Arthur George Bottomley, 1907-1995, was educated at Gamuel Road Council School and took extension classes at Toynbee Hall. He entered politics in 1929 as a councillor in the Borough of Walthamstow, holding the office of mayor 1945-1946. He was the Labour Party MP for Chatham Division of Rochester 1945-1950, for Rochester and Chatham, 1950-1959, for Middlesborough East, 1962-1974, and for Teeside, Middlesborough 1974-1983. His Parliamentary career focused on trade and the Commonwealth. His positions included Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State for the Dominions, 1947-1951; Secretary for Overseas Trade, Board of Trade, 1947-1951; Chairman of the Commonwealth Relations and Colonies Group of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 1963; Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, 1964 - 1966; and Minister for Overseas Development, 1966 - 1967. He also participated in many government missions and delegations overseas during the course of his career. He was created a life peer in 1984.