View source for Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Drumalbyn
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]] [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]]
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| order1 = [[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions#Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1953–66)|Minister of Pensions and National Insurance]]
| term_start1 = 16 July 1962
| term_end1 = 20 October 1963
| monarch1 = [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]]
| primeminister1 = [[Harold Macmillan]]
| predecessor1 = [[John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter|John Boyd-Carpenter]]
| successor1 = [[Richard Wood, Baron Holderness|Hon. Richard Wood]]
| order2 = [[Minister of State for Trade|Joint Minister of State for Trade]] <br /><small>with [[Edward du Cann]]</small>
| term_start2 = 23 October 1963
| term_end2 = 16 October 1964
| monarch2 = [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]]
| primeminister2 = [[Alec Douglas-Home|Sir Alec Douglas-Home]]
| predecessor2 = [[Alan Green (MP)|Alan Green]] <br />[[Patrick Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 4th Baron Derwent|The Lord Derwent]]
| successor2 = [[George Darling]] <br /> [[Edward Redhead]]
| birth_date = {{birth-date|3 August 1908|}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death-date and age|11 October 1987|3 August 1908}}
| death_place =
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| party = [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Scottish Unionist]] <br /> [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
| spouse = Margaret Runge (d. 1979)
}}
'''Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|KBE|PC}}  (3 August 1908 – 11 October 1987) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Tory]] and [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal]] politician.
==Background and education==
The member of an important [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] family from [[Inverness-shire]], Macpherson was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Stewart Macpherson and Helen, daughter of Reverend Archibald Borland Cameron. He was the brother of [[George Macpherson]] and [[Tommy Macpherson|Sir Tommy Macpherson]] and a nephew of [[Ian Macpherson, 1st Baron Strathcarron|Lord Strathcarron]]. He was educated at [[Fettes College]] and [[Trinity College, Oxford]].<ref name="thepeerage.com">[http://thepeerage.com/p25329.htm#i253282 thepeerage.com Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st and last Baron Drumalbyn]</ref> He initially worked in business, representing a firm in [[Turkey]]. He joined the [[Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders|Cameron Highlanders]] from 1939, serving in [[World War II]] including in [[Madagascar]].
==Political career==
Macpherson was elected [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Dumfriesshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Dumfriesshire]] at the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]]. He served as Liberal-Unionist Scottish [[whip (politics)|whip]] from 1950 to 1955, when he was appointed Joint [[Under-Secretary of State for Scotland]] by [[Anthony Eden|Sir Anthony Eden]], a post he retained when [[Harold Macmillan]] became Prime Minister in early 1957. In 1960 he was made [[Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade]]. Two years later Macpherson was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] and appointed [[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions|Minister of Pensions and National Insurance]]. In October 1963 he was made Joint-[[Minister of State for Trade]] by the new Prime Minister, [[Alec Douglas-Home|Sir Alec Douglas-Home]],<ref name="thepeerage.com"/> and the following month he was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Drumalbyn''', of Whitesands in the Royal Burgh of Dumfries.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=43156 |date=12 November 1963 |page=9249 }}</ref> He continued at the Board of Trade until the Conservative government fell at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]]. He was once again a member of the government as [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]] under [[Edward Heath]] from 1970 to 1974.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/>
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Niall Macpherson Indemnity Act 1954
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to indemnify Niall Macpherson, Esquire, from any penal consequences which he may have incurred by sitting or voting as a member of the House of Commons while holding the office of member of the London agency of the Dried Fruits Control Board of the Commonwealth of Australia, and to remove any disqualification for membership of that House by reason of his having held that office.
| year                  = 1954
| citation              = [[2 & 3 Eliz. 2]]. c. 29
| introduced_commons    =
| introduced_lords      =
| territorial_extent    =
| royal_assent          = 13 May 1954
| commencement          =
| expiry_date           =
| repeal_date           =
| amends                =
| replaces              =
| amendments            =
| repealing_legislation = [[Representation of the People Act 1969]]
| related_legislation   =
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   =
| theyworkforyou        =
| millbankhansard       =
| original_text         = https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9wuAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA66
| revised_text          =
| use_new_UK-LEG        =
| UK-LEG_title          =
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In 1954, his membership of the London agency of the [[Dried Fruits Control Board]] of the Commonwealth of Australia gave rise to concern that he might be disqualified from sitting or voting as a member of the House of Commons by virtue of the [[Succession to the Crown Act 1707]]. To avoid this problem, an [[Act of Indemnity]], the '''{{visible anchor|Niall Macpherson Indemnity Act 1954}}''' ([[2 & 3 Eliz. 2]]. c. 29), was passed.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1954/may/11/niall-macpherson-indemnity-bill House of Commons Hansard, 11 May 1954, column 1157.]</ref><ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1954/may/13/niall-macpherson-indemnity-bill House of Lords Hansard, 13 May 1954, column 594.]</ref>
Lord Drumalbyn was also chairman of the British Commonwealth Producers' Organization from 1952 and a member of the [[BBC]] General Advisory Council. In 1974 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=46186 |date=18 January 1974 |page=753 }}</ref>
==Family==
Lord Drumalbyn married Margaret Phyllis, daughter of Julius Joseph Runge, in 1937.<ref name=Burkes>{{cite book |last= Mosley |first= Charles|date= 2003|title= Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th Edition |location= Crans, Switzerland |publisher= Burke’s Peerage |page= 3773}}</ref> They had three daughters, Jean Stewart Macpherson, who married [[James Weatherall]], Mary Stewart Macpherson, who married Philip Dudley Wilson and Howard Alvine Rees; and (Helen) Norah Macpherson (1947–1969), who died unmarried.<ref name=Burkes/> Lady Drumalbyn died on 13 August 1979.<ref name=Burkes/> In 1985, Lord Drumalbyn married Rita, widow of Harry Edmiston.<ref name=Addenda>{{cite book |last= Hammond |first= Peter W. |date= 1998|title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant: Addenda and Corrigenda |location= Gloucestershire, England |publisher= Sutton Publishing, Ltd. |page= 838|volume = XIV|isbn= 0-7509-0154-3 }}</ref> Lord Drumalbyn died on 11 October 1987, aged 79. The title became extinct on his death as he had no sons.<ref name=Burkes/>  His widow died on 12 March 2014.
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-niall-macpherson | Niall Macpherson }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Dumfriesshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Dumfriesshire]]
| years=[[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]–[[1963 Dumfriesshire by-election|1963]]
| before=[[Henry Fildes]]
| after=[[David Colville Anderson]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Under-Secretary of State for Scotland|Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland]]
| with = [[Jack Browne, Baron Craigton|Jack Browne]] 1955–1959 <br /> [[John Hope, 1st Baron Glendevon|Lord John Hope]] 1957–1959 <br /> [[Tam Galbraith]] 1959–1960
| years= 1955–1960
| before=[[Jack Browne, Baron Craigton|Jack Browne]] <br /> [[Sir James Henderson-Stewart, 1st Baronet|James Henderson Stewart]]
| after=[[Tam Galbraith]] <br />[[Gilmour Leburn]]
}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade]]
| years= 1960–1962
| before=[[Sir John Rodgers, 1st Baronet|John Rodgers]]
| after=[[David Price (British politician)|David Price]]
}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions#Minister of Social Insurance/National Insurance (1944–1953)|Minister of Pensions and National Insurance]]
| years=1962–1963
| before=[[John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter|John Boyd-Carpenter]]
| after=[[Richard Wood, Baron Holderness|Hon. Richard Wood]]
}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Minister of State for Trade|Joint Minister of State for Trade]]
| with = [[Edward du Cann]]
| years= 1963–1964
| before=[[Alan Green (MP)|Alan Green]] <br /> [[Patrick Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 4th Baron Derwent|The Lord Derwent]]
| after= [[George Darling]] <br /> [[Edward Redhead]]
}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]]
| years=1970–1974
| before=[[George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth|George Thomson]]<br /><small>'''(1968–1969)'''</small>
| after=[[Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare|The Lord Aberdare]]
}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation}}
{{s-ttl
| title  = [[Baron Drumalbyn]]
| years  = 1963–1987
}}
{{s-non | reason = Extinct }}
{{s-end}}
{{Secretary of State for Work and Pensions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drumalbyn, Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Fettes College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs|Macpherson, Niall]]
[[Category:Parliamentary Secretaries to the Board of Trade]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950|Macpherson, Niall]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1950–1951|Macpherson, Niall]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1951–1955|Macpherson, Niall]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1955–1959|Macpherson, Niall]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1959–1964|Macpherson, Niall]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964]]
[[Category:Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II]]