Sir Donald Maclean (9 January 1864 – 15 June 1932) was a British Liberal Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. He was

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

between 1918 and 1920 and served in the Cabinet of

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

's National Government as

President of the Board of Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

from 1931 until his death in June the following year.

Life and career

Born in Farnworth, near Bolton,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, Maclean was the eldest son of John Maclean, a

cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...

originally of

Tiree Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, ...

in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whi ...

, and his wife Agnes Macmillan. His younger brother was Sir Ewen Maclean. Maclean practiced as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

with practices in Cardiff and

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

, London. A member of the

Presbyterian Church of England The Presbyterian Church of England was a late-19th century and 20th century Presbyterian denomination in England. The church's origins lay in the 1876 merger of the English congregations of the chiefly Scottish United Presbyterian Church with var ...

, he was vice-president of the Cardiff Free Church Council in 1902–3, and also worked closely with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was a last-minute choice as one of the Liberal Party candidates in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

at the 1900 general election, but was defeated at the polls."The Popular Guide to the House of Commons" (''Pall Mall Gazette'' "Extra"), February 1906, p. 48. At the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting electi ...

, he stood again and was elected as a Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the constituency. Whilst an MP he voted in favour of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill. He lost his seat at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

, but moved constituency at the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts o ...

and was returned for Peebles and Selkirk,"The Popular Guide to the House of Commons" (''Pall Mall Gazette'' "Extra"), January 1911, p. 136. a seat he held until 1918. He then represented Peebles and South Midlothian between 1918 and 1922, losing in the 1922 United Kingdom general election, and then the Northern Division of Cornwall between 1929 and 1932. Maclean was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1916, and was knighted in 1917. He was Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party from 1918 to 1920, as the leader of the Liberal Party,

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

had lost his seat in the House of Commons. For those two years he also served as

, while Labour had no official leader and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

refused to participate in parliamentary government.Douglas in ''The History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970'' observes that "The technical question whether the Leader of the Opposition was Maclean or William Adamson, Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, was never fully resolved ... The fact that Adamson did not press his claim for Opposition leadership is of more than technical interest, for it shows that the Labour Party was still not taking itself seriously as a likely alternative government" Towards the end of his life, Maclean joined the National Government headed by

. He served as

from 1931 to 1932.Robert Cecil (1988) ''A Divided Life - A Biography of Donald Maclean''. the University of Michigan. p. 20. He died from

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

on 15 June 1932 at the age of sixty-eight.

Family

Maclean married Gwendolen Margaret Devitt (26 September 1880 – 23 July 1962), daughter of Andrew Devitt (1850–1931) and Jane Dales Morrison (1856–1947), on 2 October 1907. They are buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Penn,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

, together with their eldest son, Ian. The diplomat and spy, Donald Duart Maclean, was another of his sons; his ashes are also buried there. The couple also had two more sons.

References

Bibliography

* ''History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970'', by Roy Douglas (Sidgwick & Jackson 1971) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919–1945'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)

External links

*
Donald MacLean & the 1919 Treaty of Peace Act - UK Parliament Living HeritageBiography at liberalhistory.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Donald 1864 births 1932 deaths British Secretaries of State for Education Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK) Scottish Liberal Party MPs Leaders of the Liberal Party (UK) People from Farnworth Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 British Presbyterians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for North Cornwall Politics of Bath, Somerset National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children people Politicians awarded knighthoods