Joseph Paton Maclay, 1st Baron Maclay PC (6 September 1857-24 April 1951), known as Sir Joseph Maclay, 1st Baronet, from 1914 to 1922, was a Scottish businessman and public servant.
Maclay was the son of Ebenezer Maclay of Glasgow. He was Chairman of Maclay & Macintyre Ltd, shipowners, of Glasgow. In 1916 he was admitted to the Privy Council and appointed Minister of Shipping, a post he held until 1921. Because he was not a Member of either House of Parliament, the ministry's spokesman in the House of Commons was Maclay's junior minister Sir Leo Chiozza Money, whose appointment he had tried to resist.[1] Maclay was created a Baronet, of Glasgow in the County of Lanark, in 1914 and in 1922 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Maclay, of Glasgow in the County of Lanark. In 1915, he purchased Duchal House and its estates in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire which remains the seat of the Lords Maclay to this day.[2]
Lord Maclay married Martha, daughter of William Strang, in 1889. She died in 1929. Lord Maclay survived her by over twenty years and died in April 1951, aged 93. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest surviving son Joseph. His fifth son the Hon. John Maclay was a prominent politician and was created Viscount Muirshiel in 1964.
Notes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New office |
Minister of Shipping 1916–1921 |
Succeeded by Office abolished |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Baron Maclay 1922–1951 |
Succeeded by Joseph Paton Maclay |