Sir William Watson Rutherford, 1st Baronet (1853 – 3 December 1927) was a Conservative party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

who was Member of Parliament and

Lord Mayor of Liverpool The Lord Mayor of Liverpool is a largely ceremonial civic office of Liverpool City Council. The Lord Mayor is the ‘first citizen’ of Liverpool representing the city and acting as a focal point of community events and is also the Chair (off ...

Early life

Rutherford was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1853, the eldest son of William Rutherford. He was educated at the Merchant Taylor′s school, Great Crosby, and was articled in 1870 to the solicitor John Hughes (who would later serve as mayor of the city in 1883). He was admitted a solicitor in 1875, and became a junior partner in the firm of Messrs. Miller, Peel and Hughes in 1878. After the death of Hughes, he became head of the firm. He was elected to the City Council for Netherfield Ward in 1895, and was for a year chairman of the Tramways Committee overseeing the construction of electric trams in Liverpool. Rutherford was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1900 general election for the

Liverpool Scotland Liverpool Scotland was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Membe ...

constituency. He was elected

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

in November 1902, but resigned in early January 1903 to be the candidate in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for parliament.

1903 by-election

Political career

After he was elected to parliament on 20 January 1903, he was also re-elected as mayor on 4 February 1903 and served the remainder of the term until November 1903. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool West Derby from the January 1903 by-election until 1918, and for

Liverpool Edge Hill Liverpool Edge Hill was a borough constituency within the city and metropolitan borough of Liverpool, in the English county of Merseyside, centred on Edge Hill. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliame ...

from 1918 to 1923. He was knighted in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

and 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 ...

on 24 July 1923. He was a key member of Liverpool Chess Club, and developed the Rutherford Code for transmitting

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

moves over a telegraph.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Sir William, 1st Baronet 1853 births 1927 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Mayors of Liverpool Conservative Party (UK) councillors in Liverpool