Joseph Johnstone (1860 – 13 January 1931) was a Scottish

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician.

Family and education

Johnstone was born in Salford but was of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent. He was the eldest son of Robert Johnstone a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...

. He was educated at Crummock School in

Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, a town renowned for its furniture making industries. In 1882 he married Jane Clerk, the daughter of Alexander Muir of Beith and they had two sons and three daughters. Johnstone was widowed in 1917 and did not remarry.

Career

Jonhstone followed his father into the furniture business, going on to become head of his own furniture manufacturing concern with works situated at

Lochwinnoch Lochwinnoch (; sco, Lochineuch, gd, Loch Uinneach) is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is c ...

Local government service

Johnstone was first elected as a member of Renfrewshire

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

when it came into existence in 1889. He served as Chairman of Renfrewshire

National Insurance National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famil ...

Committee, Chairman of Renfrewshire

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

Committee and Chairman of Renfrewshire Joint

Sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

Board.

Parliament

Johnstone also had parliamentary ambitions and was adopted as Liberal candidate for the constituency of

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of ...

. Reflecting his interest in promoting effective business activity, he successfully moved a resolution encouraging the creation of

joint industrial councils A joint industrial council (JIC) or national joint industrial council (NJIC), known as a Whitley council in some fields, especially white-collar and government, is a statutory council of employers and trade unions established in the United Kingdom ...

as a means of promoting cooperation between capital and labour and avoiding industrial strife, at a conference of the Council of the Scottish Liberal Association in Glasgow in November 1918. In

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

Johnstone was elected as Coalition Liberal MP for Renfrewshire East in a straight fight with the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate Robert Spence. The seat had been Conservative held at the two previous general elections of

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and

December 1910 The following events occurred in December 1910: December 1, 1910 (Thursday) * Porfirio Diaz was inaugurated for his eighth term as President of Mexico."Record of Current Events", ''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (January 1911), pp ...

but the Tories did not oppose Johnstone in 1918, presumably indicating that he had received the Coalition Coupon. But Johnstone, while one of those Liberals who supported

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

and the need for a strong government to prosecute the war, criticised the use of the coupon and looked forward to Liberal reunion. After the war ended, Johnstone said that he would be one of a number of Liberals elected in 1918 as supporters of the Coalition who would stand at the next general election as Liberals ‘without prefix or suffix’. Notwithstanding this, he was still sufficiently closely associated with Lloyd George that when the 1922 general election came Johnstone was first shown in the national press as a National Liberal. By the time nominations were declared however, his description had changed to straightforward Liberal. In 1922 Johnstone was opposed by both Labour and Conservative opponents and came third behind both the successful Labour man Robert Nichol and the Tory, Sir Frederick Lobnitz, winning just 17.5% of the overall poll. Johnstone did not stand for Parliament again.

Other appointments

Johnstone also sat as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the county of Renfrewshire.

Honours

In July 1918, Johnstone was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to the Scottish War Aims Committee in the King's Birthday Honours list. This organisation was a branch of the National War Aims Committee set up in 1917, with Lloyd George,

H H Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a ...

and George Barnes as joint presidents. Its official address was number

12 Downing Street 12 Downing Street is one of the buildings situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London, England. It has been traditionally used as the office of the Chief Whip although the upper floor forms part of the residential apartment ...

. The committee's formal aim was "to keep before the nation both the causes of the war and the necessity of continuing the struggle until the forces which produced the conflict are destroyed" and was effectively an instrument for keeping up public morale, countering

war-weariness War-weariness is the public or political disapproval for the continuation of a prolonged conflict or war. The causes normally involve the intensity of casualties—financial, civilian, and military. It also occurs when a belligerent has the abil ...

and

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and encouraging pro-war

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. It was founded following revolutionary activities in Russia,

French army mutinies The 1917 French Army mutinies took place amongst French Army troops on the Western Front in Northern France during World War I. They started just after the unsuccessful and costly Second Battle of the Aisne, the main action in the Nivelle Offens ...

and a series of labour strikes in Britain in May 1917. Johnstone continued to take seriously the issue of the war and the honouring of the war dead. In April 1920, he performed the unveiling of the war memorial for the parish of

Eaglesham Eaglesham ( ) is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, situated about south of Glasgow, southeast of Newton Mearns and south of Clarkston, and southwest of East Kilbride. The 2011 census revealed that the village had 3,114 occupants, dow ...

, on the outer wall of the lower part of the steeple of the parish church.Glasgow Herald, 5 April 1920

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Joseph 1860 births 1931 deaths Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish Labour councillors Councillors in Renfrewshire