Arthur Woodburn (25 October 1890 – 1 June 1978) was a Scottish Labour Party politician. Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, he was educated at

Heriot-Watt College Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

. Imprisoned as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Woodburn worked in engineering and ironfounding administration, and was a lecturer and national secretary of the

Scottish Labour College The Scottish Labour College was founded in 1916, by John Maclean (Scottish socialist), John Maclean among others. It was modelled on the Central Labour College in London. It ran evening classes in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and elsewhere ...

. He was Secretary of the Scottish Council of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1939, and President of the

National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education. The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 O ...

from 1937 to 1965. He also served on the Edinburgh 'Hands off Russia' committee in the 1930s. Woodburn was an unsuccessful candidate for Edinburgh South in 1929 and Edinburgh Leith in 1931; he was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire from 1939 until 1970. In Parliament he served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to Tom Johnston in 1941, and

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of Minister (government), government minist ...

in the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

from 1945 to 1947. He was

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

from 1947 until 1950 in the government of

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

. He was made a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1947. Woodburn received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 1968. He had a strong interest in economics, education, European unity, international relations, modern languages and Scottish history. He was appointed to the board of trustees of the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

in 1961 and his papers are held by the Library. Woodburn was married to

Barbara Woodburn Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously a ...

, a teacher who was elected to the Edinburgh Town Council.Knox, W. Scottish Labour Leaders 1918-39 p.288

References

* Pentland, Gordon (ed.),
The Autobiography of Arthur Woodburn (1890-1978): Living with History
' (Boydell & Brewer for the Scottish History Society, 2017) * Torrance, David, ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (Birlinn 2006) * * * *

External links

*
National Library of Scotland catalogue of papers

National Library of Scotland additional papers
1890 births 1978 deaths British Secretaries of State British conscientious objectors Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stirling constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub