Plaque to William Whitelaw MP on Ratho church hall

William Whitelaw (15 March 1868 – 19 January 1946) was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and a long serving railway director and chairman. He was the third son of

Alexander Whitelaw Alexander Whitelaw (1823–1879) was a Scottish ironmaster, philanthropist and Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow from 1874 until his death. Life Whitelaw was born in 1823 in Drumpark in Monklands and was educated at Grange ...

and a younger brother of

Graeme Whitelaw Graeme Alexander Lockhart Whitelaw (1863 – 23 July 1928) was a British Conservative Party politician from Scotland who represented North West Lanarkshire in the House of Commons from 1892 to 1895. He was the second son of Alexander Whitelaw a ...

. He was elected at the 1892 general election as the

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

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, but lost his seat at the 1895 general election and was defeated when he stood again in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

. Of a Scottish landed gentry family, Whitelaws of Gartshore in Dumbartonshire, and an Old Harrovian and graduate of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, Whitelaw was a director of the

Highland Railway The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller United Kingdom, British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station, Scotland, Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Base ...

(HR) from 1898, and

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the HR from 1902 to 1912, and again in 1916. He was later Chairman of the

North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...

(NBR), being appointed in 1912, and when the NBR amalgamated with other railways at the start of 1923 to form the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

(LNER), Whitelaw was elected unanimously to become the first Chairman of the LNER. He resigned from this post in September 1938. Whitelaw was married to Gertrude, daughter of Colonel T. C. Thompson of Milton Hall, Cumberland; they were the paternal grandparents of politician

William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...

by their son, William Alexander Whitelaw, who was killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.The Railway Gazette, vol. 89, p. 633, 1948

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitelaw, William 1868 births 1946 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge London and North Eastern Railway people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies North British Railway people Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) UK MPs 1892–1895