John Colville, 1st Baron Clydesmuir

Colonel The Right Honourable
The Lord Clydesmuir
PC GCIE
John Colville as Governor of Bombay with Lady Colville. Photo by Cecil Beaton
Governor of Bombay
In office
24 March 1943 – 5 January 1948
Preceded by Roger Lumley
Succeeded by Raja Maharaj Singh
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
6 May 1938 – 10 May 1940
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by Walter Elliot
Succeeded by Ernest Brown
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
29 October 1936 – 6 May 1938
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by William Morrison
Succeeded by Euan Wallace
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
28 November 1935 – 29 October 1936
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by Noel Skelton
Succeeded by Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn
Member of Parliament
for Midlothian and Peebles Northern
In office
30 May 1929 – January 1943
Preceded by Andrew Clarke
Succeeded by David King Murray

Colonel David John Colville, 1st Baron Clydesmuir PC GCIE (13 February 1894 – 31 October 1954) was a Scottish Unionist politician, and industrialist. He was director of his family's steel and iron business: David Colville & Sons.[1]

Early life and education

The only son of John Colville MP, of Cleland, Lanarkshire, he was educated at Charterhouse and at Trinity College, Cambridge.

He served in World War I with the 6th Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), and was wounded.

Political career

He was unsuccessful National Liberal candidate for Motherwell at the 1922 General election. He was unsuccessful again at a by-election in January 1929 for Midlothian and Peebles Northern, but won the seat the general election in May 1929, remaining as the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP) until 1943. He served in the National Government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Department of Overseas Trade from 1931 to 1935, as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1935 to 1936, as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1936 to 1938 and as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1938 until 1940.

Diplomatic career and peerage

Colville left Parliament in 1943 to become Governor of Bombay, a post he held until January 1948. He acted as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, in 1945, 1946 and 1947. On his return from India he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clydesmuir, of Braidwood in the County of Lanarkshire. From 1950 to 1954 Lord Clydesmuir served as a Governor of the BBC.

Colville was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1936 and was a Brigadier in the Royal Company of Archers. He was Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire from 1952 until his death.

Marriage and children

He married Agnes Anne Bilsland, daughter of Sir William Bilsland, in 1915. They had a son and two daughters.

His son, Ronald Colville, 2nd Baron Clydesmuir, served as Governor of the Bank of Scotland.

References

  1. ↑ Family relative

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Andrew Bathgate Clarke		 Member of Parliament for Midlothian and Peebles Northern
1929–1943 		Succeeded by
David King Murray
Political offices
Preceded by
William Morrison		 Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1936–1938 		Succeeded by
Euan Wallace
Preceded by
Walter Elliot		 Secretary of State for Scotland
1938–1940 		Succeeded by
Ernest Brown
Preceded by
Sir Lawrence Lumley		 Governor of Bombay
1943–1947 		Succeeded by
Raja Sir Maharaj Singh
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Lord Hamilton of Dalzell		 Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire
1952–1954 		Succeeded by
Sir Alexander Murray Stephen
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Clydesmuir
1948–1954 		Succeeded by
Ronald John Bilsland Colville