Arthur Woodburn

The Right Honourable Arthur Woodburn PC
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 7 October 1947 – 28 February 1950
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Joseph Westwood
Succeeded by	Hector McNeil
Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire
In office 13 October 1939 – 18 June 1970
Preceded by	MacNeill Weir
Succeeded by	Dick Douglas
Personal details
Born	25 October 1890 (1890-10-25) Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	1 June 1978 (1978-07) (aged 87) Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Barbara Halliday ​ (m. 1919)​
Education	Heriot-Watt College

Arthur Woodburn (25 October 1890 – 1 June 1978) was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was Secretary of State for Scotland from 1947 to 1950.

Born in Edinburgh, he was educated at Heriot-Watt College.^[1] Imprisoned as a conscientious objector during World War I, Woodburn worked in engineering and ironfounding administration, and was a lecturer and national secretary of the Scottish Labour College. He was Secretary of the Scottish Council of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1939, and President of the National Council of Labour Colleges from 1937 to 1965. He also served on the Edinburgh 'Hands off Russia' committee in the 1930s.^[2]

Woodburn was an unsuccessful candidate for Edinburgh South in 1929 and Edinburgh Leith in 1931; he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire from 1939 until 1970.^[1]

In Parliament he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tom Johnston in 1941, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Supply from 1945 to 1947.^[1] He was Secretary of State for Scotland from 1947 until 1950 in the government of Clement Attlee. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1947.^[1]

Woodburn received an honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1968.^[3]

He had a strong interest in economics, education, European unity, international relations, modern languages and Scottish history. He was appointed to the board of trustees of the National Library of Scotland in 1961 and his papers are held by the Library.

In 1919, Woodburn married Barbara Halliday, a teacher who was elected to the Edinburgh Town Council.^[1][4] He was a member of the United Free Church of Scotland.^[1] Woodburn died in Edinburgh on 1 June 1978, aged 87, after a car crash he was involved in when driving to visit his wife in hospital.^[1]

References

1. Harvie, Christopher (2004). "Woodburn, Arthur (1890–1978), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56498. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. Knox, W. Scottish Labour Leaders 1918-39 p. 288
3. "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
4. Knox, W. Scottish Labour Leaders 1918-39 p.288

• Pentland, Gordon (ed.), The Autobiography of Arthur Woodburn (1890–1978): Living with History (Boydell & Brewer for the Scottish History Society, 2017) ISBN 978-0-9062-4542-2
• Torrance, David, The Scottish Secretaries (Birlinn 2006)
• Iain Dale, ed. (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X.
• The Times House of Commons 1945. 1945.
• The Times House of Commons 1950. 1950.
• The Times House of Commons 1955. 1955.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Arthur Woodburn
• National Library of Scotland catalogue of papers
• National Library of Scotland additional papers

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by MacNeill Weir	Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire 1939 – 1970	Succeeded by Dick Douglas
Political offices
Preceded by Joseph Westwood	Secretary of State for Scotland 1947—1950	Succeeded by Hector McNeil