Sir Charles Cameron, 1st Baronet, (18 December 1841 – 2 October 1924), was a Scottish doctor, newspaper editor and Liberal politician. Cameron was born in Dublin, the son of John Cameron, newspaper proprietor of Glasgow and Dublin. He was educated at

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras Col ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, and at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. He also studied at medical schools in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, but never practised medicine. He became editor of the ''North British Daily Mail'' (later incorporated into the '' Daily Record'') in 1864, and was managing proprietor of the paper from 1873. At the 1874 general election, Cameron was elected as one of the three Members of Parliament (MPs) for

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 ...

. The constituency was broken up under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

, and he was elected at the 1885 general election as the MP for the new Glasgow College constituency. He held the seat until his defeat at the 1895 general election. Cameron was created baronet Cameron of Balclutha, Renfrew, on 7 August 1893 for his journalistic and parliamentary services. He was subsequently elected as MP for Glasgow Bridgeton at a by-election in February 1897, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1900 general election. He was appointed CB in the 1899 New Year Honours. Cameron was an active member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

. He was responsible for the Inebriates Acts, secured various reforms in the Scottish Liquor Laws and was a member of the Royal Commission on the Liquor Licensing Laws in 1895. He was also behind laws conferring the municipal franchise on women, and acts abolishing imprisonment for debt in Scotland and was a member of the Departmental Committee on Habitual Offenders (Scotland) in 1894. His resolution led to the adoption of sixpenny telegrams and he was on the Committee on Transit of Cattle Coastwise in 1893. He wrote a number of pamphlets on medical, social, and political subjects. He served as president of the

Cremation Society of Great Britain The Cremation Society of Great Britain (now known as The Cremation Society) was founded in 1874 to promote the use of cremation as an alternative means of dealing with the bodies of the dead instead of burial which until then was the only option. T ...

, as did his son and successor to the baronetcy. Cameron lived at Glenridge,

Virginia Water Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its na ...

, where he enjoyed motoring, riding, and travel. He died at the age of 82. Cameron married firstly Frances Caroline Macaulay in 1869. Their son John succeeded to the baronetcy. Frances died in 1899, and he married secondly Blanche Perman.

Legacy

The Cameron Memorial Fountain, in Glasgow's

Sauchiehall Street Sauchiehall Street () is one of the main shopping streets in the Glasgow city centre, city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, Glasgow, Argyle Street. Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sau ...

, is dedicated to him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Charles 1841 births 1924 deaths People from St Andrews Nobility from Fife People educated at Madras College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Scottish newspaper editors Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Companions of the Order of the Bath People from Virginia Water