Sir William McAlpine
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Sir William Hepburn McAlpine, 6th Baronet, (12 January 1936 – 4 March 2018) was a British businessman who was director of the construction company
Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educ ...
.


Early life and career

Born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1936 at the family-owned
Dorchester Hotel The Dorchester is a five-star hotel located on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its 1930s furnis ...
, McAlpine was the oldest son of Sir Edwin McAlpine, 5th Bt (who was given a life peerage as Lord McAlpine of Moffat in 1980) by his marriage to Ella Mary Gardner Garnett. His great-grandfather was "Concrete Bob",
Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educ ...
, the first of the McAlpine baronets and the founder of the construction company. He had two younger brothers
Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronet ...
and David McAlpine. Brought up at the family home in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
and educated at Charterhouse, McAlpine joined the family firm from school, starting his career at the Hayes Depot in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, a site which housed the McAlpine railway locomotive and wagon fleet. The years after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
were a busy time for the construction industry. He did his
National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
in the Life Guards for two years from 1954. In 1973, McAlpine purchased the historic British 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' steam locomotive, saving it from possible demise and repatriating it from the United States two years after a U.S. tour which had bankrupted its previous owner,
Alan Pegler Alan Francis Pegler OBE, FRSA (16 April 1920 – 18 March 2012) was a British businessman, entrepreneur, and railway preservationist. Early life Born in London on 16 April 1920, he was the great grandson of Alfred Pegler, founder of the Nor ...
. Sir William maintained and ran the locomotive as a service to the British public and international steam community until the mid-1990s, when it was purchased by steam enthusiast
Tony Marchington Anthony Frank Marchington (2 December 1955 – 16 October 2011) was an English biotechnology entrepreneur and businessman, famous as the co-founder of Oxford Molecular, and the former owner of the famous Class A3 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' loco ...
. In 1990, on the death of his father, McAlpine inherited his baronetcy and became Sir William. He was patron of the Clan MacAlpine Society. He served as
High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. Sheriff is the oldest secular office under th ...
for 1999. He was a director and trustee of the educational charity Shiplake Court Limited. In 2007 McAlpine was president of the
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers was founded in England in 1771. It was the first engineering society to be formed anywhere in the world, and remains the oldest. It was originally known as the Society of Civil Engineers, being renamed fo ...
to which he had been elected a member in 1985. He was also the president of the Railway Benevolent Institution, known as the Railway Benefit Fund, a charity helping current and retired railway industry workers.


Railway preservation

An acknowledged railway enthusiast, McAlpine returned to Hayes depot during the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...
to find that the company's
Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hu ...
0-6-0ST No.31 was for sale for £100. He purchased the locomotive, and moved it to his country estate home. This marked the start in 1961 of the Fawley Hill Railway, a private railway which now runs to over a mile long and has the steepest gradient at 1:13 on a British railway. After starting Fawley Hill Railway, McAlpine purchased 4079 ''Pendennis Castle'' in partnership with John Gretton, which was subsequently housed at Market Overton in
Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...
. After being moved to Steamtown, it was sold to Rio Tinto and moved to Australia. In January 1973 McAlpine purchased 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' after a financially disastrous tour of
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, to save it from sale to an American consortium. McAlpine became involved in a plan to save the
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe, Kent, Hythe via Dymchurch, St Mary's Bay, Kent, St. ...
(RH&DR) and became its chairman. After the efforts of
Peter Beet Peter Leslie Beet (17 February 1937 – 28 October 2005) was an English general practitioner notable for his pioneering work in the preservation of steam locomotives. Early years and education Raised in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District, ...
to preserve Carnforth LMS 10(A) shed, McAlpine bought shares in 1970, and then took the controlling interest from 1974 until 1987 in the visitor attraction that became Steamtown. McAlpine chaired the RH&DR, the Dart Valley Railway, and established and chaired the Railway Heritage Trust. McAlpine was also a Patron of the
Swanage Railway The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway. The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and Sout ...
Trust, as well as President of the
Transport Trust The National Transport Trust is a British registered charity founded in 1965 as the Transport Trust, the name was changed to reflect the national remit and coverage of its activities. The Trust acts as a hub for the transport preservation movemen ...
, the charity dedicated to the preservation of all modes of transport and its infrastructure. Three locomotives have been named ''Sir William McAlpine''; Ruston 48 No.294266, once owned by Sir William himself and now owned by Youtuber Lawrie Goes Loco, EWS's 60008 and
DB Cargo UK DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway) is a British rail freight company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Doncaster, England. The company was established by Wisconsin Central Ltd., Wisconsin ...
's 90028.


Personal life

McAlpine's first wife Jill Benton Jones, whom he married on 31 October 1959, died on 9 February 2004. They had two children: * Sir Andrew William McAlpine, 7th Baronet (born 22 November 1960) * Lucinda Mary Jane McAlpine (born 19 June 1964) He married his second wife, Judith, whom he had known for many years, on 25 March 2004 at the restored station on his private railway. He died after months of illness on 4 March 2018 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son.


References


External links


Profile in ''The Times''



Fawley Hill official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlpine, William, Sir, 6th Baronet 1936 births 2018 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School British businesspeople Businesspeople from the City of Westminster Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Zoological Society of London British people associated with Heritage Railways High sheriffs of Buckinghamshire Sons of life peers
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
People from Mayfair Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh