His father died when he was still a baby and his mother moved back to Wales, so Lloyd George grew up in Caernarvonshire.
The family was supported by his mother’s brother, who enabled his nephew to qualify as a solicitor in 1884.
He entered Parliament in 1890 when he was elected Liberal MP for Caernarvon, aged 27. He retained that seat for 55 years.
He married Margaret Owen in 1888 and had five children with her, but was a habitual womaniser and cheated on her often, including with their daughter’s teacher, Frances Stevenson, with whom he had a longstanding affair. He married her in 1943 after Margaret had died and he was 80 years old. Their letters to each other have been published under the name of My Darling Pussy. Apparently Lloyd George called Frances Pussy because of her gentle personality.
In 1906 he was made President of the Board of Trade. Herbert Asquith later promoted him to Chancellor. As Chancellor, he introduced state pensions for the first time and declared a war on poverty.
He became Prime Minister in 1916, during the first world war. He was acclaimed as the man who won the war, and in 1918, the first general election in the UK where women were able to vote, he won by a landslide.
In 1919 he signed the Treaty of Versailles, which established the League of Nations and the war reparations settlement.
As well as introducing state pensions, he raised the school leaving age to 14, prohibited the employment of children in railways and transport, building and engineering works, factories and mines, and introduced national insurance.
In 1940 Winston Churchill invited him to join his War Cabinet, but Lloyd George declined on grounds of age and health. In 1944 he was created Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, but died not long afterwards at the age of 82. He is buried on the banks of the River Dwyfor.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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