George Welsh Currie

Who was George Welsh Currie?

George Welsh Currie was British politician.

Born in Edinburgh, he was the son of the Reverend James Currie. Following education at the University of Edinburgh he entered business as an accountant, and travelled widely in the United States, Canada and South America. He became a strong supporter of Joseph Chamberlain and in 1906 became secretary of the Scottish branch of the Tariff Reform League.

When the sitting member of parliament for Leith Burghs, Ronald Ferguson, was appointed Governor-General of Australia in 1914, Currie was chosen by the Scottish Unionist Party to attack the seat at the resulting by-election. He gained the seat, but only by a narrow majority of 16 votes.

When the next general election was held at the end of 1918, there was a redistribution of parliamentary seats under the Representation of the People Act. Currie stood in the new Leith seat as a supporter of David Lloyd George's coalition government, but lost fairly narrowly to the Liberal candidate, William Wedgwood Benn.

Currie did not return to parliament, but was appointed to a number of advisory boards.