856 Stephen Williamson

Constituency : St  Andrews  Burghs  1880-85, Kilmarnock  Burghs  1886-95

Stephen  took  over  from  Edward  Ellice  at  St  Andrews.

Stephen  was  the  son  of  a  shipowner. He   went  to  Liverpool  in  1848  and  founded  the  firm  Balfour, Williamson &  Co  who  mainly  traded  with  South  America.

Stephen  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  debates  often  on  maritime  matters.

In  1885  Stephen  was  just  edged  out  by  Robert  Anstruther  the  former  Fife  MP. Both  of  them  secured  1,256  votes  but  Anstruther  was  awarded  the  seat  after  a  scrutiny  of  the  ballot  papers.  There  was  a  story  that   a  corrupt  committee  member  swallowed  one  of  Stephen's  vtes  during  the  procedure. Stephen  moved  to  Kilmarnock  where  he  displaced  the  incumbent  Tory  in  1886.

Stephen  was  defeated  in  1895.

He  died  in  1903  aged  75.