31 Facts About Ivor Bulmer-Thomas

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas CBE FSA, born Ivor Thomas, was a British journalist and scientific writer who served eight years as a Member of Parliament.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas's career was much influenced by his conversion to the Church of England in his youth, and he became a pious believer on the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was a workaholic and after leaving politics he became a leading layman in the Church of England; an interest in historic buildings led him to set up the Friends of Friendless Churches group, which campaigns to prevent churches falling into disuse, and play a key role in founding the charity known today as The Churches Conservation Trust.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas went to West Monmouth School in Pontypool, where he abandoned his father's Baptist faith in favour of the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England, a decision that was to affect his future career profoundly.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas then turned to study divinity, but fell into dispute with the president of the college and moved instead to Magdalen College where he became Senior Demy in Theology.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was the Liddon Student in 1928, the Ellerton Essayist in 1929, and the Junior Denyer and Johnson Scholar in 1930.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas represented Oxford in varsity matches against Cambridge from 1925 to 1927, in which year he won the three miles race.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas wrote occasional leader columns and specialist articles on scientific subjects as well as being a sports correspondent for a brief period.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas married Dilys Llewelyn Jones in 1932, who bore him a son.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas described the principle of supporting those unable to work as "the iron ration of citizenship".

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was active on domestic issues, supporting the movement to allow Sunday opening of theatres, and for his stance he was denounced by the Lord's Day Observance Society.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was the Ministry's spokesman in the House of Commons as the Minister was Lord Winster.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas negotiated at the United Nations over continued British administration of the colonies of Tanganyika, Togoland and the Cameroons, against attempts by the Soviet Union to limit the extent of control.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas said he had been "particularly disturbed by the growing concentration of power in the hands of the State" and accused the government of surrendering "to its more extreme members and supporters".

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas formed an unofficial group of two with Alfred Edwards who had left Labour over the nationalisation of steel, and in the new year he formally announced he had joined the Conservative Party; simultaneously it was announced that he had been adopted as Conservative Party candidate for Newport, near his birthplace.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas wrote a book called The Socialist Tragedy which was published that year.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas then returned to journalism, becoming a reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement and writing obituaries for The Times.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas's contributions were anonymous in print but he is known to have been responsible for many important obituaries including that of Bertrand Russell.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas wanted the trust to save every threatened church, which included intervening with Dioceses to persuade them not to demolish unwanted churches which had lost their congregations.

When Ivor Bulmer-Thomas failed to persuade the trust to adopt his policy, the trust was dissolved and a new executive committee set up in which he was not involved.

At the Church Assembly on 15 November 1956, Ivor Bulmer-Thomas attacked Fisher, saying that he "held a pistol to my face while the Dean of Gloucester plunged his dagger into my back", which shocked some listeners.

On 12 August 1957 Ivor Bulmer-Thomas announced the formation of "The Friends of Friendless Churches", with himself as acting chairman and honorary secretary; he stressed that the group "is in no sense a rival to any existing body".

The Friends followed the policy Ivor Bulmer-Thomas had hoped the trust would adopt, opposing any suggestion of the demolition of a church.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas saw some considerable success but became an even more controversial figure with those who saw new uses of old churches as being an inevitable development.

In 1969 Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was made the first chairman of the Redundant Churches Fund, known today as The Churches Conservation Trust, the national charity protecting historic churches at risk.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas had other involvement in the field of heritage, being Secretary of the Ancient Monuments Society from 1958; he served on the society's council for more than 30 years and was its chairman from 1975 to 1990.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas never attempted to return to politics, but he did write "The Growth of the British Party System" in two volumes in 1965; it was poorly received.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was a hard worker, but in 1985 he stood down from the General Synod after 35 years membership of it and its predecessor.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas received several honours, including an honorary Fellowship of St John's College Oxford, and the CBE for his work in preserving Churches in 1984, which Bulmer-Thomas quipped stood for "Churches Before Evangelism".

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas received two honorary degrees, that from the University of Warwick in 1979 being at the insistence of the Mathematics Department.

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas was reported to have been working "literally till a few minutes before his death" on a letter to the Daily Telegraph, which was published on the same day as his obituary appeared.