Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet
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Sir William Hepburn McAlpine, 6th Baronet, (12 January 1936 – 4 March 2018) was a British businessman who was director of the construction company
Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educa ...
.


Early life and career

Born in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1936 at the family-owned Dorchester Hotel, McAlpine was the oldest son of Sir Edwin McAlpine, 5th Bt (who was given a life peerage as Lord McAlpine of Moffat in 1980) by his marriage to Ella Mary Gardner Garnett. His great-grandfather was "Concrete Bob",
Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educa ...
, the first of the
McAlpine baronets The McAlpine Baronetcy, of Knott Park in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1918 for Robert McAlpine, a Scottish civil engineer and the founder of '' Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd''. McAlpine b ...
and the founder of the construction company. He had two younger brothers
Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronets ...
and David McAlpine. Brought up at the family home in
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
and educated at
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...
, McAlpine joined the family firm from school, starting his career at the Hayes Depot in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, a site which housed the McAlpine railway locomotive and wagon fleet. The years after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
were a busy time for the construction industry. He served in the Life Guards for two years from 1954. In 1973, McAlpine purchased the historic British
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman LNER Class A3 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' is a 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express East Coast M ...
steam locomotive, saving it from possible demise and repatriating it from the United States two years after a U.S. tour which had bankrupted its previous owner, Alan Pegler. Sir William maintained and ran the locomotive as a service to the British public and international steam community until the mid-1990s, when it was purchased by steam enthusiast Tony Marchington. In 1990, on the death of his father, McAlpine inherited his baronetcy and became Sir William. He was patron of the Clan MacAlpine Society. He served as
High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. High Sheriff, Sheriff is the olde ...
for 1999. He was a director and trustee of the educational charity Shiplake Court Limited. In 2007 McAlpine was president of the
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...
to which he had been elected a member in 1985. He was also the president of the
Railway Benevolent Institution Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
, known as the Railway Benefit Fund, a charity helping current and retired railway industry workers.


Fawley Hill Railway

An acknowledged railway enthusiast, McAlpine returned to Hayes depot during the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
to find that the company's
Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hu ...
0-6-0ST No.31 was for sale for £100. He purchased the locomotive, and moved it to his country estate home at
Fawley, Buckinghamshire Fawley is a village and civil parish in Wycombe district in the south-western corner of Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, about seven miles west of Great Marlow and north of Henley-on-Tham ...
. This marked the start in 1961 of the Fawley Hill Railway, a private railway which now runs to over a mile long, combining the steepest gradient at 1:13 on a British railway, and includes: *The
Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
Somersham railway station Somersham railway station was a station in Somersham, Cambridgeshire on the Great Eastern Railway between March and St Ives. There was also a branch line that ran north-west from the station to Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British ...
*
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
from Shobnall Maltings, near
Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...
*The
footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
from
Brading The ancient 'Kynges Towne' of Brading is the main town of the civil parishes in England, civil parish of the same name. The ecclesiastical parish of Brading used to cover about a tenth of the Isle of Wight. The civil parish now includes the town ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
, Bridge No 25, where it spanned the Ryde Pier to Shanklin line In addition, the perimeter of the railway line is adorned with several prominent architectural features which McAlpine acquired – although these were received mostly as donations; these include the original Wembley Stadium Twin Towers flagpoles, some early cast-iron bridge parapets, and several arched structures from prominent London locations. Entrance to Fawley Hill Railway is by invitation only on select days, usually during the summer period. McAlpine's extensive private railway museum is maintained by volunteers.


Other railways

After starting Fawley Hill Railway, McAlpine purchased 4079 ''Pendennis Castle'' in partnership with
John Gretton John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, (1 September 1867 – 2 June 1947) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Gretton won two gold medals in the 1900 Olympic Games. Life and career Gretton was the eldest son of John Gretton of St ...
, which was subsequently housed at
Market Overton Market Overton is a village on the northern edge of the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish (including Teigh) was 494 at the 2001 census, increasing to 584 at the 2011 census. History The village' ...
in
Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...
. After being moved to the Steamtown, it was sold to
Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, a ...
and moved to Australia. In January 1973 McAlpine purchased 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' after a financially disastrous tour of
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, to save it from sale to an American consortium. McAlpine became involved in a plan to save the
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romne ...
(RH&DR) and became its chairman. After the efforts of Dr Peter Beet to preserve Carnforth LMS 10(A) shed, McAlpine bought shares in 1970, and then took the controlling interest from 1974 until 1987 in the visitor attraction that became Steamtown. McAlpine chaired the RH&DR, the Dart Valley Railway, and established and chaired the Railway Heritage Trust. McAlpine was also a Patron of the
Swanage Railway The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway. The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and South ...
Trust, as well as President of the
Transport Trust The National Transport Trust is a British registered charity founded in 1965 as the Transport Trust, the name was changed to reflect the national remit and coverage of its activities. The Trust acts as a hub for the transport preservation movemen ...
, the charity dedicated to the preservation of all modes of transport and its infrastructure. Three locomotives have been named ''Sir William McAlpine''; Ruston 48 No.294266, once owned by Sir William himself, EWS' 60008 and
DB Cargo UK DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS)), is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England. The company was established in early 1995 as ''North & South Railways'', successful ...
's 90028.


Personal life

McAlpine's first wife Jill Benton Jones, whom he married on 31 October 1959, died on 9 February 2004. They had two children: *
Sir Andrew William McAlpine, 7th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
(born 22 November 1960) * Lucinda Mary Jane McAlpine (born 19 June 1964) He married his second wife, Judith, whom he had known for many years, on 25 March 2004 at the restored station on his private railway. He died after months of illness on 4 March 2018 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son.


References


External links


Profile in ''The Times''



Fawley Hill official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlpine, William, Sir, 6th Baronet 1936 births 2018 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School British businesspeople Businesspeople from London Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Zoological Society of London British people associated with Heritage Railways High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire Eldest sons of British hereditary barons
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...