Arthur Wellesley Willey

Who was Arthur Wellesley Willey?

Arthur Wellesley Willey was an English solicitor and racehorse owner, who was briefly the Conservative Member of Parliament for Leeds Central.

Willey was born in Leeds in 1868 and became one of the most successful solicitors in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He married Maud Evelyn Ellicott in 1894. He entered politics, serving on Leeds City Council.

He was elected MP for Leeds Central at 1922 general election, defeating the incumbent Liberal MP, Robert Armitage. On the eve of his election his gave a racing tip to an audience at an election meeting. They should back his own horse, Leeds United, which was running in a race at Leicester. The horse duly won, and the bookmakers reputedly paid out £190,000 to the people of Leeds.

Willey was not very active in Parliament owing to his commitments as a solicitor, although he intended to increase his Parliamentary work in the near future, and had taken a particular interest in the Criminal Justice Bill during his first session as an MP. He intended to make his maiden speech during the debate on the bill, but it was delayed.

On the morning of Sunday, 1 July 1923, Willey prepared to go to church with his wife Maud. It was the anniversary of the death of his son Tom, killed at the age of 18 at the Battle of the Somme exactly seven years previously.