Sir William Raeburn, 1st Baronet

Who was Sir William Raeburn, 1st Baronet?

Sir William Hannay Raeburn, 1st Baronet was a Scottish shipping businessman and Unionist Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament between 1918 and 1923.

Raeburn was a shipping magnate who founded in 1873 a shipping company called Raeburn & Dunn, with Captain Dunn. John Verel replaced Dunn in 1880 and the company was subsequently renamed Raeburn & Verel. By 1900 the company operated around 12 steamers, travelling to ports from Europe to America and he Far East. Monarch Line. In 1902 Raeburn and Verel formed the Monarch Steamship Company Ltd. Raeburn was an important figure in the shipping industry in the West of Scotland and contributed to some of the shipping legislation which passed, including the Merchant Shipping Act and the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906.

At the 1918 general election, Raeburn was nominated as the Unionist Party candidate for the Dunbartonshire. He received the "coalition coupon" and as a "Coalition Unionist" he overwhelmingly defeated the sitting Liberal Party MP Arthur Acland Allen. Raeburn was re-elected in 1922 general election with a majority of only 0.8% over his sole opponent, the Labour Party candidate William Martin. He did not contest the 1923 general election, when Martin won the seat, and did not stand for Parliament again.