Duncan McLaren (12 January 1800 – 26 April 1886) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year -of the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar until Friday, but 12 days ahead since Saturday. Events 1467 - The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Edinburgh was a Constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United
Born in Renton, Scotland, Duncan McLaren was the youngest of ten children of John McLaren and Catherine McLellan. Renton (known locally as "The Renton" is a village in Scotland. Apart from two years of schooling, was self taught. After school, he was apprenticed to a merchant in Dunbar. In 1824 he set up his own business as a draper in Edinburgh. He became a member of the City Council in 1833. He became City Treasurer in 1837 and found that the city’s finances were in ruin and that the Scottish Capital was bankrupt. His work extricated Edinburgh from financial ruin. In 1835 he pioneered free education for all classes and started a building programme of thirteen schools.
He was elected Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1851. McLaren was a Liberal and supported the anti–Corn Law campaign of John Bright, the opening of the Meadows in Edinburgh to the Public, and the establishment of 'the Industrial Museum'. The Corn Laws were Import tariffs designed to support domestic British corn prices against competition from less expensive foreign-grain imports between 1815 and 1846 John Bright ( 16 November 1811 &ndash 27 March 1889) Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal McLaren was also a governor of the Heriot Free School trust.
In 1865 he was elected one of Edinburgh’s two Members of Parliament, a position he held until he retired 16 years later. Edinburgh was a Constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United In Parliament he proved a conscientious and intelligent representative, and acquired a position of so much authority on Scottish questions, that he was called "Member for Scotland".
Duncan McLaren married Priscilla Bright (sister of John Bright and Margaret Bright Lucas) in 1848 and they lived together in Newington House, Edinburgh from 1852 until his death in 1886. John Bright ( 16 November 1811 &ndash 27 March 1889) Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal Margaret Bright Lucas (1818–1890 was a Temperance activist and Suffragist. He is buried in St. Cuthberts Church Cemetery in the heart of Edinburgh.
He was the father of Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, John McLaren, Lord McLaren, Walter Stowe Bright McLaren (all three being Members of Parliament) and Helen Priscilla McLaren (wife of Andrea Rabagliati). Charles Benjamin Bright McLaren 1st Baron Aberconway, PC, QC ( 12 May 1850 &ndash 23 January 1934) was a Scottish John McLaren ( 17 August 1831 &ndash 6 April 1910) Lord McLaren was a Scottish Liberal politician and judge Walter Stowe Bright McLaren was born on 17 April 1853 the son of Duncan McLaren and Priscilla Bright Helen Priscilla Rabagliati, MBE (nee Bright McLaren (1851-1934 was a local philanthropist and campaigner for improvements in health women's condition and political change Andrea Carlo Francisco Rabagliati born Scotland 1843 died on 7 December 1930 Bradford was the author of books on dietary practice
External links
References
- Mackie, John Beveridge (1888). The Life and Work of Duncan McLaren. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons (2 vols).
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Adam Black James Moncreiff |
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh with James Moncreiff 1865–1868 John Miller 1868–1874 James Cowan 1874–1881 1865–1881 |
Succeeded by James Cowan John McLaren |