Andrew Mitchell Torrance
Andrew Mitchell Torrance (1845 – 4 February 1909)[1][2] was a British Liberal Party politician.
Background
He was born in Old Cumnock, East Ayrshire in 1845. He was educated at Cumnock parish school. In 1861 he was apprenticed to Peter Kelso & Co., muslin manufacturers of Glasgow. In 1863, moving to London, he worked for Smith, Anderson & Co. In 1875 he became a partner and the firm changed its name to Miller, Son, & Torrance.[3] He was given a knighthood in 1906.[1]
Municipal career
He was elected to the London County Council as a Liberal backed Progressive Party member representing Islington East. He was re-elected on every occasion until standing down in 1907. He was Deputy Chairman of the London County Council in 1897-98 and again in 1900-01 and served as Chairman in 1901-02. He was also involved in Islington Borough municipal politics, being elected to the Council and serving as Mayor of Islington[3] from 1903-05. In June 1903, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of London.[4]
Parliamentary career
Torrance first stood for Parliament at the 1900 general election in Islington East (his London County Council seat), but lost by a wide margin to the sitting Conservative MP Benjamin Louis Cohen.
| 1900 General Election: Islington, East | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Benjamin Louis Cohen | 4,205 | 61.9 | 3.8 | |
| Liberal | Andrew Mitchell Torrance | 2,586 | 38.1 | -3.8 | |
| Majority | 1,619 | 23.8 | |||
| Turnout | 10,395 | 65.3 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
At the next general election, in January 1906 he chose to contest a seat in his native Scotland and was elected as the MP for Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency), defeating the sitting Conservative MP John George Alexander Baird by a margin of 3.4%.
| General Election 1906: Glasgow Central [5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Andrew Mitchell Torrance | 6,720 | 51.7 | ||
| Conservative | John George Alexander Baird | 6,289 | 48.3 | ||
| Majority | 3.4 | ||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | ||||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Who's Who
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Glasgow Digital Library
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27561. p. 3583. 5 June 1903.
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Andrew Mitchell Torrance
- Portrait & Biography; http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/eyrwho/eyrwho1710.htm
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John George Alexander Baird |
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central 1906–1909 |
Succeeded by Charles Dickson |