Constituency : Colchester 1895-1910
In January 1895 the Conservative MP for Colchester Herbert Naylor-Leyland announced that the Queen's Speech had converted him to Rosebery's brand of Liberalism and he resigned his seat allowing Weetman to take over.
Weetman was the manager of a construction firm started by his grandfather. His father had been a Conservative MP for Edinburgh University. The family business took on contracts from all over the world including the Sennar Dam in Sudan and the Tehuantepec railway in Mexico. While working on the latter Weetman became involved in oil prospecting there which eventually paid off for him. His firm became a multi-national conglomerate.He was created a baronet in 1894.
Weetman made little contribution in the House and his frequent absences led to the nickname of "Member for Mexico".
Weetman stood down in January 1910 and was created Baron Cowdray. He was active in the war effort building the munitions factory at Gretna and a tank assembly in France. In 1917 Lloyd George upgraded him to a viscount and persuaded him to become President of the Air Board. He presided over a tripling of output but resigned after criticism over failing to prevent a German bombing raid.
Weetman was an active philanthropist endowing university chairs , building hospitals and supporting the League of Nations Union.
He died in 1927 aged 70.
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