E xactly 60 years ago, on November 13, 1947, Sir Stafford Cripps was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in Clement Attlee's Labour government. It was the climax of a political career that spanned nearly two decades, during which he courted controversy and admiration in equal measures, and became one of the most influential members of Churchill's coalition wartime government.

Throughout his career, from 1920-39, he sought refuge from the stresses of political life at Filkins, a picturesque Cotswold village on the Oxfordshire-Gloucestershire border, and he became a popular local benefactor.

Now, more than half a century after his death, his contribution to village life has been recognised with the erection of Oxfordshire's 31st blue plaque.

He was born Richard Stafford Cripps at Elm Park Gardens, London, on April 24. 1889, the youngest of five children. His father, Charles Alfred Cripps, was a Conservative MP, but later (as Lord Parmoor) became a Labour cabinet minister. Despite the sudden death of his mother, Theresa, when he was only four years-old, Stafford enjoyed a happy and privileged childhood, underpinned by his father's strong Christian beliefs.

From a young age, he demonstrated the intelligence and diligence that were to become the hallmarks of his working life. He become the hallmarks of his working life. He was educated at Winchester College and University College, London, from which he graduated with an MSc in chemistry.

He later switched to law, and was called to the bar in 1912. He spent the First World War as an ambulance driver in France, and later as manager of an armament factory, but after the war he became a successful barrister.

His involvement in some high-profile cases led to him becoming Britain's youngest King's Counsel in 1927. By this time he had met Isobel Swithinbank, heiress to the Eno's Fruit Salts fortune, but best known for her work as an overseas aid organiser.

After a short courtship, the couple married on July 12, 1911. It was to prove a close union, with Isobel loyally supporting her husband throughout his somewhat chequered political career, and caring for him during his frequent bouts of ill-health.

They had four children - John (born 1912), Diana (1914), Theresa (1919) and Enid (1921). The youngest - always known as Peggy - was born shortly after the family's move to Goodfellows Farm, Filkins, in 1920.

Of Diana and Theresa little is known, but John took over the running of the 500-acre Filkins Estate from his father, and became a vociferous campaigner on a variety of local and national rural issues. He was also editor of The Countryman from 1947-71.

Peggy became a popular children's author, and settled in Ghana after marrying Ghanaian lawyer and political activist Joe Appiah.

All four children enjoyed an idyllic upbringing at Filkins, which was surrounded by fields and open countryside just waiting to be explored.

Among the Cripps' closest friends were the architect Sir Lawrence Weaver and his wife, Kathleen. When both died within three years of each other, the Cripps' adopted their two sons, Toby and Purcell.

Meanwhile, Stafford's political career was blossoming. He joined the Labour party in 1930, and within a year had been appointed Solicitor-General, a post traditionally accompanied by a knighthood. Soon after, he took the safe Labour seat of Bristol East at a by-election, a seat he retained at the 1931 General Election.

But he was soon in trouble with his party as he began increasingly to embrace Marxist social and economic policies. In 1936, he caused outrage by claiming in a speech that a defeat at German hands would be good for the British working class. Three years later he was expelled from the party for advocating a Popular Front with the Communist Party and anti-appeasement MPs from right-wing parties.

Despite this turmoil, Stafford remained deeply involved in local affairs at Filkins. He campaigned tirelessly to preserve the village's architectural heritage, and the legacy of that can still be seen in this unspoilt Cotswold village.

In 1935, he provided money for the building of a Village Centre, and it is here that his blue plaque now hangs. If you look up at the tops of the drainpipes on either side of the front wall, you will see Stafford's initials inscribed around the date.

Adjacent to the Village Centre is the bowls green, laid out on land provided by Stafford in 1936. The Filkins Bowls Club continues to thrive to this day.

Inside the church, the black and white tiles on the chancel steps were a gift from Stafford. Nearby, there is a memorial window to his friend, Kathleen Weaver.

Stafford left Filkins in 1939 as the outbreak of the Second World War thrust him back into the political limelight. Churchill offered him the post of Ambassador to the Soviet Union in his coalition government, believing that Cripps' Marxist sympathies ideally placed him to negotiate with Stalin.

Cripps' success in securing an alliance with the Soviet Union earned him widespread acclaim in Britain, and a place in Churchill's war cabinet as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. In 1942, he served as Minister for Aircraft Production, with notable success.

After the war, Cripps rejoined the Labour party, and was appointed President of the Board of Trade in Clement Attlee's new government in 1945. His new-found popularity soon began to wane as he increased taxes and enforced stringent rationing - measures he insisted were necessary to lift Britain out of its post-war economic crisis. It was during this time that he earned the Spooner-influenced nickname "Stifford Crapps".

In 1947, he was appointed Minister for Economic Affairs, a post that only six weeks later was merged with that of Chancellor of the Exchequer on the resignation of Hugh Dalton. He retained this post for three years, during which he saw his efforts bearing fruit as Britain's economy began to show signs of recovery.

Sadly, the same could not be said for his health, which was deteriorating rapidly, and forced his resignation from Parliament in October 1950. He flew to Switzerland to recuperate, but died from bone marrow cancer on April 21, 1952, just three days short of his 63rd birthday.

He was cremated in Zurich, but the blue plaque in Filkins means that we now have a suitable memorial in this country to a man of great conviction and sincerity, whose contribution to Britain's post-war recovery is perhaps not always fully realised.