Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn

Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn , KBE , PC (* 3. August 1908 , † 11. October 1987 ) was a British politician of the Conservative Party , the 1945-1963 deputy of the lower house ( House of Commons ) and 1962 until 1963 was Minister for Pensions and National Insurance. After retiring from the House, he was in 1963 as the first Baron Drumalbyn, of White Sands, in the County of Dumfries, in the nobility of the Peerage of the United Kingdom raised and was therefore up to his death a member of the upper house ( House of Lords ) . He also served as Minister without Portfolio between 1970 and 1974 .

Life

Family origins, studies and World War II

Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson was the fourth of seven children of the lawyer Sir Thomas Stewart Macpherson, who served in British India as a judge and from 1930 to 1933 as Vice Chancellor of Patna University , and his wife Helen Cameron. His siblings included his older brother George Philip "Phil" Stewart Macpherson , who played in the Scottish national rugby team between 1922 and 1932 and was promoted to brigadier general as an officer in the Royal Scots during World War II . A younger brother, Archibald Ian Stewart Macpherson, served as a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Another younger brother was Ronald Thomas "Tommy" Stewart Macpherson of Biallid , who served as an officer of No. 11 (Scottish) Commando also served in World War II and received the Military Cross with two bars for his bravery and military merits . An uncle and brother of his father was James Ian Macpherson , who was also a member of the House of Commons for the Liberal Party between 1911 and 1935 , Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1919 to 1920, and Pension Minister between 1920 and 1922 and in 1936 as 1st Baron Strathcarron , of Banchor in the County of Inverness, raised to the nobility and thereby became a member of the House of Lords.

Niall Macpherson himself began after visiting the Edinburgh Academy and the prestigious Fettes College to study at Trinity College of the University of Oxford , which he in 1929 with a Bachelor of Arts graduated (BA). A subsequent postgraduate course at Trinity College]] at the University of Oxford, he graduated in 1932 with a Master of Arts (MA). Like his brothers, he also took part in the Second World War and last served with the temporary rank of major (Temporary Major) in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders line infantry regiment in Madagascar .

MPs and government offices

After the war, Macpherson was elected for the first time in the election on July 5, 1945 for the Conservative Party in the constituency of Dumfriesshire to the House of Commons ( House of Commons ) and represented this constituency for more than 18 years until his resignation on November 9, 1963. During he in his first election with 16,465 votes (47.4 percent) narrowly missed an absolute majority, he was at the next general election, each re-elected with a clear absolute majority. In the following years, between 1945 and 1951, he was initially parliamentary director ( Whip ) of the opposition Tory faction in the lower house and, after the Conservative Party's victory in the lower house elections on October 25, 1951, from 1951 to 1955, whip of the current government faction .

Niall Macpherson took over his first government office on June 13, 1955 in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Anthony Eden , as Joint Under-Secretary for Scotland . A post he held from January 10, 1957 in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan to 28 October 1960 and took over the connection of John Rodgers office as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce (Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade ) , he up when he was replaced by David Price on July 17, 1962. He himself had replaced John Boyd-Carpenter as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the day before, on July 16, 1962 , and remained in office until the end of Macmillan's term on October 13, 1963. In this capacity he also became a member of the secret Privy Council on 17 July 1962 ( Privy Council ) appointed.

House of Lords

In the government of Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home , Macpherson served as Minister of State for Trade from October 23, 1963 to October 16, 1964 . On the day of his departure from the House of Commons, he was raised to the nobility of the Peerage of the United Kingdom by a letters patent on November 9, 1963 as 1st Baron Drumalbyn, of Whitesands, in the County of Dumfries, and was thereby up to his death October 11, 1987 member of the upper house ( House of Lords ) .

After the Conservative Party won the election on June 18, 1970 , Baron Drumalbyn took over the post of Minister without in the cabinet of Prime Minister Edward Heath from October 15, 1970 until his replacement by Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare on January 8, 1974 Division (Minister without Portfolio) . One day after leaving the Cabinet, he was beaten on January 9, 1974 to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire .

Marriages and offspring

Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson was married twice. From his first marriage on July 27, 1937 to Margaret Phyllis Runge, a daughter of Julius Joseph Runge and his wife Norah Cecil Hasluck , who was a member of the House of Commons between 1931 and 1935. The three daughters Jean Stewart Macpherson, Mary Stewart Macpherson and Helen Norah Stewart Macpherson emerged from his marriage. The eldest daughter Jean Stewart Macpherson was with Vice Admiral James Weatherall married, the deputy among others between 1989 and 1991 Supreme Commander of the Allied NATO -Streitkräfte Atlantic SACLANT (Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic) and from 1992 to 2001 as Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps a leading function in the Royal Household . After the death of his first wife on August 13, 1979, Baron Drumalbyn married Henrietta Macpherson for the second time in 1985, although this marriage remained childless. Since he died without male offspring, his death on October 11, 1987, extinguished the title of Baron Drumalbyn, of Whitesands, in the County of Dumfries.

Web links

• Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn in the Hansard (English)
• Entry in Cracroft's Peerage
• PEERAGE in Leigh Rayment Peerage
• Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st and last Baron Drumalbyn on thepeerage.com , accessed January 6, 2019.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Minister of Pensions and National Insurance ( Hansard )
2. ↑ PRIVY COUNSELLORS 1915 - 1968 (leighrayment.com)
3. ^ Minister without Portfolio (Hansard)
4. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES (leighrayment.com)

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Drumalbyn 1963-1987	Title expired