George McCrae (politician)

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Sir George McCrae DSO JP (* 1860 in Aberdeen ; † December 27, 1928 ) was a British politician and soldier.

Life

McCrae was born in Aberdeen in 1860. His childhood was shaped by the humble circumstances with his uncle, a stonemason who lived in a poor district on the southern edge of Edinburgh's old town. McCrae left school at the age of nine and took a job as a shoemaker's errand boy before starting an apprenticeship with a hatter. After running its Dunfermline office at the age of 16 , McCrae opened his own business in Edinburgh five years later.

Political career

In 1889 McCrae was elected to Edinburgh City Council. There he sat between 1891 and 1899 the Finance Committee and also acted as Justice of the Peace . The Liberal Robert Wallace held the lower house mandate of the constituency of Edinburgh East since 1886 . When he died in 1899, by-elections were required in the constituency, for which McCrae ran as Wallace's successor for the Liberal Party. He clearly prevailed against his only opponent, the liberal unionist Harry Younger , and moved into the House of Commons for the first time as a result of the election result.

In the following general election in 1900 and 1906 McCrae held his mandate. After he was offered a position in the Scottish local government in 1909, he resigned his mandate and resigned from the House of Commons. His party colleague James Gibson decided the due by-elections for himself.

Another time McCrae ran in the 1923 general election to elections at the national level. This time he applied for the mandate of the constituency of Stirling and Falkirk Burghs . He ran against the Labor politician Hugh Murnin , who held the mandate since 1922. McCrae prevailed against Murnin with a majority of just 156 votes. After losing votes in the following elections in 1924, McCrae Murnin was defeated and left the House of Commons.

Military background

McCrae kept a military career open from an early age. At the age of 18 he joined the 3rd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers , which eventually became the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots , in which McCrae served in the rank of lieutenant colonel . For his preeminent role in recruiting volunteers, McCrae was promoted to Knight Bachelor in 1908 . In June 1913 he left the military with the rank of colonel to take care of his wife, who had cancer.

With the start of the First World War was Herbert Kitchener as a British minister of war used. Kitchener, himself once a member and honorary commander of the 6th Battalion, began expanding his armed forces with the call for 100,000 volunteers. McCrae rejoined the military and recruited a battalion. Here he also took on various professional football players, who were followed by numerous fans of the clubs. He led the newly created 16th Battalion, also known as the "McCraes Battalion". This stood out in various battles in northern France and Belgium, especially in the Somme battle . In 2004, the McCrae's Battalion Great War Memorial , designed as a Cairn , was erected in the village of Contalmaison . McCrae was awarded the Distinguished Service Order after the war ended .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Information from McCrae's Battalion Trust
  2. ↑ George McCrae in Hansard (English)
  3. ↑ a b c Information from the Royal Scots
  4. ^ Liberal Year Book 1905, p. 205.
  5. ^ Liberal Year Book 1911, p. 252.
  6. ^ Liberal Year Book 1913, p. 271.
  7. ^ National Union Gleanings, 1912, Volume 38, p. 233.
  8. ^ The Liberal Year Book 1924, p. 402.
  9. ^ The Liberal Year Book 1932, p. 246.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME McCrae, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish politician and soldier
DATE OF BIRTH 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Aberdeen
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1928