{{Short description|Scottish businessman, Liberal politician and travel writer}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] | name = William Edward Baxter | honorific_suffix = | image = William Edward Baxter00.jpg | image_size = | caption = | order1 = [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]] | term_start1 = 17 March 1871 | term_end1 = 11 August 1873 | monarch1 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]] | prime_minister1 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]] | predecessor1 = [[James Stansfeld]] | successor1 = [[John George Dodson, 1st Baron Monk Bretton|John George Dodson]] | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1825|6|24}} | birth_place = [[Dundee]], Angus | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1890|8|10|1825|6|24}} | death_place = | party = [[Scottish Liberal Party|Liberal]] later Liberal Unionists | alma_mater = [[University of Edinburgh]] | spouse = | education = [[High School of Dundee]] }}
'''William Edward Baxter''' (24 June 1825 – 10 August 1890) was a Scottish businessman, [[Scottish Liberal Party|Liberal]] politician and travel writer.
==Background and education== Born in [[Dundee]], Angus, Baxter was educated at the [[High School of Dundee]] and the [[University of Edinburgh]]. He was the son of Edward Baxter, a benefactor and reformer who had opposed the [[corn laws]].<ref name="Ten Taysiders">{{cite book|title=Ten Taysiders. Forgotten Figures from Dundee Angus and Perthshire|year=2011|publisher=Abertay Historical Society|location=Dundee|isbn=978-0-900019-48-7|author=Kenneth Baxter|page=31|chapter=Mary Ann Baxter:Philanthropist and Founder of University College Dundee}}</ref> He became a partner in his father's firm of Edward Baxter & Co. (afterwards W. E. Baxter & Co.).<ref name=DNBS>{{Cite DNBSupp|noicon=1|first=Edward Irving |last=Carlyle |wstitle=Baxter, William Edward|volume=1|page=146}}</ref>
==Political career== Baxter was [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Member of Parliament for [[Montrose Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Montrose Burghs]] from 1855 to 1885, and served under [[William Ewart Gladstone]] as [[First Secretary of the Admiralty|Secretary to the Admiralty]] from 1868 to 1871 and as [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]] from 1871 to 1873. He was appointed a [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Councillor]] in 1873.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23961 |date=25 March 1873 |page=1645 }}</ref> He was also [[List of Presidents of Co-operative Congress|President]] of the first day of the 1883 [[Co-operative Congress]].<ref name=PDF>{{Cite web| title = Congress Presidents 1869–2002| url = http://archive.co-op.ac.uk/downloadFiles/congressPresidentstable.pdf| date = February 2002| accessdate = 10 May 2008| url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080528100558/http://archive.co-op.ac.uk/downloadFiles/congressPresidentstable.pdf| archivedate = 28 May 2008| df = dmy-all}}</ref>
He retired from Parliament in 1885. When the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] split over the issue of [[Irish Home Rule]] in 1886, Baxter supported the [[Liberal Unionist|Unionist]] faction until his death.<ref name=Scotsman>{{cite news|title=Death of the Right Hon. W. E. Baxter Ex-MP|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=11 August 1890}}</ref>
==Family== William Edward Baxter was the grandson of William Baxter, the founder of the Baxter Brothers textile business. His uncle, [[Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet|Sir David Baxter]], was a noted businessman and philanthropist and his aunt, [[Mary Ann Baxter]] was the co-founder of [[University of Dundee|University College, Dundee]].<ref name="Ten Taysiders" />
[[File:William Edward Baxter Vanity Fair 1885-04-25.jpg|thumb|Baxter caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] in [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]], 1885]] W. E. Baxter's eldest son was Edward Armitstead Baxter who married Isobel Scott-Elliot. His second son, Sir George Washington Baxter (1853–1926), followed his father into politics, being a leading figure in the [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist Party]] in Scotland in the early 20th-century.<ref name="Ten Taysiders 2">{{cite book|title=Ten Taysiders. Forgotten Figures from Dundee Angus and Perthshire|year=2011|publisher=Abertay Historical Society|location=Dundee|isbn=978-0-900019-48-7|author=Kenneth Baxter|page=32|chapter=Mary Ann Baxter:Philanthropist and Founder of University College Dundee}}</ref><ref name="Wills">{{cite web|title=MS 369 Baxter Family Wills, Legal Papers and Related Material|url=http://arccat.dundee.ac.uk/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=31&dsqSearch=((text)=%27liberal%27)|website=Archive Services Online catalogue|publisher=University of Dundee|accessdate=12 April 2016}}</ref> In 1908 he sought election in [[Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)|Dundee]] as a [[Liberal Unionist]] candidate, but was defeated by the [[Liberal Party UK|Liberal]] [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hazel|first=John W.|title=John W Hazel's Book of Records|year=1977|publisher=D. Winter & Son Ltd|location=Dundee|page=48}}</ref> Sir George, was active in the running of the Liberal Unionist and Unionist Parties in Dundee, served as President of the Scottish Unionist Association in 1920.<ref name="DUA">{{cite web|title=MS 270 The Dundee Conservative and Unionist Association|url=http://arccat.dundee.ac.uk/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=((text)=%27MS%20270%27)|website=Archive Services Online Catalogue|publisher=University of Dundee|accessdate=24 May 2016}}</ref><ref name=Warner>{{cite book|last=Warner|first=Gerald|title=The Scottish Tory Party. A History|year=1988|publisher=George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited|location=London|isbn=0-297-79101-X|pages=228}}</ref> Sir George also continued the family involvement with University College, serving as its president.<ref name="Ten Taysiders 2" />
==Writings== Baxter published various works on foreign travel. * ''Impressions of Central and Southern Europe,'' London, 1850, 8vo. * ''The Tagus and the Tiber, or Notes of Travel in Portugal, Spain, and Italy,'' London, 1852, 2 vols. 8vo. * ''America and the Americans,'' London, 1855, 8vo. * ''Hints to Thinkers, or Lectures for the Times,'' London, 1860, 8vo.
==Personal life== After a long period of ill health, W. E. Baxter died at his home, Kincaldrum House, near [[Forfar]] in August 1890.<ref name=Scotsman />
In November 1847, he married Janet, eldest daughter of J. Home Scott, a solicitor of Dundee. By her he had two sons and five daughters.<ref name=DNBS/>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-baxter | William Edward Baxter }} * {{rayment-hc|external links=y|m|3|date=March 2012}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for [[Montrose Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Montrose Burghs]] | years = [[1855 Montrose Burghs by-election|1855]] – [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]] | before = [[Joseph Hume]] | after = [[John Shiress Will]] }} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title = [[Secretary to the Admiralty|First Secretary to the Admiralty]] | years = 1868–1871 | before = [[Lord Henry Lennox]] | after = [[George Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Baron Eversley|George Shaw-Lefevre]]<br /><small>(Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty)</small> }} {{succession box | title = [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]] | years = 1873–1873 | before = [[James Stansfeld]] | after = [[John George Dodson, 1st Baron Monk Bretton|John George Dodson]] }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, William Edward}} [[Category:1825 births]] [[Category:1890 deaths]] [[Category:People educated at the High School of Dundee]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Scottish Liberal Party MPs]] [[Category:UK MPs 1852–1857]] [[Category:UK MPs 1857–1859]] [[Category:UK MPs 1859–1865]] [[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868]] [[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]] [[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880]] [[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]] [[Category:Presidents of Co-operative Congress]] [[Category:Writers from Dundee]] [[Category:19th-century Scottish businesspeople]] [[Category:19th-century Scottish writers]] [[Category:Scottish travel writers]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]] [[Category:Liberal Unionist Party politicians]] [[Category:Politicians from Dundee]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Dundee]] [[Category:19th-century British travel writers]]