William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate

Air Commodore
The Right Honourable
The Viscount Stansgate
DSO DFC PC
Air Commodore; The Right Honourable The Viscount Stansgate DSO DFC PC
Secretary of State for India
	In office; 7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Viscount Peel
Succeeded by	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt
Secretary of State for Air
	In office; 3 August 1945 – 4 October 1946
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Harold Macmillan
Succeeded by	Philip Noel-Baker
Succeeded by
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	In office; 20 January 1942 – 17 November 1960; Hereditary Peerage
Succeeded by	Anthony Wedgwood Benn
Member of Parliament; for Manchester Gorton
	In office; 18 February 1937 – 20 January 1942
Preceded by	Joseph Compton
Succeeded by	William Oldfield
Member of Parliament; for Aberdeen North
	In office; 16 August 1928 – 7 October 1931
Preceded by	Frank Rose
Succeeded by	John George Burnett
Member of Parliament; for Leith
	In office; 14 December 1918 – 15 February 1927
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Ernest Brown
Member of Parliament; for St George
	In office; 8 February 1906 – 25 November 1918
Preceded by	Thomas Dewar
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	10 May 1877; Hackney, London, England
Died	17 November 1960 (aged 83); Westminster, London, England
Political party	Liberal (until 1927) ; Labour (from 1927)
Spouse	Margaret Holmes (m. 1920)
Children	4, including Tony Benn
Parent(s)	Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet; Elizabeth Pickstone
Alma mater	University College, London
Awards	DSO (1917); DFC (1918); Bronze Medal of Military Valor (Italy; 1918)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy; British Army; Royal Air Force
Years of service	1914–1918, 1940–1945
Rank	Air Commodore
Battles/wars	First World War; Second World War Battle of Gallipoli;

William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, DSO, DFC, PC (10 May 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a British Liberal politician who later joined the Labour Party. A decorated Royal Air Force officer, he was Secretary of State for India between 1929 and 1931 and Secretary of State for Air between 1945 and 1946. He was the father of Tony Benn and the paternal grandfather of Hilary Benn.