William Douglas Weir, 1st Viscount Weir GCB PC (12 May 1877 – 2 July 1959) was a Scottish industrialist and politician, who served as President of the Air Council in 1918.

Early life

Weir was born in

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 ...

in 1877, the eldest child of James Weir (1842/3–1920) and his wife, Mary Richmond (1848–1931). He attended Allan Glen's School and the High School of Glasgow before entering an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

in the business established by his father and his uncle, G. and J. Weir, manufacturers of condensers, pumps, and evaporators.

Industrialist

Weir rose to become a director of G. and J. Weir, before serving as managing director between 1902 and 1915, and as chairman from 1910 to 1953. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he converted his factories to produce explosive shells. He went on to hold a number of other directorships, including

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(1928–38),

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

(1928–53), International Nickel (1928–59), and Shell Transport and Trading (1939). He was also chairman of the Anglo-Scottish Sugar Beet Corporation.

Public servant

David Lloyd George appointed him to the unpaid position of director of munitions in Scotland in July 1915, he joined the Air Board in December 1916 and was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in February 1917. He joined the Air Council in November 1917 and became its President in April 1918, resigning in December that year after the end of the war. He was appointed to the Privy Council in April and was raised to the

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as Baron Weir, of Eastwood in the County of Renfrew, in the summer. He didn't desire any further political power, and went on to serve on a number of government committees, including those on civil aviation, economies in the fighting services, and co-ordination between the navy, army, and air force. During 1924 and 1925, Weir chaired the committee on electricity supply to plan the rationalisation of the United Kingdom's

electrical power industry Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. His conclusions led to the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926, and the creation of the National Grid and the Central Electricity Board. He was appointed to the

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as a Knight Grand Cross in 1934. In 1934, he undertook the role of President for the Guild of Aid and Day Nursery in Glasgow. At the Annual meeting in November 1934 donated £162 to cover the Day Nursery's debt for the previous year. (refer to The Scotsman newspaper, Saturday 03 November 1934) In 1935, he was a member defence policy and requirements committee and became advisor to Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, later Viscount Swinton upon his appointment as Secretary of State for Air. He was behind the creation of shadow aircraft factories and was an advisor on national defence, resigning his position after Swinton's dismissal. He was created Viscount Weir, of Eastwood in the County of Renfrew in 1938, He was a founder and later president of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club and was elected to The Other Club in 1932. Between 1939 and 1941 Weir served as the director-general of explosives at the Ministry of Supply and in 1942 he was chairman of the Tank Board.

Family life

William's younger brother James George Weir was involved in the family business and also in the Air Ministry. He married Alice Blanche MacConnachie (1882–1959), the daughter of John MacConnachie on 2 June 1904. They had two sons and a daughter. Weir died on 2 July 1959 at his home at Giffnock, Renfrewshire, he was aged 82. He was succeeded by James Kenneth Weir, 2nd Viscount Weir.

Honours

In addition to his knighthoods, barony and viscountcy, Weir received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1919, the freedom of the

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in 1957, the

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, and he became a Commander of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 2011 he was one of seven inaugural inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.

Footnotes