Scope and Contents
Almost without exception, the papers are concerned with Lord Weir's public life and with the period after 1918. As the earliest papers have been affected by water, it is possible that those before 1918 were lost in this way. The omission of any private papers is the result of efficient organisation of the files in the past. Since all the files are public and political, they have been arranged according to subject and then chronologically in 24 sections.
In the absence of minutes, Lord Weir's correspondence usually provides the best guide to the conduct of his different activities. There are also usually a large number of papers giving Lord Weir's thoughts and impressions about the subject and about evidence presented to committees. These are in two forms - in manuscript and typewritten. The former are written on pads (made up at his works) of an unusually long and thin size. The latter are normally on quarto paper and in several copies - often amended by Lord Weir. The reports too usually survive in several typescript and printed versions.
Dates
- Creation: 1918
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
Biographical / Historical
1877 Born, son of James and Mary Weir of Dumfriesshire.
Educated Glasgow High School.
1898 Partner in G. and J. Weir Limited
1904 Married Alice Blanche MacConnachie of Glasgow.
1915 Scottish Director of Munitions
1917 Controller of Aeronautical Supplies and member of Air Board.
1917 Knighted
1918 Director General of Aircraft Production, Ministry of Munitions.
1918 Secretary of State and President of Air Council (till 10.1.1919).
1918 Privy Councillor.
1918 Baron Weir.
1919 Chairman of Advisory Committee on Civil Aviation.
1921 Member of Trade Boards Acts Committee.
1923 Chairman of Committee on Fories Common Services.
1923 Member of Committee of Imperial Defence Committee on Fleet Air Arm.
1925 Chairman of Committee on National Grid.
1931 Chairman of Committee on Railway Electrification.
1932 Industrial adviser at Ottawa Conference.
1934 G.C.B.
1936 Member of Committee of Imerpail Defence Committee on Defence Policy
1938 Viscount Weir of Eastwood, Renfrewshire.
1939 Director General of Explosives, Ministry of Supply
1941 Resigned.
1942 Chairman of Tank Board
1942 Resigned.
1942 Member of Hydro-Electric Development in Scotland Committee
1959 Died.
Extent
88 archive box(es)
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers of the first Viscount Weir were deposited at the College by his son, the present Viscount, in November 1968
Archival History
The papers were then in 42 filing cases and each was labelled according to the subject of the papers. It was obvious that the documents had always been kept in good order and that a certain amount of sorting and labelling had taken place when the recent biography had been written. Only a few files were in the wrong chronological sequence
General
The Weir catalogue was converted from typescript to electronic form as part of the A2A project co-ordinated by the National Archives. The catalogue was updated by Natalie Adams of Churchill Archives Centre 2002-2006.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Churchill Archives Centre Repository
Churchill Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0DS United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 336087
archives@chu.cam.ac.uk