Michael Noble, Baron Glenkinglas

Michael Antony Cristobal Noble, Baron Glenkinglas, PC (13 March 1913 – 15 May 1984) was a Scottish Conservative and Unionist politician.

The Lord Glenkinglas
Photograph of Noble by Elliott & Fry,
taken 26 September 1962.
President of the Board of Trade
In office
20 June 1970 – 15 October 1970
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byRoy Mason
Succeeded byJohn Davies
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
13 July 1962 – 16 October 1964
Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan
Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded byJohn Maclay
Succeeded byWilliam Ross
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
29 November 1961 – 13 July 1962
Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan
Preceded byRobin Chichester-Clark
Succeeded byGordon Campbell
Member of Parliament
for Argyll
In office
12 June 1958 – 8 February 1974
Preceded byDuncan McCallum
Succeeded byIain MacCormick
Personal details
Born(1913-03-13)13 March 1913
Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
Died15 May 1984(1984-05-15) (aged 71)
Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Political partyConservative
SpouseAnne Pearson
Children4
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
ProfessionLandowner, farmer

Noble was the youngest son of Sir John Noble, 1st Baronet, and the grandson of Sir Andrew Noble, 1st Baronet, and was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. A farmer, he was president of the Black Face Sheep Breeders' Association and the Highland Cattle Society. He was an Argyll County Councillor and a director of Associated Fisheries.

From a by-election in June 1958 until his retirement in 1974 he was Member of Parliament for Argyll.

Noble was a Scottish whip from 1960 and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 1961. He was Secretary of State for Scotland from 1962 to 1964 in the governments of Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home, taking over from John Maclay after the Night of the Long Knives. He returned to government as President of the Board of Trade in 1970 and as Minister for Trade from 1970 to 1972 under Edward Heath.

As Scottish Secretary, he presided over the last execution in Scotland when Henry John Burnett was hanged at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen on the morning of 15 August 1963 by the hangman Harry Allen for the murder of merchant seaman Thomas Guyan.

On 3 May 1974 Noble was elevated with a life peerage as Baron Glenkinglas, of Cairndow in the County of Argyll.[1]

Although he was a good 25 years younger than the architectural historian Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel, the two had a very friendly feud. Noble is said to have joked that they were "best of enemies."

He died in May 1984, aged 71.

References

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  1. ^ "No. 46284". The London Gazette. 7 May 1974. p. 5585.

Bibliography

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  • Torrance, David, The Scottish Secretaries (Birlinn 2006)
  • Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed], [page needed]
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Argyll
1958February 1974
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State for Scotland
1962–1964
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Board of Trade
Jun–Oct 1970
Succeeded by