Sir William Hannay Raeburn, 1st Baronet (11 August 1850 – 12 February 1934) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

shipping businessman and Unionist Party politician who served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1918 and 1923. Raeburn was a shipping magnate who founded in 1873 a shipping company called ''Raeburn & Dunn'', with Captain Dunn. John Verel replaced Dunn in 1880 and the company was subsequently renamed Raeburn & Verel. By 1900 the company operated around 12 steamers, travelling to ports from Europe to America and the Far East. In 1902 Raeburn and Verel formed the Monarch Steamship Company Ltd. Raeburn was an important figure in the shipping industry in the West of Scotland and contributed to some of the shipping legislation which passed, including the

Merchant Shipping Act Merchant Shipping Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used in Malaysia and the United Kingdom for legislation relating to merchant shipping. Merchant shipping acts and regulations also exist as well in other countries, and they are so ...

and the

Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 The Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 ( 6 Edw. 7. c. 58) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which deals with the right of working people for compensation for personal injury. The act expanded the scheme created by the Workmen's Co ...

. He came to live in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

towards the end of the 19th century, and his obituary in the Helensburgh & Gareloch Times describes how he was involved in various aspects of the shipping industry and how "in 1916 he was appointed President of the Chamber of Shipping by the shipowners of the United Kingdom". On his retirement from that post he was awarded with a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

. At the 1918 general election, Raeburn was nominated as the Unionist Party candidate for the

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

. He received the "

coalition coupon The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place soon after British victory in the ...

" and as a "Coalition Unionist" he overwhelmingly defeated the sitting

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Arthur Acland Allen Arthur Acland Allen (11 August 1868 – 20 May 1939) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1906 and 1918. Biography Allen was the son of Peter Allen, manager of the ''Manc ...

(who won a meagre 13% of the votes). Raeburn was re-elected in 1922 general election with a majority of only 0.8 percent over his sole opponent, the Labour Party candidate William Martin. He did not contest the 1923 general election, when Martin won the seat, and did not stand for

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

again. On 29 June 1923, he was made 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

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* 1850 births 1934 deaths Scottish company founders 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Scottish businesspeople in shipping UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs {{Conservative-UK-MP-1850s-stub