Dugald McCoig Cowan (17 October 1865 – 30 December 1933 ) was a Scottish

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician.

Family and education

Cowan was born in

Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

the son of John and Christina Cowan. He was educated at Glasgow Free Church Training College and

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. He held MA and LL.B degrees. He never married.

Career

Cowan was a schoolteacher and an expert on the subject of education. He was Headmaster of

North Kelvinside North Kelvinside (also referred to as North Kelvin, ) is a residential district of the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is often regarded as a subdistrict of Maryhill, sharing its G20 postcode, as well as its House of Commons electoral constituency ...

Higher Grade School from 1896 to 1919 and he played a large part in educational activities in Scotland in particular through the

Educational Institute of Scotland The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is the oldest teachers' trade union in the world, having been founded in 1847 when dominies became concerned about the effect of changes to the system of education in Scotland on their professional s ...

, but also through Glasgow University and the Corporation of the City of Glasgow as well as other bodies. He authored a number of school text books and wrote articles on educational themes. He was credited with improving educational provision and helping to raise teachers’ salaries and promoting teachers' pension provision.

Politics

1918

Cowan was elected at the 1918 general election as Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the Universities of Scotland. This was a three-member seat and Cowan was elected with two Coalition Unioinsts.

1922-1923

Cowan was returned unopposed in at the 1922 general election as a Liberal and was again unopposed in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

1924-1929

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1929 United Kingdom general election The 1929 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 30 May 1929, with Parliament dissolved on 10 May. It resulted in a hung parliament: despite receiving fewer votes than the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwi ...

there was a Labour candidate but Cowan was re-elected with two Conservatives on each occasion. The 1924 election was carried under the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

system. The quota required to be elected was 4,405. Craik and Cowan received more than the quota on the first count and were declared elected. The redistribution of their second votes put Berry over the quota and he too was elected. The 1929 election was carried under the same system. The quota required to be elected was 6,276.

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...

and Cowan received more than the quota on the first count and were declared elected. The redistribution of their second votes was again enough to put Berry over the quota and he too was re-elected.

1931

At the 1931 general election he was again returned unopposed, with two Conservatives.

Death

Cowan died in office on 30 December 1933, aged 68 years in a Glasgow nursing home, having been unwell for some time and receiving treatment in the home.The Times, 1 January 1934

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Dugald 1865 births 1933 deaths Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the Combined Scottish Universities UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 Liberal Party (UK) Alumni of the University of Glasgow