Hector Seymour Peter Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm, AE, PC (4 October 1922 – 30 August 2006), was a

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

politician. He was

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 o ...

for

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

for over 32 years, from 1964 to 1997, and then a life peer in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. After piloting flying boats in 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 opposi ...

, Monro became a farmer in his native

. He became active in local test politics in the 1950s, and was elected as MP for Dumfries in 1964. He served as a Conservative whip and held three junior ministerial positions, twice in the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

and once as Minister for Sport in the Department for the Environment. He became a member of the

in 1997, after he stood down from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. He was particularly concerned with Scottish and rural issues, the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, and sport, and was noted for his strong links with his constituency. He was in office at the time of the

Lockerbie Disaster Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

in 1988, which occurred in his constituency.

Early and private life

Monro was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and raised at Craigcleuch near

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits nort ...

. His father, Alistair Monro, was a captain in the Cameron Highlanders; his maternal grandfather was Lieutenant General Sir

Spencer Ewart Lieutenant-General Sir John Spencer Ewart (22 March 1861 – 19 September 1930) was a British Army officer who became Adjutant-General to the Forces, but was forced to resign over the Curragh Incident. Early life and education Ewart was born ...

. Monro was educated at Upland House School in Sussex,

Canford School Canford School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18). Situated in 300 acres of parkland near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, south west England, it is one of the largest s ...

in Dorset, and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

. He was a member of the

Cambridge University Air Squadron Cambridge University Air Squadron, abbreviated CUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Cambridge and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. It is the oldest of 15 University Air Squadr ...

at Cambridge. After only one year at Cambridge, he joined the

in 1941, becoming a flight lieutenant in

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

, flying Atlantic patrols in

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North Ea ...

flying boats and then in the Far East in Catalinas. After he was

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

in 1946, he became a farmer at

Kirtlebridge Kirtlebridge is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. It is located north-east of Annan, north-west of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, and south of Eaglesfield. The village is located where the A74(M) motorway and the West Coast Main ...

near Lockerbie, although he also had other business interests. He remained a member of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force from 1947 to 1954. He was later an honorary Air Commodore from 1982 to 2000, and its honorary Inspector General from 1990 to 2000. Monro married twice. He married Anne Welch in 1949. Their two sons joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Seymour retired as a

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

; Hughie is a retired

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

. Monro's first wife died in 1994; later that year, he married a second time, to Doris Kaestner, a friend of his first wife. Monro's grandson,

Ander Monro Alexander "Ander" Monro (born September 6, 1981) is a Canadians, Canadian rugby union footballer. He previously played for the Edinburgh Gunners, Waterloo R.F.C. and Colorno Rugby Club in Italy. He currently plays club rugby for Castaway Wanderer ...

, has played for the

Canada national rugby union team The Canada national rugby union team (french: Équipe du Canada de rugby à XV) represents Canada in men's international rugby union competitions and is governed by Rugby Canada. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation an ...

Political career

Monro was elected as a Dumfries

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 Irel ...

lor from 1952, where he served until 1967. He was chairman and vice-president of the Dumfries Unionist Party and was elected MP for Dumfries in the 1964 general election, retaining his seat until he retired at the 1997 general election. He became a Conservative whip in 1968, and was a

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the

between 28 July 1971 and 28 February 1974. He voted against his party on

Scottish devolution Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers (excluding principally reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish ...

, announcing his support for a

Scottish Assembly The Scottish Assembly was a proposed legislature for Scotland that would have devolved a set list of powers from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Labour Government led the Scotland Act 1978 through Westminster which provided for the ...

in 1974. After the Conservatives lost the February 1974 general election, he was an opposition spokesman, initially on Scottish affairs and then on sport, until 1979. After the 1979 general election, he was appointed as

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's first Minister for Sport, as

at the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

under

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...

. He also had responsibility for some environmental issues, and was involved in strengthening the provisions of the

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species (especia ...

. Monro came under some criticism for opposing the visit of a South African Barbarians rugby team to the UK and a return visit by the British Lions rugby team the next year. He was dropped from the Government in 1981 in the wake of Mrs Thatcher's proposal that the British team pull out of the

Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, receiving a consolatory

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

that year. In 1986, he suggested that the government bill the Kremlin in the amount of £1 million and provide the amount to Scottish farmers in compensation for losses to sheep herds caused by the

Chernobyl nuclear disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nucl ...

. In 1988, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103, which crashed at Lockerbie, near his home. He was closely involved in the aftermath as the local constituency MP, and went out to Lockerbie with two other MP's. He was hailed by politicians of all political stripes for his compassion and caring; Scottish Labour MP Brian Wilson praised him as "a man who is truly a part of the community that he represents". He returned to the

on 9 April 1992, but he was sacked from this position on 5 July 1995. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1995, and following his retirement as an MP, was made a life peer as Baron Monro of Langholm, of

Westerkirk Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits no ...

in Dumfries and Galloway on 6 November 1997. The number of Conservative MPs from Scotland declined from 24 when he was first elected an MP in 1964 to nil after the 1997 general election. A

One Nation Conservative One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political demo ...

, he occasionally rebelled against the official party line, opposing the closing of

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Ravenscraig steelworks The Ravenscraig steelworks, operated by Colvilles and from 1967 by British Steel Corporation, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip steel mill. They were located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Motherwell ...

, for example. One of his Labour Party opponents, Norman Hogg, dubbed him "the last of the decent Tories".

Outside politics

Monro was a president of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

, and he was honorary president of

Langholm RFC Langholm Rugby Football Club are a rugby union team founded in 1871. They play their home games at Milntown, Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway. The team currently play in the East Regional League Division Two following relegation from East Reg ...

for over 20 years. He managed the 1970 rugby union tour to Australia but had to return home to fight the 1970 General Election. He was a long-serving member of the

Nature Conservancy Council The Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) was a United Kingdom government agency responsible for designating and managing National Nature Reserves and other nature conservation areas in Great Britain between 1973 and 1991 (it did not cover Norther ...

, and active in the

National Farmers Union of Scotland The National Farmers' Union of Scotland is an organisation that promotes and protects the interests of the country's farming industry. It was formed in 1913, and has approximately 10,000 members who are farmers, crofters and others involved in Sc ...

. He was a member of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a per ...

, a deputy lieutenant of Dumfriesshire, and enjoyed

vintage car A vintage car is, in the most general sense, an old automobile, and in the narrower senses of car enthusiasts and collectors, it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930. Such enthusiasts have categorization schemes for ages of cars that enf ...

s and country sports.

Arms

Notes

References

Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 31 August 2006
Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 31 August 2006
Obituary
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 1 September 2006
Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 1 September 2006

External links

*
Announcement of his death at the House of Lords
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 9 October 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Monro, Hector 1922 births 2006 deaths People educated at Canford School Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs Scottish Conservative Party MPs Monro of Langholm Life peers created by Elizabeth II Unionist Party (Scotland) councillors Alumni of King's College, Cambridge UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Members of the Royal Company of Archers Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union