Sir William Henry Seager (1862 – 10 March 1941) was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 shipping magnate and Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician who spent four years as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP).

Life

The Seager family were originally from Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England with a small harbour, surrounded by cliffs.The parish stretches along the coast from 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and 4 miles along The Torrs to Lee Bay toward the west...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, but moved to Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 in the 1850s. William Henry Seager was born in Cardiff and initially worked as a clerk but established his own business, W. H. Seager & Company, ship's chandlers, at 109, Bute Street, Cardiff in 1892. In 1904 he bought a new ship, the 'Tempus'. By 1910 he was buying more ships, another new ship which Seager called the 'Amicus', then three older ships which he renamed 'Beatus', 'Salvus' and 'Virtus', and also by 1914 the Campus had been added to the line. After the First World War three vessels were sold, but more were bought, and by 1928 W. H. Seager & Co. had a total of seven.

A Liberal in politics, Seager was elected at the 1918 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

 to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 as MP for Cardiff East

Cardiff East (UK Parliament constituency)

Cardiff East was a parliamentary constituency in Cardiff which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.- Members of Parliament :...

 and held the seat until he stood down at the 1922 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1922

The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...

. He was knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

ed the same year. In memory of his son Willie who was killed in action in 1916 at the age of 23, he built the William Seager Memorial Homes in Cardiff for retired Merchant Seamen and their wives and an operating theatre in Cardiff Royal Infirmary

During the Second World War, all the company's ships except the 'Campus' were lost by enemy action. Seager died in March 1941.

Family

William Henry Seager was the son of William and Mary Jane Seager, originally of Ilfracombe. His sons John Elliot Seager and Leighton Seager

Leighton Seager, 1st Baron Leighton of St Mellons

Leighton Seager, 1st Baron Leighton of St Mellons CBE , known as Sir George Leighton Seager, 1st Baronet, from 1952 to 1962, was a Welsh shipping magnate....

 (granted a peerage

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 as Baron Leighton of St Mellons

Baron Leighton of St Mellons

Baron Leighton of St Mellons, of St Mellons in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1962 for the Welsh shipping magnate Sir Leighton Seager, 1st Baronet. He was the son of Sir William Henry Seager. Seager had already been created a Baronet, of...

in 1962) were also leading Cardiff business men.