William Douglas Weir, 1st Viscount Weir GCB PC (12 May 1877 – 2 July 1959) was a Scottish industrialist and politician, who served as President of the Air Council in 1918.

Early life

Weir was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1877, the eldest child of James Weir (1842/3–1920) and his wife, Mary Richmond (1848–1931). He attended

Allan Glen's School Allan Glen's School was, for most of its existence, a State school, local authority, selective Secondary education, secondary school for boys in Glasgow, Scotland, charging nominal fees for tuition. It was founded by the Allan Glen's Endowment ...

and the

High School of Glasgow The High School of Glasgow is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational day school, day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the Cathedral school, choir school of Glasgow Cathedra ...

before entering an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

in the business established by his father and his uncle, G. and J. Weir, manufacturers of condensers, pumps, and evaporators.

Industrialist

Weir rose to become a director of G. and J. Weir, before serving as managing director between 1902 and 1915, and as chairman from 1910 to 1953. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he converted his factories to produce

explosive shell A shell, in a modern military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. A shell c ...

s. He went on to hold a number of other directorships, including

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

(1928–38),

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

(1928–53), International Nickel (1928–59), and

Shell Transport and Trading Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...

(1939). He was also chairman of the Anglo-Scottish Sugar Beet Corporation.

Public servant

David 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. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

appointed him to the unpaid position of director of munitions in Scotland in July 1915, he joined the Air Board in December 1916 and was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in February 1917. He joined the Air Council in November 1917 and became its

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in April 1918, resigning in December that year after the end of the war. He was appointed to the Privy Council in April and was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

as Baron Weir, of Eastwood in the

County of Renfrew Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The lieutenancy area covers the three modern council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfr ...

, in the summer. He didn't desire any further political power, and went on to serve on a number of government committees, including those on civil aviation, economies in the fighting services, and co-ordination between the navy, army, and air force. During 1924 and 1925, Weir chaired the committee on electricity supply to plan the rationalisation of the United Kingdom's

electrical power industry Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. His conclusions led to the

Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 The Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 ( 16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 51) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the law on the supply of electricity. Its long title is: ‘An Act to amend the law with respect to the supply of electric ...

, and the creation of the National Grid and the

Central Electricity Board The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established by the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926. It had the duty to supply electricity to authorised electricity undertakers, to determine which power stations would be 'selected' stations ...

. He was appointed to the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

as a Knight Grand Cross in 1934. In 1934, he undertook the role of President for the Guild of Aid and Day Nursery in Glasgow. At the Annual meeting in November 1934 donated £162 to cover the Day Nursery's debt for the previous year. (refer to The Scotsman newspaper, Saturday 03 November 1934) In 1935, he was a member defence policy and requirements committee and became advisor to Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, later Viscount Swinton upon his appointment as

Secretary of State for Air The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government that existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by ...

. He was behind the creation of shadow aircraft factories and was an advisor on national defence, resigning his position after Swinton's dismissal. He was created Viscount Weir, of Eastwood in the

in 1938, He was a founder and later president of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club and was elected to

The Other Club The Other Club is a British political dining society founded in 1911 by Winston Churchill and F. E. Smith. It met to dine fortnightly in the Pinafore Room at the Savoy Hotel during periods when Parliament was in session. The club's members ove ...

in 1932. Between 1939 and 1941 Weir served as the director-general of explosives at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

and in 1942 he was chairman of the Tank Board.

Family life

William's younger brother

James George Weir Air Commodore James George Weir, (23 May 1887 – 7 November 1973) was an early Scottish aviator and airman. He was a successful industrialist who financed Juan de la Cierva's development of the autogiro. Biography Weir was born in Cambuslang, ...

was involved in the family business and also in the Air Ministry. He married Alice Blanche MacConnachie (1882–1959), the daughter of John MacConnachie on 2 June 1904. They had two sons and a daughter. Weir died on 2 July 1959 at his home at Giffnock, Renfrewshire, he was aged 82. He was succeeded by James Kenneth Weir, 2nd

Viscount Weir Viscount Weir, of Eastwood in the County of Renfrew, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 25 June 1938 for the Scottish businessman, public servant, politician and former President of the Air Council, William Wei ...

Honours

In addition to his knighthoods, barony and viscountcy, Weir received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1919, the freedom of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

in 1957, the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

, and he became a Commander of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the

Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame The Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame honours "those engineers from, or closely associated with, Scotland who have achieved, or deserve to achieve, greatness", as selected by an independent panel representing Scottish engineering institutions, aca ...

Footnotes