John Ure DL LLD (1824–1901) was a Scottish merchant who served as

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. The Lord Provost serves both as the chair of the city council and as a figurehead for the entire city, and is elected by the city councillors from among i ...

from 1880 to 1883.

Life

He was born on 17 July 1824, the son of John Ure, a baker. The family lived at 80 Bridgegate, then a fashionable quarter. At the age of eight, he nearly drowned in the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

. He joined the family baking business in 1837 and from the mid-1840s expanded it greatly. He became a town councillor in 1856 and became chairman of the Sanitary Department in Glasgow in 1858, appointing Glasgow's first Medical Officer of Health,

William Tennant Gairdner Sir William Tennant Gairdner (8 November 1824 – 28 June 1907) was a Scottish Professor of Medicine in the University of Glasgow. Early life William Tennant Gardiner was born in Edinburgh, the son of physician John Gairdner and his wife, Su ...

. In 1865, he built the large Crown Flour Mills on Washington Street. This was done to supply his existing large bakery firm with cheaper flour. For most of his later life he lived in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

in a house commissioned from architect

William Leiper William Leiper Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (1839–1916) was a Scotland, Scottish architect known particularly for his domestic architecture in and around the town of Helensburgh.

in 1871. The house, "Cairndhu", was designed to look like a French chateau and contained stained glass by

Daniel Cottier Daniel Cottier (1838 – 1891) was a British artist and designer born in Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland. His work was said to be influenced by the writing of John Ruskin, the paintings of the Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the work of William Morris. ...

. In 1880, he succeeded Sir William Collins as

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

of Glasgow. During his term in office, he organised the building of the new Council buildings on George Square. On stepping down as Lord Provost he declined a knighthood from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, the standard "reward" for a Lord Provost, the only Lord Provost to do this in her reign. In 1884, he became Deputy Chairman of the Clyde Navigation Trust. From 1889 to 1891, he was Lord Dean of Guild for Glasgow. He was Chairman of the Glasgow Savings Bank. He died at "Cairndhu" on 1 August 1901. He is buried in Helensburgh Cemetery.

Family

He was married to Isabella Gibb. Their children included the politician

Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde, (22 February 1853 – 2 October 1928) was a Scottish politician, judge, and georgist land value tax activist. Life He was the son of John Ure, lord provost of Glasgow, and his wife Isabella. He studied ...

. His three other sons ran the family bakery and flour business. His sister Annie Ure, married the merchant-baker William Primrose, and his nephew (their son) was John Ure Primrose, who was named after him, and served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1902 to 1905. His great grand-daughter was the actress

Mary Ure Eileen Mary Ure (18 February 1933 – 3 April 1975) was a British actress. She was the second Scottish-born actress (after Deborah Kerr) to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film '' Sons and Lovers''. Early life Born i ...

Artistic Recognition

Whilst in office as Lord Provost he was portrayed by the then young George Reid RSA, one of his earliest commissions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ure, John 1824 births 1901 deaths Lord provosts of Glasgow British bakers 19th-century Scottish businesspeople