John Lindow Calderwood

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(22 January 1888 – 7 February 1960) was an English

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer 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 enabled to p ...

, a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

politician in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, in the west of England. He was

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters at County Hall in Trowbridge. Since 2009 it has bee ...

from 1949 until his death in 1960.

Early life

Calderwood was born at 57, Main Street,

Egremont Egremont may refer to: Places * Egremont, Cumbria, England * Egremont, Merseyside, England * Egremont, Massachusetts, United States * Egremont, Alberta, Canada Other uses * Earl of Egremont Earl of Egremont was a title in the Peerage of Gr ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, on 22 January 1888, the son of Dr George Calderwood, a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

of Beech House, Egremont, by his marriage to Mary Eleanor Lindow. He was educated at

St Bees School St Bees School is a co-educational fee-charging school, located in the West Cumbrian village of St Bees, England. In 1583, it was founded by Edmund Grindal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a free grammar school for boys. The school remain ...

and later at

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, where he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

on 1 October 1906. The name Lindow came to him from his mother, one of the Lindow family of Ingwell and

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

, who had mining and other interests in Egremont. His cousin Jonas Lindow JP was county councillor for Egremont North, while his father was Medical Officer to Cumberland County Council.

Career

Calderwood was admitted a

in November 1912 and joined the law firm of Townsend, Wood & Calderwood, of Cricklade Street,

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

, Wiltshire. Shortly after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the 15th Battalion, the

King's Liverpool Regiment The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 when a single battalion was raised as The Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot. The original uniform consiste ...

, rising to the rank of captain in the

King's Royal Rifles The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

and being

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. In 1919, he relinquished his commission. WiltshireCouncilTrowbridge

He returned to Swindon as a partner in Townsend, Wood & Calderwood, and during the 1920s he sometimes served as a liquidator. In 1929, his partnership with John Crewe Wood was dissolved and Calderwood thereafter carried on the firm of Townsend, Wood & Calderwood as a sole partner. From the 1930s until his death Calderwood lived at The Hermitage, High Street, Swindon. In 1933, he enlarged the house. In 1935, he donated to the

Borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a unitary authority area with borough status in Wiltshire, England. Centred on Swindon, it is the most north-easterly district of South West England. History The first borough of Swindon was a municipal borough, ...

chain of office A livery collar or chain of office is a collar or heavy chain, usually of gold, worn as insignia of office or a mark of fealty or other association in Europe from the Middle Ages onwards. One of the oldest and best-known livery collars is the C ...

for the mayoress. Elected to

, he served as chairman of its Standing Orders Committee from 1947 to 1960, as chairman of its Selection Committee from 1946 to 1960, and as chairman of the Council from 1949 until his death in 1960. He was also appointed an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. Calderwood was for several years a member of the Committee of the

Wiltshire Victoria County History The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Vic ...

and briefly served as its chairman in 1959–1960. He died at Swindon on 7 February 1960, at the age of 72, and the next volume of ''

A History of the County of Wiltshire The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Vic ...

'' to appear noted that

Honours

In 1957, Calderwood was appointed a Commander of the civil division of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

.''London Gazette'', Issue 41089 of 4 June 1957
Supplement, p. 3377, col. B
online: "Alderman John Lindow Calderwood, Chairman, Wiltshire County Council"

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderwood, John Lindow 1888 births 1960 deaths People from Egremont, Cumbria People educated at St Bees School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge King's Royal Rifle Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Independent politicians in England Members of Wiltshire County Council People from Swindon English solicitors 20th-century English lawyers