John Bruce (1 January 1861 – 29 January 1921) was a Scottish barrister and farmer who was briefly member of the UK Parliament for Greenock, before being unseated by an electoral petition.

Biography

John Bruce was a Scottish barrister and farmer, son of James Bruce of

Old Meldrum Oldmeldrum (commonly known as Meldrum) is a village and parish in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, not far from Inverurie in North East Scotland. With a population of around 2,187, Oldmeldrum falls within Scotland's top 300 centres of popu ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

. He was a student at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

in the 1880s, where he was reputed one of the leading liberals amongst his cohort, and a member of the debating society. Bruce was elected as a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate in the 1892 general election ballot for

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

. On the first count he was found to have a majority of 44. However a petition under the terms of the

Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 The Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 ( 31 & 32 Vict. c. 125), sometimes known as the Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Act or simply the Corrupt Practices Act 1868, is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament, since repealed. T ...

Sir Thomas Sutherland Sir Thomas Sutherland, (, 16 August 1834 – 1 January 1922) was a Scottish banker and politician, initially elected to represent the Liberal Party and then as a Liberal Unionist. He founded HSBC and was a director of P&O. Early life Sutherla ...

was heard at the start of August 1892, and judgement was made by Lord Rutherfurd-Clark and Lord Adam that an error had been made; that Sutherland had won a majority of 55, and that he should therefore be seated as MP. The judgement was read to the House of Commons on 9 August 1892 and accepted by the

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

. Bruce was described as a Gladstonian-Liberal; Sutherland as a Liberal-Unionist. Bruce was again adopted as the Liberal candidate in the next general election, held in 1895, but resigned his candidacy owing to ill health; he took no active part in politics thereafter, though an obituary noted that "his political views changed considerably". Bruce was described in an obituary as being 'of Yonderton', and as 'a well-known Buchan agriculturalist'. Yonderton Farm is to the north-west of

Hatton, Aberdeenshire Hatton (occasionally Hatton of Cruden) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that lies on the A90 road, approximately equidistant from both Ellon and Peterhead. It has a biscuit factory that was once called Simmers – it was Hatton's only ...

, in the parish of Cruden,

Buchan Buchan is a coastal district in the north-east of Scotland, bounded by the Ythan and Deveron rivers. It was one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas of Aberdeenshire. Etymology The ge ...

. The obituary comments that the estate of Yonderton was sold on the day before Bruce suddenly died. Bruce died on 29 January 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, John 1861 births 1921 deaths UK MPs 1892–1895 Scottish barristers