John Stuart Mowat (30 January 1923 – 31 October 2001), was a Scottish Sheriff and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician.

Background

He was the son of George Mowat and Annie Barlow. He was educated at Glasgow High School,

Belmont House School Belmont House School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational school in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, Scotland, providing Primary education, primary and secondary education. It is based in the former Broom House, a Ge ...

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

and

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

where he received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

. In 1956 he married Anne Cameron Renfrew. They had two sons and two daughters.‘MOWAT, John Stuart’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 201
accessed 3 Oct 2014
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Early career

From 1941-46 he served in the Royal Air Force Transport Command. In 1944 he was promoted to Flight lieutenant. In 1947 he took up journalism. He was a sub-editor on a Scottish national daily and Sunday newspaper.The Times House of Commons, 1955. He qualified as a barrister and in 1952 he became an Advocate, practising in

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

Political career

He joined the Liberal Party and in 1953 was elected to the

Scottish Liberal Party The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the Liberal Party in Scotland, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it ...

executive. He was Liberal candidate for the Caithness and Sutherland division at the 1955 General Election. The constituency had been represented by the former Liberal Party Leader Sir Archibald Sinclair until 1945. Mowat was given the challenge of winning it back. His task was made difficult due to the fact that at the 1951 General Election, the Liberals had slipped to third. In a difficult year for the Liberals, he was unable to make any headway; He did not stand for parliament again and devoted the rest of his career to his legal work.

Senior legal career

In 1962 he was appointed a Sheriff in Dunfermline. In 1988 he was elected as president of the Sheriffs' Association. He became a Scottish

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

. He was

Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway The Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway is the head of the judicial system of the sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, one of the six sheriffdoms covering the whole of Scotland. The sheriffdom employs ...

from 1988–93. He presided over the fatal accident inquiry that reported in 1991, following the

Lockerbie bombing Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mowat, John Stuart 1923 births 2001 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at Belmont House School People educated at the High School of Glasgow People educated at Merchiston Castle School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish sheriffs