William Baird of Elie DL (23 April 1796 – 8 March 1864), was the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

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 Falkirk Burghs. He was first elected at the 1841 general election, and held the seat until he

resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

from Parliament on 2 May 1846, by the procedural device of becoming

Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds Appointment to the position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds is a procedural device to allow Members of Parliament to resignation from the British House of Commons, resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. S ...

. The resulting by-election in Falkirk was won by the Tory candidate, Henry Pelham-Clinton, known by his courtesy title "Earl of Lincoln". When Lincoln acceded to his Dukedom in 1851, Baird's brother James Baird was elected in his place. He was born at Woodhead House in Old Monkland. He died 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 ...

in 1861.Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings

References

"The Bairds of Gartsherrie"

External links

* 1796 births 1864 deaths Deputy Lieutenants of Fife Politics of Falkirk (council area) UK MPs 1841–1847 Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) 19th-century Scottish people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies {{Conservative-UK-MP-1790s-stub