Sir Denys Colquhoun Flowerdew Lowson, 1st Baronet, (22 January 1906 – 10 September 1975) was a British barrister and financier who served as

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

in 1950–51.

Early life and education

Lowson was born at

Snitterfield Snitterfield is a village and civil parish in the Stratford on Avon district of Warwickshire, England, less than to the north of the A46 road, from Stratford upon Avon, from Warwick and from Coventry. The population of the civil parish at t ...

House,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, the third child and second son of James Gray Flowerdew Lowson, a Scottish paper manufacturer, and Adelaide Louisa Scott. His mother was born in British India, the daughter of Col. Courtenay Harvey Saltren Scott of the Bengal Staff Corps, who was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, and Margaret Julia Colquhoun, a novelist. Lowson's elder brother, Courtenay Patrick Flowerdew Lowson (1897–1917), was killed in action in the

First World War 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 ...

. His sister, Eleanor, married Maj.-Gen. William Revell Revell-Smith. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and Christ Church, Oxford.

Career

In 1930, was admitted as a barrister to

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

. He gained prestige as a financier, specialising in

unit trusts A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending ...

, and in the 1940s took control of the National Group of Unit Trusts. According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', Lowson "showed consistently that he was more concerned to turn situations to the advantage of himself and the interests he controlled than with his fiduciary duty to the companies of which he was a director." Lowson served as

Sheriff of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

(1939–40), Alderman of London (1942–73) and

(1950–51). Lowson, then 44, became the youngest modern Lord Mayor upon his election. He was also High Steward of Stratford-upon-Avon in 1952 and Governor of the

Royal Shakespeare Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...

in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was also a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

.''London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681–1930'' Lowson held a number of positions of influence in various organisations, including as governor of hospitals, a Master of livery companies and president and vice-president of multiple national and Commonwealth organisations. He was created a Baronet Lowson, of Westlaws, County Perth on 27 June 1951.

Financial troubles and death

In July 1974, the ''

Investors Chronicle The ''Investors Chronicle'' is a weekly magazine in the United Kingdom for private investors and is published by the ''Financial Times'' Group. The magazine publishes articles about global markets and sectors, and news on corporate actions such ...

'' published an exposé on Lowson, in which it revealed his financial empire was a "tangle of cross shareholdings, based on some 100 trading and industrial companies throughout the world, owned and controlled, at the end, through 14 often interrelated investment trusts." It was revealed that in 1972, Sir Denys bought shares of the National Group, which he controlled, for just 62 pence each and resold them within months for £8.67 each, for an estimated personal profit of £5 million. After an investigation requested by the

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...

, inspectors accused Sir Denys of "grave mismanagement" of his companies "to obtain very substantial gain for himself and his family." Sir Denys apologised and promised to make substantial repayments, while his legal counsel blamed his mistakes on "age, ill-health, obstinacy and secretiveness rather than to any intent to deceive" — an explanation rejected by inspectors. Within a few weeks, Lowson retired from executive positions in his various companies and trusts. His health rapidly declining, Sir Denys went on an extended cruise on the '' Queen Elizabeth 2''. He died the following year in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London, aged 69. He was buried at

Kinfauns Parish Church Kinfauns Parish Church is a Church of Scotland church in Kinfauns, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Dating to 1869, the work of architect Andrew Heiton and John Murray Robertson, it is now a Category C listed building. The ruined pre-Reformation ...

Kinfauns, Perth and Kinross Kinfauns is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, at the western end of the Carse of Gowrie, east of Perth.Philip Inman, 1st Baron Inman Philip Albert Inman, 1st Baron Inman, PC (12 June 1892 – 26 August 1979) was a British Labour politician. Background and education Inman was the son of Philip Inman (d. 1894), of Knaresborough, Yorkshire, by his wife Hannah Bickerdyke, of ...

wrote to ''The Times'':

Family

On 17 July 1936, Lowson married Hon. Ann Patricia Macpherson, daughter of

Ian Macpherson, 1st Baron Strathcarron (James) Ian Stewart Macpherson, 1st Baron Strathcarron (14 May 1880 – 14 August 1937), known as Sir Ian Macpherson, Baronet between 1933 and 1936, was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. In 1931 he joined the breakway National Liberal ...

. They had three children: * Sir Ian Patrick Lowson, 2nd Baronet (born 4 September 1944) *Gay Ann Lowson, Countess of Kinnoull (1938–2016), married the 15th Earl of Kinnoull *Melanie Fiona Louisa Lowson (born 1940), married Charles Archibald Adam Black Lady Lowson died in 2003.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowson, Denys 1906 births 1975 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British barristers Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London 20th-century English politicians Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British people of Scottish descent Civic high stewards People from Balcombe, West Sussex