Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde
Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde GBE PC QC (22 February 1853 – 2 October 1928) was a Scottish politician, judge, and georgist land value tax activist.[1]
Educated at the University of Glasgow he was admitted to membership of the Faculty of Advocates in 1878.
He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Linlithgowshire from 1895 to 1913. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1897.[2]
Alexander Ure's integrity is widely open to question: he misled the Court in the trial of Oscar Slater for the murder of Marion Gilchrist in 1909 (Slater was convicted but subsequently pardoned on appeal and freed); it could be alleged he conspired with the police, Fiscal and Crown Office to prevent two brothers being prosecuted for the murder. He also claimed Balfour's Conservative Party would abolish the old pension.
He served as Solicitor General for Scotland from December 1905[3] to 1909, and as Lord Advocate from February 1909[4] to 1913. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Lloyd George's 1909–10 budget. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1909.[5]
He lived in a huge Georgian townhouse, 31 Heriot Row, 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.[7] He is said to have been skilled in cross-examination, and was more suited to life as an advocate than as a judge.
The peerage became extinct on his death.
Styles of address
- 1853-1895: Mr Alexander Ure
- 1895-1897: Mr Alexander Ure MP
- 1897-1909: Mr Alexander Ure QC MP
- 1909-1913: The Right Honourable Alexander Ure QC MP
- 1913-1914: The Right Honourable Alexander Ure QC
- 1914-1917: The Right Honourable The Lord Strathclyde PC QC
- 1917-1928: The Right Honourable The Lord Strathclyde GBE PC QC
References
- ^ http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/the-land-song/ GOD GAVE THE LAND TO THE PEOPLE: THE LIBERAL ‘LAND SONG’
- ^ "No. 10915". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 September 1897.
- ^ "No. 11787". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 December 1905.
- ^ "No. 12118". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 February 1909.
- ^ "Page 47077". The Peerage. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1905-6
- ^ "Page 47077". The Peerage. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
External links
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