William Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon

William Lowson Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon KBE PC (15 April 1877 – 24 December 1938), known as Sir William Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baronet, from 1918 to 1932, was a Scottish politician who served as British Postmaster-General from 1924 till 1929.[1]

The Lord Selsdon
Postmaster General
In office
4 November 1924 – 4 June 1929
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byVernon Hartshorn
Succeeded byHastings Lees-Smith
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
In office
1 April 1921 – 19 October 1922
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byPhilip Cunliffe-Lister
Succeeded byThe Viscount Wolmer
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food Control
In office
19 April 1920 – 1 April 1921
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byCharles McCurdy
Succeeded byPost abolished
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
14 January 1932 – 24 December 1938
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byPeerage created
Succeeded byThe 2nd Lord Selsdon
Member of Parliament
for Croydon South
In office
6 December 1923 – 14 January 1932
Preceded byAllan Macgregor Smith
Succeeded byHerbert Williams
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Maryhill
In office
14 December 1918 – 26 October 1922
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byJohn William Muir
Member of Parliament
for North Down
In office
28 April 1910 – 25 November 1918
Preceded byThomas Lorimer Corbett
Succeeded byThomas Watters Brown
Member of Parliament
for North West Lanarkshire
In office
8 February 1906 – 10 February 1910
Preceded byCharles Mackinnon Douglas
Succeeded byWilliam Pringle
Personal details
Born(1877-04-15)15 April 1877
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died24 December 1938(1938-12-24) (aged 61)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyScottish Unionist
Irish Unionist
Conservative
SpouseAnnie McEacharn
ChildrenPeter

Biography

edit

Mitchell-Thomson was born at number 7 Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh, the son of Mitchell Mitchell-Thomson, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who was created a baronet in 1900.[2]

Mitchell-Thomson was educated at Winchester College and Balliol College, Oxford. He earned his LL.B with distinction from the University of Edinburgh in 1902.[1] He joined the Scottish bar that same year, but spent several years traveling before returning to Scotland.[3][1]

He was elected as a Unionist Member of Parliament for North West Lanarkshire in 1906, serving until his defeat at the January 1910 general election. He was an Irish Unionist Party MP for North Down from April 1910 until 1918.

During the First World War, he served as Director of Restriction of Enemy Supplies. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours.[4]

Following the War, he was appointed the British representative on the Supreme Economic Council followed by appointments as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food and at the Board of Trade.[1]

He was then MP for Glasgow Maryhill between 1918 and 1922, then Conservative MP for Croydon South, South London from 1923 to 1932.

In 1922, Mitchell-Thomson was Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade and from 1924 until 1929, he served as Postmaster General. During the General Strike of 1926, he served as Chief Civil Commissioner. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1924.

In 1932, Mitchell-Thomson resigned from the House of Commons and was raised to the peerage as Baron Selsdon, of Croydon in the County of Surrey.[5]

In May 1934 the British government appointed a committee, under the guidance of Lord Selsdon, to begin enquiries into the viability of setting up a public television service, with recommendations as to the conditions under which such a service could be offered. The results of the Selsdon Report were issued as a single Government White Paper in January of the following year. The BBC was to be entrusted with the development of television. Lord Selsdon was one of those to appear on the first day of BBC television broadcasts, 2 November 1936, now in his new capacity as Chairman of the Television Advisory Committee.[3][1]

Personal life

edit

Mitchell-Thomson was twice married. In 1907, he firstly married Madeleine, daughter of Sir Malcolm McEacharn, who was also known as Anne.[6] They had a daughter who died in infancy, and a son, Peter. The marriage ended in divorce in 1932. The next year, he married Effie Lilian Loder Johnson, who as Effie Cook was a member of Pelissier's Follies.[1]

Lord Selsdon died at his home in 20 Grosvenor Square, London, in December 1938, aged 61, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, his ashes later buried in Edinburgh.[7] He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Peter, who became a well-known racing driver.

Arms

edit
Coat of arms of William Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon
Crest
A dexter hand couped at the wrist Proper grasping a crosscrosslet fitchee in bend sinister Gules.
Escutcheon
Per pale Argent and Gules between three mascles a stag's head cabossed all counterchanged.
Supporters
Two seahorses Proper crined Sable finned Or.
Motto
Deus Providebit (God Will Provide)[8]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Lord Selsdon". The Times. 27 December 1938. p. 10.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Anne (1993), "The People of Calton Hill", Mercat Press, James Thin, Edinburgh, ISBN 1-873644-18-3.
  3. ^ a b "Distinguished Scotsman: Lord Selby of Croydon". The Herald. Glasgow. 27 December 1938. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  4. ^ "No. 30460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1918. p. 371.
  5. ^ "No. 33790". The London Gazette. 15 January 1932. p. 346.
  6. ^ "(Anne) Madeleine (née McEacharn), Lady Selsdon". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  7. ^ The Complete Peerage, Volume XIII - Peerage Creations 1901-1938. St Catherine's Press. 1949. p. 504.
  8. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 4327.
edit
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for North West Lanarkshire
1906January 1910
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for North Down
19101918
Succeeded by
New constituency Member of Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill
19181922
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Croydon South
19231932
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Postmaster General
1924–1929
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Selsdon
1932–1938
Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Polmood)
1918–1932
Succeeded by