Sir Alfred David McAlpine (6 November 1881 – 25 May 1944) was the founder of the construction company Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son.

Career

Born the son of Sir Robert McAlpine, 1st Baronet, after completing his education he served an apprenticeship across the family construction and civil engineering business. Having been appointed to run McAlpine (Midlands) Ltd, which covered the Midlands and Northwest of England, in 1935 following the death of Sir Robert and his eldest son, Alfred ran the company independently. In 1940, it was agreed to formally separate the entities, and so the company name and the Midlands operations were handed back to the former company, while Alfred formed the new Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son. Under a non-compete agreement with its former parent company, Sir Alfred McAlpine confined itself to civil engineering and to the north west of England. Alfred was appointed High Sheriff of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

for 1923–24.

Awards

Alfred became a

Knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the 1932 New Year Honours list. He was appointed an Officer of the

Venerable Order of Saint John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

on 20 December 1937.

Personal life

In 1907 he married Ethel May Williams; they had one son (

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

) and two daughters (Gladys Gwendoline and Ethel Mary). In 1913, he bought

Marchwiel Hall Marchwiel Hall is a Grade II listed building in the village of Marchwiel, Wrexham County Borough in North Wales. History Marchwiel Hall was a seat of the Broughton family and by 1837 was occupied by Townshend Mainwaring, who then moved to Galltf ...

in the village of

Marchwiel Marchwiel ( cy, Marchwiail) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is about 2 miles south-east of Wrexham city on the A525 road towards Bangor-on-Dee. The community has an area of 1,488 hectares and a population of 1,4 ...

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

. Home to the Marchwiel and Wrexham Cricket Club, Alfred developed it as "one of the most picturesque settings for playing the game in the country". Already chairman of the county cricket association, Alfred played cricket for Denbighshire in the 1926–27 season.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McAlpine, Alfred David 1881 births 1944 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople British construction businesspeople English company founders High Sheriffs of Denbighshire Knights Bachelor Alfred David Younger sons of baronets