William McEwan
{{Short description|Scottish politician and brewer (1827–1913)}}
{{about|the Scottish brewer and politician||William McEwan (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = William McEwan
| honorific-suffix =
| image = File:William_McEwan.jpg
| caption =
| office = Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Central
| term_start = 1886
| term_end = 1900
| predecessor = John Wilson
| successor = George Mackenzie Brown
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1827|7|16}}
| birth_place = Alloa, Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1913|5|12|1827|7|16}}
| death_place = Mayfair, London, England
| restingplace = Great Bookham, Surrey, England
| education = Alloa Academy
| party = Liberal
| spouse = {{marriage|Helen Anderson|1885||reason=}}
| children = Dame Margaret Greville
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Brewer and politician
}}
William McEwan ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|k|juː|ə|n}} {{respell|mə|KEW|ən}}; 16 July 1827 – 12 May 1913) was a Scottish politician and brewer. He founded the Fountain Brewery in 1856, served as a member of parliament (MP) from 1886 to 1900, and funded the construction of the McEwan Hall at the University of Edinburgh.
Early life and brewing
McEwan was born in Alloa, Scotland in 1827, the third child of ship-owner John McEwan and his wife Anne Jeffrey. His older sister Janet married James Younger head of his local family brewing business in 1850, and their children included George, 1st Viscount Younger of Leckie, William Younger, and Robert, Baron Blanesburgh.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst845.html |title=George Younger |work=Gazetteer for Scotland|access-date=27 February 2010}}
He was educated at Alloa Academy.
Career
McEwan worked for the Alloa Coal Company and merchants Patersons. He worked in Glasgow for a commission agent and then as a bookkeeper for a spinning firm in Yorkshire.Monuments and Statues of Edinburgh, Michael T.R.B. Turnbull (Chambers) p.11
From 1851 he received technical and management training from his uncles, John and David Jeffrey, proprietors of the Heriot brewery in Edinburgh. In 1856, he established the Fountain Brewery at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh with money from his mother and his uncle, Tom Jeffrey.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3495417.stm|title=Years of brewing history ending|last=Murray|first=Sandy|date=17 February 2004|work=BBC News Online|publisher=BBC News|access-date=27 February 2010}} After growing sales in Scotland, his nephew William Younger of Alloa began an apprenticeship with him and eventually became managing director. Exports were made to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India, with McEwan's having 90% of sales in north-eastern England by the turn of the century. The brewery became part of Scottish & Newcastle.
=Political career=
McEwan became a member of parliament for Edinburgh Central after the 1886 general election, representing the Liberal Party. He was returned unopposed in 1895 and continued to serve until 1900. He became a Privy Counsellor in 1907,{{London Gazette|issue=28092|page=8966|date=24 December 1907}} but declined a title.
Personal life
He married Helen Anderson in 1885 and they had one daughter born out of wedlock. His wife died in 1906 and was buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery. Their daughter Margaret Helen (1863–1942) married the Hon. Ronald Greville, heir apparent to the Greville barony as the eldest son of Algernon Greville, 2nd Baron Greville.{{cite web |title=Greville, Baron (UK, 1869 - 1987) |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/greville1869.htm |website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Limited |access-date=15 November 2019 |archive-date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115193616/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/greville1869.htm |url-status=live }}
He funded the McEwan Hall at the University of Edinburgh,{{cite web|url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/estates-buildings/buildings-information/a-z-buildings-list?id=114&cw_xml=Building_profile.cfm|title=McEwan Hall|date=16 December 2009|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=27 February 2010}} to a cost of £115,000. It was opened in 1897, when McEwan was presented with an honorary doctorate and the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. He also presented paintings to the National Gallery of Scotland.
McEwan's final home was at Polesden Lacey in Surrey, which was purchased in 1906 for his daughter Margaret and her husband Ronald Greville. She bequeathed the house and estate to the National Trust in 1942 in memory of her father.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-polesdenlacey/w-polesdenlacey-history.htm|title=History of Polesden Lacey|publisher=National Trust|access-date=27 February 2010}} He died in 1913 in Mayfair and was buried in the village of Great Bookham in Surrey. His estate was valued at £1.5 million.
Gallery
William McEwan, Vanity Fair, 1902-12-11.jpg|Vanity Fair, 1902
Polesden lacey.jpg|Polesden Lacey in Surrey was McEwan's final home and was bequeathed to the National Trust in his name.
McEwan, Helen 1906.jpg|left|Grave of Helen Anderson McEwan in Highgate Cemetery
Footnotes
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50416|title=McEwan, William (1827–1913)|last=Donnachie |first=Ian|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50416|access-date=27 February 2010}}
External links
- {{Hansard-contribs|mr-william-mewan|William McEwan}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = John Wilson}}
{{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament
for Edinburgh Central
{{s-aft | after = George Mackenzie Brown}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McEwan, William}}
Category:Burials at Highgate Cemetery
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies
Category:People educated at Alloa Academy
Category:Scottish Liberal Party MPs