British politician
Lieutenant-Colonel
Sir John Gilmour, 2nd Baronet
GCVO
DSO*
TD
PC
JP
DL
MP
(27 May 1876 ? 30 March 1940) was a
Scottish
Unionist
politician. He notably served as
Home Secretary
from 1932 to 1935.
Early life
[
edit
]
Gilmour was the son of
Sir John Gilmour, 1st Baronet
, chairman of the
Scottish Conservative and Unionist
party, who was created a baronet in 1897. His mother was
Henrietta
, daughter of David Gilmour of Quebec. He was educated at
Trinity College, Glenalmond
, the
University of Edinburgh
and
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
.
[1]
Military service
[
edit
]
Gilmour was a
lieutenant
in the
Fifeshire Volunteer Light Horse
, and was among the officers of the Fife and Forfar volunteer battalions to volunteer for service in the
Second Boer War
. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the
Imperial Yeomanry
on 7 February 1900,
[2]
and served in
South Africa
with the 20th (Fife and Forfarshire Light Horse) Company of the 6th Battalion. He left
Liverpool
for South Africa with the company on the
SS
Cymric
in March 1900.
[3]
For his service, he was awarded the
Queen's medal
with 4 clasps and was twice
mentioned in despatches
(by
Lord Roberts
dated 4 September 1901
[4]
and in the final despatch by
Lord Kitchener
dated 23 June 1902
[5]
). His letters from the Boer War were published in 1996 under the title "Clearly My Duty" by his son,
Sir John Gilmour, 3rd Baronet
. He again served in
World War I
with the
Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
, where he was again mentioned in despatches and awarded the
DSO
with bar. His service after the war saw him rise to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel when he commanded the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry. On 8 May 1931 he was made the Honorary Colonel of the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry.
[6]
Political career
[
edit
]
He unsuccessfully contested
East Fife
in 1906 and was elected as
Member of Parliament
(MP) for
East Renfrewshire
from 1910 to 1918 and for
Glasgow Pollok
from 1918 until 1940. He was a Junior
Lord of the Treasury
in 1921?1922,
Scottish Unionist
Whip from 1919 to 1922 and in 1924.
He was appointed as
Secretary for Scotland
in 1924, and became the first
Secretary of State for Scotland
when the post was upgraded in 1926. A member of the
Orange Order
joining the Pollokshaws Lodge, LOL172, in June 1910. This Lodge is now named after him. Gilmour, as Secretary for Scotland, repudiated the
Church of Scotland
's report,
"The Menace of the Irish Race to our Scottish Nationality"
.
[
citation needed
]
Later in his career he served as
Minister of Shipping
during the early months of British involvement in the
Second World War
but died in office of a heart attack in London on 30 March 1940,
[7]
[8]
Other appointments
[
edit
]
Gilmour was Master of the Fife Fox Hounds, 1902?1906, and a Member of Fife County Council 1901?1910. He was
Rector of the University of Edinburgh
, 1926?1929, and was awarded honorary degrees by the
University of Glasgow
in 1925, the
University of Edinburgh
in 1927, and the
University of St Andrews
in 1929. He was a Brigadier with the
Royal Company of Archers
. He was made
Vice-Lieutenant
for the County of
Fife
on 27 March 1936.
[9]
Appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1935.
Family
[
edit
]
Gilmour first married Mary Louise Lambert, daughter of Edward Tiley Lambert, of Telham Court,
Battle, Sussex
, on 9 April 1902 at St. Mary's Church in Battle, Sussex.
[10]
The marriage produced two children,
Anne Margaret
, born in October 1909, and
John
, born in October 1912. After Mary Louise's death in 1919, he married her younger sister (his former sister-in-law), Violet Agnes Lambert, in 1920. They had one daughter, Daphne, born in January 1922.
[11]
Both children from his first marriage both rose to positions of prominence in the civil service. His eldest daughter, Dame Anne Margaret Bryans
DBE
DStJ
DSO*
, worked for the British Red Cross Society and served as vice-chairman of the executive committee from 1964 to 1976, in addition to holding positions in the governorship of many hospitals in the United Kingdom. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, Sir John Gilmour, 3rd Baronet, who also had a successful political career.
His great-nephew,
George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie
, was also a Conservative MP and served as Scottish Secretary from 1979 to 1986.
Notes
[
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]
References
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External links
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Secretaries of State for Scotland
1707?1746
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Secretaries for Scotland
1885?1926
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Secretaries of State for Scotland
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1926?1999
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Secretaries of State for Scotland
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1999?present
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International
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