James Scott (1876-1939)
Encyclopedia
James Scott was a Scottish
lawyer and Liberal Party
politician.
, also named James Scott. He was educated at Forres Academy and at the University of Edinburgh
and the University of London
. In 1910 he married Georgina Geddes from Buckhaven
in Fife
and they had one son.
to the Supreme Courts of Scotland
and a notary public
and was a partner in the firm of Mssrs. Robert Stewart and Scott of Edinburgh. He also served on a number of important Scottish public bodies. He was a member of the Game and Heather Burning Committee in 1921; a Deputy Chairman for Trade Boards for Jute, Flax, and Made-up Textiles, 1921–24; Vice-President and Trustee of the Scottish Rural Workers Approved Society and founder of the Scottish National Union of Allotment-holders.
as a Liberal at the 1922 general election
and West Renfrewshire
in 1923
. In October 1924
he unsuccessfully fought Kincardine and West Aberdeen but was eventually elected to the House of Commons at the 1929 general election
when he gained Kincardine and West Aberdeen by the narrow majority of 668 votes beating the sitting Unionist
MP
C M Barclay-Harvey
. In 1931 he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the Secretary of State for Scotland
, Sir Archie Sinclair
in the National Government. At the 1931 general election
Barclay-Harvey won the seat back in a straight fight with Scott. Although the Liberal Party had agreed to support the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald
at the 1931 general election, with some reservations over the traditional Liberal policy of Free Trade
, neither Scott nor Barclay-Harvey contested the election using the label National. Barclay-Harvey presumably did not feel he needed to stand aside for Scott, even though he was the sitting member of a party supporting the coalition – probably as the seat was closely contested and he knew he had a good chance of re-election and perhaps because Scott was known as a strong supporter of Free Trade.
. A by-election arose there in 1935 when Lord Scone
, the sitting Tory
MP, succeeded his father as Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
and went to the House of Lords
. However at the eleventh hour, the local Liberal Association decided to select the then 76 year old Francis Norie-Miller
, (who had been the Liberal candidate at Perth at the 1931 general election) as they had been told that the Conservatives would be willing to support him as the National government candidate. The decision angered Liberal Party headquarters and they sent the Scottish Liberal Whip, Sir Robert Hamilton
, to speak to a meeting of the local Association. The Association ungallantly refused to hear him however and Hamilton issued a statement saying how the decision struck at the very heart of Liberalism in Perth and throughout Scotland. Scott was also understandably unhappy. He said he would have been willing to step aside for Norie-Miller if he had been standing as a Liberal but he was trying to be loyal to a free and independent Liberal Party. In the end, supported in his decision by the party in London whose object was damage-limitation in clashes with the Simonite Liberal Nationals, Scott opted not to fight a hopeless cause and Norie-Miller, was elected as the Liberal National MP for Perth in the by-election of 16 April 1935. Perhaps significantly, Norie-Miller did not stand for re-election at the 1935 general election
a few months later when the contest was a straight fight between Unionist and Labour candidates, resulting in a large Conservative majority.
Scott was next approached to stand at the Combined Scottish Universities by-election
in January 1936 as an Independent Liberal. He declared he was willing to do so if sufficient support was forthcoming but clearly he felt this was not the case as he later announced he would not be standing. In the event, the election was won comfortably by former prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, the National Labour candidate.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
lawyer and Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician.
Family and education
James Scott was the son a railway superintendent from ForresForres
Forres , is a town and former royal burgh situated in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately 30 miles east of Inverness. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions...
, also named James Scott. He was educated at Forres Academy and at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. In 1910 he married Georgina Geddes from Buckhaven
Buckhaven
Buckhaven is a coastal town on the east coast of Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth between East Wemyss and Methil. Its inhabitants sometimes refer to it as Buckhind or Buckhine...
in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
and they had one son.
Career
Scott was a solicitorSolicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
to the Supreme Courts of Scotland
College of Justice
The College of Justice is a term used to describe the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.The constituent bodies of the supreme courts of Scotland are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, and the Accountant of Court's Office...
and a notary public
Notary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
and was a partner in the firm of Mssrs. Robert Stewart and Scott of Edinburgh. He also served on a number of important Scottish public bodies. He was a member of the Game and Heather Burning Committee in 1921; a Deputy Chairman for Trade Boards for Jute, Flax, and Made-up Textiles, 1921–24; Vice-President and Trustee of the Scottish Rural Workers Approved Society and founder of the Scottish National Union of Allotment-holders.
Politics
Scott contested Moray and NairnMoray and Nairn (UK Parliament constituency)
Moray and Nairn was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983.It was formed by the amalgamation of the county constituency Elginshire and Nairnshire with the parliamentary burghs of Elgin, previously part of Elgin Burghs, and Nairn and...
as a Liberal at the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
and West Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire West (UK Parliament constituency)
West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005...
in 1923
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
. In October 1924
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
he unsuccessfully fought Kincardine and West Aberdeen but was eventually elected to the House of Commons at the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
when he gained Kincardine and West Aberdeen by the narrow majority of 668 votes beating the sitting Unionist
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
C M Barclay-Harvey
Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
Sir Charles Malcolm Barclay-Harvey, KCMG was a British politician and Governor of South Australia from 12 August 1939 until 26 April 1944....
. In 1931 he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Secretary of State for Scotland
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
, Sir Archie Sinclair
Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso
Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso KT, CMG, PC , known as Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party....
in the National Government. At the 1931 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
Barclay-Harvey won the seat back in a straight fight with Scott. Although the Liberal Party had agreed to support the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
at the 1931 general election, with some reservations over the traditional Liberal policy of Free Trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, neither Scott nor Barclay-Harvey contested the election using the label National. Barclay-Harvey presumably did not feel he needed to stand aside for Scott, even though he was the sitting member of a party supporting the coalition – probably as the seat was closely contested and he knew he had a good chance of re-election and perhaps because Scott was known as a strong supporter of Free Trade.
Putative by-election candidate
In 1934, Scott was selected as Liberal candidate for PerthPerth (UK Parliament constituency)
Perth was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918, 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005. From 1832 to 1918 it was a burgh constituency. From 1918 to 1950, and 1997 to 2005, it was a county constituency...
. A by-election arose there in 1935 when Lord Scone
Mungo Murray, 7th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
Mungo David Malcolm Murray, 7th Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield , styled Lord Scone from 1906 to 1935, was a Scottish Unionist Party politician....
, the sitting Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
MP, succeeded his father as Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, and Earl of Mansfield, of Caen Wood in the County of Middlesex, are two titles in the Peerage of Great Britain that have been united under a single holder since 1843...
and went to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. However at the eleventh hour, the local Liberal Association decided to select the then 76 year old Francis Norie-Miller
Francis Norie-Miller
Sir Francis Norie-Miller, 1st Baronet was a British insurance company manager and Liberal later Liberal National politician. Although he was born in England, his chief associations were with Scotland and in particular the city of Perth...
, (who had been the Liberal candidate at Perth at the 1931 general election) as they had been told that the Conservatives would be willing to support him as the National government candidate. The decision angered Liberal Party headquarters and they sent the Scottish Liberal Whip, Sir Robert Hamilton
Robert William Hamilton
Sir Robert William Hamilton was a Scottish Liberal Party politician.Hamilton was Principal Judge and Chief Justice of the East Africa Protectorate from 1905 to 1920 and was Chairman of the Civil Service Commission in 1918....
, to speak to a meeting of the local Association. The Association ungallantly refused to hear him however and Hamilton issued a statement saying how the decision struck at the very heart of Liberalism in Perth and throughout Scotland. Scott was also understandably unhappy. He said he would have been willing to step aside for Norie-Miller if he had been standing as a Liberal but he was trying to be loyal to a free and independent Liberal Party. In the end, supported in his decision by the party in London whose object was damage-limitation in clashes with the Simonite Liberal Nationals, Scott opted not to fight a hopeless cause and Norie-Miller, was elected as the Liberal National MP for Perth in the by-election of 16 April 1935. Perhaps significantly, Norie-Miller did not stand for re-election at the 1935 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
a few months later when the contest was a straight fight between Unionist and Labour candidates, resulting in a large Conservative majority.
Scott was next approached to stand at the Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1936
The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1936 was a by-election held from 27 January to 31 January 1936 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.- Vacancy :...
in January 1936 as an Independent Liberal. He declared he was willing to do so if sufficient support was forthcoming but clearly he felt this was not the case as he later announced he would not be standing. In the event, the election was won comfortably by former prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, the National Labour candidate.
Publications
- Agriculture and Land Value Taxation: Three Papers (with F C R Douglas & A R McDougal), London 1930
- The Land Value Tax (notes on the application of the Act to Scotland') with H Samuels and P Fores, London 1931
- The Law of Smallholdings in Scotland, Edinburgh 1933