James Kenneth Weir, 2nd Viscount Weir CBE

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

LLD (1905–1975) was a 20th-century Scottish peer and businessman, most famously chairing the

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an e ...

Life

He was born on 10 September 1905 the son of William Weir, and his wife, Alice Blanche MacConnachie. The family lived at Holmwood in

Pollokshields Pollokshields ( gd, Buthan Phollaig, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok C ...

. James was educated at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

then studied at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

graduating BA in 1926. He then joined the family company of G & J Weir before going to work with the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1931 he became Director of G & J Weir Ltd. His father was created Viscount Weir in 1938. The title transferred in 1959 on his father's death. From 1955 he was Chairman of the

. In 1967 he was given an honorary doctorate (LLD) by

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. In 1970 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Robert Silver,

Alick Buchanan-Smith, Baron Balerno Brigadier Alick Drummond Buchanan-Smith, Baron Balerno, (9 October 1898 – 28 July 1984) was a British soldier and prominent geneticist. Life He was born in Glasgow, the son of Alice Lillian (née Buchanan), daughter of Sir George Buchanan, a ...

Anthony Elliot Ritchie Anthony Elliot Ritchie FRSE FRCPE LLD (30 March 1915–14 September 1997) was a 20th-century Scottish physiologist and educator. Life Ritchie was born at 20 Upper Gray Street, Edinburgh on 30 March 1915, the only son of Jessie Jane Elliot and ...

and Thomas Diery Patten. He retired in 1972 and died on 16 August 1975.

Directorships

International Nickel Company Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...

* Caledonian Insurance *

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

Guardian Assurance Company The Guardian Assurance Company was a British insurance company based in London and formed in 1821 to offer both life and fire insurance. Through a combination of organic growth and acquisition it became one of the leading insurance companies. In ...

Family

He married twice: firstly in 1929 to Dorothy Isabel Lucy Crowdy, and following Lucy's death in 1972 the following year he married Mrs Dorothy Hutton (''née'' Dear), a widow. He had six children by his first wife, of whom William Kenneth James Weir became 3rd Viscount Weir. Through his first wife he was related to

James Fuidge Crowdy 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 ...

, Assistant Secretary to the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

and

Charles Keefer Charles Henry Keefer (1852 – 12 April 1932) was one of Canada's pioneering engineers. Charles was the son of well-known Canadian civil engineer, Thomas Keefer. Charles was born in Rideau Hall in Ottawa when it was the property of his grandfat ...

, one of the prominent civil engineers of Canada.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, James Kenneth 1905 births 1975 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow People educated at Oundle School Alumni of the University of Cambridge 20th-century Scottish businesspeople Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom