William Watson, Baron Thankerton

William Watson, Baron Thankerton, PC (8 December 1873 – 13 June 1948), was a Scottish Unionist Party politician and judge.

Born in Edinburgh, Watson was the third son of Margaret Bannatyne (1846–1898) and William Watson, Baron Watson (1827–1899). He was educated at Winchester College and Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating with a Third in Law in 1895.[1] In 1899, he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates,[2] taking silk in 1914.[3] He was Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1918–22, and was an advocate depute in 1919.

Watson was the Member of Parliament for Lanark South from 1913 to 1918[4] and for Carlisle from 1924 to 1929.[5] He held office as Solicitor General for Scotland from July 1922[6] to November 1922, and as Lord Advocate from November 1922[7] to February 1924 and from November 1924[8] to May 1929. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1922. He was raised to the bench as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and created a life peer as Baron Thankerton, of Thankerton in Lanarkshire on 1 May 1929, holding the post until his death at 74 in 1948.

Lord Thankerton's hobby was knitting, and he would practise this while hearing cases.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Watson, the Hon. William (WT891W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ↑ Ball, W.V. (2009). Watson, William (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36778.
  3. ↑ "No. 12633". The Edinburgh Gazette. 13 January 1914. p. 57.
  4. ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 551. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  5. ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 114. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  6. ↑ "No. 32728". The London Gazette. 11 July 1922. p. 5193.
  7. ↑ "No. 13863". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 November 1922. p. 1718.
  8. ↑ "No. 14076". The Edinburgh Gazette. 18 November 1924. p. 1439.
  9. ↑ Doing Judges a Discourtesy, Law Society Gazette, 27 June 2016 http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/obiter/doing-judges-a-discourtesy/5056120.article

Sources

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Walter Menzies		 Member of Parliament for South Lanarkshire
1913 – 1918 		Constituency abolished
Preceded by
George Middleton		 Member of Parliament for Carlisle
1924 – 1929 		Succeeded by
George Middleton
Legal offices
Preceded by
Andrew Constable		 Solicitor General for Scotland
1922 		Succeeded by
David Pinkerton Fleming
Preceded by
Charles David Murray		 Lord Advocate
1922–1924 		Succeeded by
Hugh Pattison MacMillan
Preceded by
Hugh Pattison MacMillan		 Lord Advocate
1924–1929 		Succeeded by
Alexander Munro MacRobert


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