born July 30, 1856, Edinburgh, Scot.
died Aug. 19, 1928, Cloan, Perthshire
Scottish lawyer and statesman.
As British secretary of state for war (1905–12), he instituted important military reforms; the speedy mobilization of British forces in 1914 was largely due to his planning. He was lord chancellor (1912–15) in H.H. Asquith 's government and again (1924) in James Ramsay MacDonald 's Labour Party government.