Ernest Marples, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Ernest Marples

British politician

Date of Birth: 09-Dec-1907

Place of Birth: Levenshulme, England, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 06-Jul-1978

Profession: businessperson, politician

Nationality: United Kingdom

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Alfred Ernest Marples, Baron Marples, (9 December 1907 – 6 July 1978) was a British Conservative politician who served as Postmaster General (1957–1959) and Minister of Transport (1959–1964). As Postmaster General, he saw the introduction of the Premium Bond scheme and of postcodes.
His period as Minister of Transport was controversial.
He both oversaw significant road construction (he opened the first section of the M1 motorway) and the closure of a considerable portion of the national railway network with the Beeching cuts.
His involvement in the road construction business Marples Ridgway, of which he had been managing director, was one of repeated concern regarding possible conflict of interest.
Marples appointed Richard Beeching to head British Railways, who published a report which abandoned more than 4,000 miles of railway lines in the UK with a resulting rise in the amount of road traffic. In later life, Marples was elevated to the peerage before fleeing to Monaco at very short notice to avoid prosecution for tax fraud.