William Henderson Pringle

William Henderson Pringle in 1929

William Henderson Pringle (1877-23 April 1967), was a Scottish Liberal Party politician and economist.

Background

He was the son of the Reverend John Pringle. He was educated at Hamilton Academy and privately, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow and the London School of Economics. He married Annie Nelson Forrest. They had one son and one daughter. She died in 1961. In 1965 he married Agnes Ross.^[1]

Career

In 1905 he was Called to the Bar, at Lincoln’s Inn. He was the recognised teacher of Economics and University Extension Lecturer, at the University of London from 1910–20. He worked at the Ministry of Munitions, Labour Department, from 1915–16 and the Ministry of Reconstruction, from 1917–19. He was Lecturer on Economics, at Birkbeck College, University of London, from 1918–20. He was Professor of Economics, at the University of New Zealand, from 1920–22. He was a Lecturer at the London School of Economics, from 1923–24. He was the Principal of the City of Birmingham Commercial College, from 1925–42.^[2]

Political career

At parliamentary General Elections he contested, as a Liberal party candidate Berwick and Haddington in 1922,

General Election 1922: Berwick and Haddington [3] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Walter Waring	6,342
	Labour	Robert Spence	5,842
	Liberal	William Henderson Pringle	4,422
	Independent Liberal	John Deans Hope	3,300
Turnout
Majority
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Ayr Burghs in 1923

General Election 1923: Ayr Burghs [4] Electorate 34,852
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Rt Hon Sir John Lawrence Baird	10,206	41.8
	Labour	J.M. Airlie	7,732	31.7
	Liberal	William Henderson Pringle	6,467	26.5
Turnout				70.0
Majority
	Unionist hold		Swing

and Berwick and Haddington again in 1924.

General Election 1924: Berwick and Haddington [5] Electorate 34,017
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Chichester de Windt Crookshank	11,745
	Labour	Robert Spence	8,882
	Liberal	William Henderson Pringle	4,986
Turnout
Majority			2,863
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

He did not stand for parliament again.^[6] He was a Scottish Representative of the New Commonwealth Society.^[7]

References

1. "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
2. "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
3. The Times, 17 November 1922
4. The Times, 8 December 1923
5. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
6. British parliamentary election results 1818-1949, Craig, F. W. S.
7. "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2013-10-30.