Sir Charles Cameron, 1st Baronet

Sir Charles Cameron, 1st Baronet, CB (18 December 1841 – 2 October 1924), was a Scottish doctor, newspaper editor and Liberal politician.

Cameron was born in Dublin, the son of John Cameron, newspaper proprietor of Glasgow and Dublin. He was educated at Madras College, St Andrews, and at Trinity College, Dublin. He also studied at medical schools in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, but never practised medicine. He became editor of the North British Daily Mail (later incorporated into the Daily Record) in 1864, and was managing proprietor of the paper from 1873.[1]

At the 1874 general election, Cameron was elected as one of the three Members of Parliament (MPs) for Glasgow.[2] The constituency was broken up under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and he was elected at the 1885 general election as the MP for the new Glasgow College constituency.[3] He held the seat until his defeat at the 1895 general election.[3] Cameron was created baronet Cameron of Balclutha, Renfrew, on 7 August 1893[4] for his journalistic and parliamentary services.[5] He was subsequently elected as MP for Glasgow Bridgeton at a by-election in February 1897,[6] and held the seat until he stood down at the 1900 general election.[6] He was appointed CB in the 1899 New Year Honours.

Cameron was an active member of the House of Commons. He was responsible for the Inebriates Acts, secured various reforms in the Scottish Liquor Laws and was a member of the Royal Commission on the Liquor Licensing Laws in 1895. He was also behind laws conferring the municipal franchise on women, and acts abolishing imprisonment for debt in Scotland and was a member of the Departmental Committee on Habitual Offenders (Scotland) in 1894. His resolution led to the adoption of sixpenny telegrams and he was on the Committee on Transit of Cattle Coastwise in 1893. He wrote a number of pamphlets on medical, social, and political subjects.[7]

He served as president of the Cremation Society of Great Britain, as did his son and successor to the baronetcy.

Cameron lived at Glenridge, Virginia Water, where he enjoyed motoring, riding, and travel. He died at the age of 82.

Cameron married firstly Frances Caroline Macaulay in 1869. Their son John succeeded to the baronetcy. Frances died in 1899, and he married secondly Blanche Perman.

Legacy

The Cameron Memorial Fountain, in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street, is dedicated to him.

References
  1. Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
  2. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 547. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  3. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 507. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  4. "No. 26430". The London Gazette. 8 August 1893. p. 4521.
  5. Leigh Rayment Baronets[Usurped!]
  6. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 504. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  7. "Sir Charles Cameron". Who's Who in Glasgow 1909. Glasgow Digital Library. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
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