Alexander Crum

{{Short description|Scottish printer and Liberal Party politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} '''Alexander Crum''' (1828 – 23 August 1893) was a Scottish printer and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1885.

Crum was the eldest son of Walter Crum FRS of Thornliebank and his wife Jesse Graham, daughter of William Graham of Burntshiel, Renfrewshire. The Crum family were associated with the printworks which had been founded in Thornliebank in 1778. Crum's father Walter Crum was a chemist and businessman, who replaced the spinning and weaving business by calico printing. Crum ran the printworks, which was the main employment in the village, and he was also a major benefactor supporting housing, education, and leisure facilities in the village. He also provided funds for the village club and Thornliebank Parish Church.<ref name=ER>[http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/heritage/heritage_places/heritage_thornliebank.htm Portal to the Past: East Renfrewshire's Heritage Collection – Thornliebank]</ref> He was also a J.P. and deputy lieutenant of Renfrewshire.<ref name=Debrett>[https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1881londuoft#page/58/mode/2up Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881]</ref>

Crum was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Renfrewshire at a by-election in November 1880.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 24908 |date= 30 November 1880 |page=6351 }}</ref><ref name="craig1832-1885">{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |authorlink= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 |orig-date=1977 |edition= 2nd |year=1989 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-26-4 |page=601 }}</ref> He held the seat until the constituency was divided at the 1885 general election,<ref>{{Rayment-hc|p|2|date=March 2012}}</ref> when he did not stand again. In 1863 Crum married Margaret Nina, daughter of the Rt. Rev. Alexander Ewing, Bishop of Argyll.<ref name=Debrett/> Their son was the Coptologist Walter Ewing Crum.

He died at the age of 65 and was commemorated by the library in Thornliebank, opened in 1897.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{hansard-contribs | mr-Alexander-Crum| Alexander Crum}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef | before = William Mure }} {{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire | years = 1880 – 1885 }} {{s-non | reason = Constituency divided }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crum, Alexander}} Category:1828 births Category:1893 deaths Category:Scottish Liberal Party MPs Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Category:UK MPs 1880–1885 Category:Deputy lieutenants of Renfrewshire