Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde
The Lord Strathclyde | |
---|---|
Solicitor General for Scotland | |
In office 1905–1909 | |
Monarch | Edward VII |
Preceded by | James Avon Clyde |
Succeeded by | Arthur Dewar |
Personal details | |
Born | 22 February 1853 |
Died | 2 October 1928 (aged 75) |
Political party | Liberal |
Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde, GBE, PC (22 February 1853 – 2 October 1928) was a Scottish politician, judge, and georgist land value tax activist.[1]
Life
[edit]He was the son of John Ure, lord provost of Glasgow, and his wife Isabella.[2]
He studied law at the University of Glasgow he was admitted to membership of the Faculty of Advocates in 1878.
He was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Linlithgowshire from 1895 to 1913. He became a queen's counsel in 1897.[3]
He provided as solicitor general for Scotland from December 1905[4] to 1909, and as Lord Advocate from February 1909[5] to 1913. He was an enthusiastic supporter of David Lloyd George's 1909–10 budget. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1909. In 1909, he conducted the prosecution of Oscar Slater for murder; the conviction was later quashed on appeal.
He lived at 31 Heriot Row, a large Georgian townhouse, in Edinburgh's Second New Town.[6]
On leaving Parliament, he was raised to the bench as Lord Strathclyde and appointed Lord Justice General, a post he held until 1920. He was raised to the Peerage as Baron Strathclyde, of Sandyford in the County of Lanark, in 1914. In 1917, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire as a Knight Grand Cross. He is said to have been skilled in cross-examination, and was more suited to life as an advocate than as a judge.[citation needed]
He retired to his father's house of Cairndhu in Helensburgh in 1920 and died there in 1928. He is buried in Helensburgh Cemetery.[2]
Notable trials
[edit]Ure famously prosecuted alleged murderer, Oscar Slater, now seen as a serious mistrial. Slater was sentenced to death in 1909. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Following a campaign by Arthur Conan Doyle and others, Slater received a pardon, but only after having served 18 years in Peterhead Prison.[7][8]
Family
[edit]In 1879, he married Margaret McDowell Steven. Their only child was a daughter, Christobel Helen Ure, who died in 1918, before the Baron's death.
The peerage therefore became extinct on his death.
References
[edit]- ^ Whitehead, Andrew (1 May 2011). "God Gave the Land to the People: the Liberal 'Land Song'". History Workshop. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ a b Fullarton, Donald (13 November 2013). "Cairndhu owner became Lord Provost". Helensburgh Heritage. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "No. 10915". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 September 1897. p. 849.
- ^ "No. 11787". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 December 1905. p. 1313.
- ^ "No. 12118". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 February 1909. p. 173.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1905-6.
- ^ Scotland's Murder Mysteries: 4 April 2018.
- ^ The Trial Of Oscar Slater, Wm Roughhead.
External links
[edit]- 1853 births
- 1928 deaths
- Nobility from Argyll and Bute
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
- Scottish Liberal Party MPs
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
- Senators of the College of Justice
- Lord Advocates
- Solicitors general for Scotland
- Barons Strathclyde
- UK MPs 1895–1900
- UK MPs 1900–1906
- UK MPs 1906–1910
- UK MPs 1910
- UK MPs 1910–1918
- UK MPs who were granted peerages
- Lords President of the Court of Session
- Lords Justice-General
- Members of the Faculty of Advocates
- Scottish King's Counsel
- 19th-century King's Counsel
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
- Barons created by George V
- Alumni of the University of Glasgow