John Kevan McDowall

Last updated

John Kevan McDowall (16 March 1891 - 2 September 1958) was a Scottish solicitor and politician during the early 20th century. He lived and practiced as a solicitor in Glasgow for the majority of his life. He was the first and only leader of the Scottish Party, which later merged with the National Party of Scotland (NPS) to form the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1934. [1]

Contents

Family

McDowall was the son of John Kevan McDowall (1861-1928), secretary of the Scottish Football Association, and Helen Paterson. He was a descendant of the Kevan family. While their heritage is uncertain, in his own book, Carrick Gallovidian, McDowall presents the theory that the family originated in Wigtown Bay, near Galloway, as early as the fifteenth century ("[the family] occurs in a charter of 1421 as Cavens"). [2]

Political life

McDowall became a member of the Unionist Party, the Glasgow Unionist Association (GUA) and the Cathcart Unionist Association (CUA). In June 1932 the CUA made him Chairman of an 'Imperial Committee', which was in favour of Scottish home rule. The committee organised meetings to support home rule, it also produced a manifesto that proposed replacing the Westminster Parliament with an Imperial one, where representatives from the Empire would all convene. The manifesto also proposed the establishment of separate Parliaments for Scotland, England and Wales. [3]

This provoked outrage from the Unionist Party and McDowall was accused of disloyalty and unconstitutional practices. [4] McDowall, joined by over thirty other pro- Home Rule rebels, resigned from the Unionist Party to found the Scottish Party. The Scottish Party was a center-right, liberal conservative party[ citation needed ] which was pro-Imperial Federalism and pro-Scottish Independence. Many high standing members of Scottish society enlisted to the party, including James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose (who was made the party's chairman), John Bannerman, Sir Henry Keith, Sir Daniel Stevenson and Sir Alexander MacEwan. [4] As the party never actually fielded any candidates, it acted as more of a think tank than a political party, its membership never exceeded 1000. [4]

In 1933 the party received correspondence from John MacCormick, leader of the National Party of Scotland, a much larger nationalist party that had been founded in 1928. After a meeting in Hillhead, Glasgow, on 13 December, 1933, [4] the two parties decided to merge, becoming the Scottish National Party. McDowall took a far less senior role in this new party, although is listed as a founding member of the party by Girvan Mckay in his 'The Lion and the Saltire: A Brief History of the Scottish National Party'. [4]

In his later life McDowall devoted more of his time to The Galloway Association of Glasgow, of which he was president from 1957 to 1958. [5]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The Scottish (Self-Government) Party was a Scottish nationalist political party formed in 1932 by a group of members of the Unionist Party who favoured the establishment of a Dominion Scottish Parliament within the British Empire. The Scottish Party differed from the existing National Party of Scotland (NPS) on the grounds that the NPS and the form of Scottish independence it advocated was ambiguous about the Empire, and they also disagreed with the left-of-centre platform of the NPS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Wilson (Scottish politician)</span> Scottish politician (1938–2017)

Robert Gordon Wilson was a Scottish politician and solicitor. He was the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1979 to 1990, and was SNP Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee East from 1974 to 1987. He was Rector of the University of Dundee from 1983 to 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from parts of the old Ayr and Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituencies. It has been represented since 2024 by Elaine Stewart of Scottish Labour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick</span> Mormaer or Earl of Carrick

Donnchadh was a Gall-Gaidhil prince and Scottish magnate in what is now south-western Scotland, whose career stretched from the last quarter of the 12th century until his death in 1250. His father, Gille-Brighde of Galloway, and his uncle, Uhtred of Galloway, were the two rival sons of Fergus, Prince or Lord of Galloway. As a result of Gille-Brighde's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish monarch William the Lion, Donnchadh became a hostage of King Henry II of England. He probably remained in England for almost a decade before returning north on the death of his father. Although denied succession to all the lands of Galloway, he was granted lordship over Carrick in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scott (MSP)</span> Scottish farmer and politician (born 1951)

William John Graham Scott, is a Scottish farmer and former Scottish Conservative politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr from 2000 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, covering parts of the council areas of South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also, it is one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Galwegian Gaelic is an extinct dialect of Scottish Gaelic formerly spoken in southwest Scotland. It was spoken by the people of Galloway and Carrick until the early modern period. Little has survived of the dialect, so that its exact relationship with other Goidelic languages is uncertain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Conservatives</span> Part of the British Conservative Party

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party often known colloquially as the Scottish Tories is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and comprises 209 of Scotland's 1,227 local councillors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan MacDowall</span> Lowland Scottish clan

Clan MacDowall or MacDouall is a Lowlands Scottish clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girvan Steeple</span> Municipal building in Girvan, Scotland

The Girvan Steeple is a steeple and the site of a former townhouse in Girvan, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Its popular name, "Stumpy Tower", "Stumpy Jail" or "Auld Stumpy", is derived from the Gaelic Olladh Stiom Paidh, meaning "Great Circle of Justice". It is a Category B listed building.

The Galloway Association of Glasgow is a charitable trust that was formed on 22 August 1791, and was originally known as the Glasgow Galloway Brotherly Society. Its aims have always remained the same: to aid charitable, benevolent or educational purposes associated with Galloway and to encourage a love for and interest in Galloway. Membership is drawn from ex-Gallovidians, people who have relatives from Galloway or who have developed an interest and love of the ancient province.

Andrew Dewar Gibb MBE QC was a Scottish advocate, barrister, professor and politician. He taught law at Edinburgh and Cambridge, and was Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow 1934–1958. Gibb was the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1936 to 1940.

The Battle of Loch Ryan was fought on 9/10 February 1307 during the Scottish Wars of Independence near Stranraer on Loch Ryan, Galloway.

The Battle of the River Dee or the Battle of the River Cree, was fought on 29 June 1308 during the Scottish Wars of Independence near Buittle, on the banks of the River Dee or River Cree, Galloway, Scotland.

The 1940 Argyllshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Argyllshire, on 10 April 1940.

Scotland Decides: The Big, Big Debate was a one-off British television programme broadcast by the BBC on 11 September 2014, a week prior to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The 60-minute show was recorded at Glasgow's OVO Hydro during the afternoon prior to broadcast. It was presented by Scottish journalist James Cook before an audience of about 7,500 16- and 17-year-olds, first-time voters on the day of the referendum, some of whom were invited to quiz a panel of prominent politicians from both the "Yes" and "No" campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Scottish National Party leadership election</span> Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership election

There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1990. The election followed the announcement by SNP Leader Gordon Wilson, that he would not seek re-nomination as party leader.

There was a leadership election for the Scottish National Party (SNP) held in 1967. Arthur Donaldson easily retained the leadership of the party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 South Ayrshire Council election</span> South Ayrshire Council election

Elections to South Ayrshire Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girvan and South Carrick (ward)</span> Electoral ward in South Ayrshire, Scotland

Girvan and South Carrick is one of the eight electoral wards of South Ayrshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 10,871 people.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us | Scottish National Party". www.snp.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  2. ↑ Kevan-McDowall, John (1938). Carrick Gallovidian: A Historical Survey of the Ancient Lordship of Galloway, with Original Translations of the Place-names and Genealogical Charts and Notes Pertaining Principally to Its Ancient Division of Carrick. Also Relative Notes and Translations Pertaining. John Kevan-McDowell.
  3. ↑ Kemp, Arnold (1993). The Hollow Drum: Scotland Since the War. Mainstream. p. 50. ISBN   9781906000400.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Mckay, Girvan (2015). The Lion and the Saltire: A Brief History of the Scottish National Party. Girvan Mckay. pp. 17–24. ISBN   9781326289126.
  5. ↑ "The Galloway Association of Glasgow - People". The Galloway Association of Glasgow. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.