Sir Alexander Baird of Urie, 1st Baronet, 2nd of Ury (22 October 1849 – 20 June 1920) was

Lord Lieutenant of Kincardineshire This is a list of people who have served as the Monarch's Lord Lieutenant in the County of Kincardine. * Sir James Carnegie, 3rd Baronet April 1746 – 30 April 1765 * Anthony Keith-Falconer, 5th Earl of Kintore 17 March 1794 – 30 August 1804 * ...

from 1889 to 1918 and later served as president of the Permanent Arbitration Board in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Biography

Baird belonged to a family which had become very wealthy in the first half of the nineteenth century through their ironworks. His father, John Baird (1798-1870) JP of Easterhouse, husband of Margaret Findlay, had inherited the Urie estate from his childless brother Alexander (1799-1862). Other uncles included William Baird and James Baird, both members of parliament. He was the elder brother of John Baird, DL, JP, Member of Parliament for North West Lanarkshire. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. He spent a large portion of his life in

, and later served as president of the Permanent Arbitration Board in

. He had a house in Mattarieh, just outside

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, where he died. He spoke fluent

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and was heavily involved in philanthropic projects in the country. Baird was also

from 1889 to 1918. He built

Ury House Ury House is a large ruined mansion in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, built in the Elizabethan style in 1885 by Sir Alexander Baird, 1st Baronet. It is situated on the north-east coast about north of Stonehaven in the former county of Kincardinesh ...

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...

, which eventually passed into the ownership of the

Earls of Kintore Earl of Kintore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1677 for John Keith, 1st Earl of Kintore, Sir John Keith, third son of William Keith, 6th Hereditary Earl Marischal of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland (see Earl Marischal f ...

. Baird was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Urie, in the Parish of Fetteresso, in the

County of Kincardine Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of north-east Scotland. It is bounded by Abe ...

, in the

Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

, on 8 March 1897 and appointed a Knight-Grand-Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours for his services in Egypt.

Marriage and issue

Baird married The Hon. Annette Palk, the eldest daughter of the 1st Baron Haldon, on 16 July 1873, and they had seven children: * John Lawrence Baird, later 1st Viscount Stonehaven (1874–1947) * Alexander Walter Frederick Baird (1876–1931), soldier. * Evelyn Margaret Baird (1875–1926) * Janet Norah Baird (1878–1943) * Edith Annette Baird (1880–1881) * Nina Isabel Baird (1882–1919) * Muriel Jane Baird (1884–1968) Nina Isabel Baird ran a carpet factory in Amria, where she employed roughly 300 local women whose husbands had joined the Senussi rebel movement. She died in summer 1919 of Typhoid fever. hree Deserts, by C. S. Jarvis, 1936, pp. 17–20/ref>

References

* Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 22 June 1920 * Letter from Valentine Chirol, ''The Times'', 23 June 1920 1849 births 1920 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire People educated at Harrow School

401 __NOTOC__ Year 401 ( CDI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vincentius and Fravitus (or, less frequently, year 1154 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Deputy lieutenants of Aberdeen Deputy lieutenants of Inverness-shire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Scottish philanthropists Lord-lieutenants of Kincardineshire British expatriates in Egypt {{UK-baronet-stub