1666 Sir William Collins

Constituency : St  Pancras West 1906-10 , Derby  1916-18

William  took  St  Pancras  West  from  the  Tories.

William  was  a  doctor's  son  from  London.He  was  educated  at  University  College  School,  London  and  trained  at  St  Bartholomew's  Hospital. He  held  a  variety  of  positions  there  before  becoming  a  lecturer at  the  University of  London. He  was  noted  for  his  anti-vaccination  views. He  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Vaccination  from  1889 to  1896. He  was  knighted  in  1902. He  was  elected  to  the  L.C.C. in  1892. He  was  chairman  in  1897. In  1904  he  became  chairman  of  the  education committee.

William  was  active  in  promoting  the  Metropolitan  Ambulance  Act  that established  London's  ambulance  service. He  served  on  the  Vivisection  Committee  from  1906-12.

William  served  as  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of  London  from  1907 to 1909  and  again  in  1911-12.

William  held  his  seat  by  10  votes  in  January 1910  then  lost  it  by  9  in  December.

During  the  First  World  War  he was  a  Red  Cross  commissioner in  France  specialising  in  opthalmic  matters.

In  1916  William  came  back  at  Derby, a  seat  that had  selected  Asquith's  doomed  son  Raymond.

William  published  a  number  of  medical  works.

William  was  a  fluent  speaker  with  a  somewhat  lofty  manner.

He  died  in  1946  aged  87.