Forbes Howie

Infobox Person
name = Forbes Howie

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image_size = 200px
caption = William Forbes Howie
birth_date = 13 August 1920
birth_place = Falkirk, Scotland, UK
death_date = 27 December 2000
death_place = Falkirk, Scotland, UK
occupation = Businessman
spouse = Janet Morrison Campbell
parents = Robert Wyllie Howie
Anne Stewart Forbes
children = Colin Robert
Alexander Forbes
Elizabeth-Anne

William Forbes Howie, DL, JP, BA (Hons), BSc (Hons), CEng, AMIMI, MIEE, ARTC (13 August 1920 – 27 December 2000) was a successful businessman who played an active role in Scottish public life.

Background and education

Born one of six children in Woodlands, Falkirk, Scotland, to Robert Wyllie Howie, the son of Thomas W. Howie and the Managing Director of Roughcastle Fireclay Mine and Brickworks, and Anne Stewart Forbes, he was considered too frail to follow his brothers to the High School of Glasgow and was therefore cared for by a maid and educated at local schools: Selma House Prep School, Falkirk Junior School (where he came to be known by his middle name 'Forbes') and Falkirk High School. He then studied electrical engineering at Glasgow University, graduating in 1941. He served in the RAF for four years during the Second World War, gaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

Career

On the encouragement of his father, Howie joined his uncle's motor and electrical engineering firm, Thomas Laurie & Co Ltd. He was appointed Assistant Managing Director shortly after in 1947 and ten years later took over as Managing Director until his retirement in 1981, at which point the company was sold off. Thomas Laurie & Co was founded in 1882 and had fitted the first fully automated street lighting in Britain, in Falkirk. It was also a car dealership, at first principally for Austin, and latterly for Peugeot. Howie oversaw the transition and ensured that the surrounding area had the highest proportion of Peugeot cars anywhere in Scotland. The business also sold petrol at two filling stations which were later closed. Turnover surpassed £1 million in the early 1970s.

As well as being an Associate of the Royal Technical College, Glasgow, a Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and an Associate Member of the Institute of the Motor Industry, Howie also served on the Engineering Advisory Committee of Falkirk College of Technology.

Civil duties

Howie was made responsible for the setting up of the Children's Hearing system in Falkirk, becoming the first Chairman of the local Children's Panel Advisory Committee in 1970, Chairman of the Supplementary Benefit Appeal Tribunal in 1973, and a Justice of the Peace the following year. In 1981 He was appointed Her Majesty's Deputy Lord Lieutenant for the County of Stirling, representing HM The Queen at official functions. In this capacity he met the Queen and Prince Philip, Princess Anne and the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 1983 he was appointed General Commissioner of Income Tax, a position he held until the age of 75.

Interests

A keen supporter of the Scout movement, having met Robert Baden-Powell in person in his youth, he held the position of District Commissioner for Falkirk District for 18 years. He then became Chairman of the Falkirk District Scout Association, becoming Honorary President in 1978. At that time he was also appointed Chairman of the Forth Valley Scout Council, representing this body on the Scottish Committee of the Scout Association, a post he held until 1989. He received the Medal of Merit in 1956, the Silver Acorn in 1981, and the Silver Wolf, the highest Scouting award given to just one in two million members, in 1989, for 'services of the most exceptional character to the movement'.

He founded the Stirling and District Amateur Football Association in 1951, subsequently becoming its first Secretary, as well as founding the Falkirk Section of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. His interest in nature, particularly geology, led to him gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Ecology from the Open University in his retirement. He was also President of Falkirk Rotary Club and was made a Paul Harris Fellow for meritorious service to the movement. He was also President of Falkirk Fishing Club and the Toastmasters Club and a Director of Glenbervie Golf Club as Greens Convener. In addition, he later took an interest in the work of Age Concern, becoming Chairman of the Falkirk branch.

Throughout his life he had a close association with the Church, joining St. Andrew's West in Falkirk in 1951, elected a deacon in 1953 and ordained an elder in 1956. In 1979 he was elected Session Clerk, a post he held until ailing health forced him to resign in 1989.

His other interests included golf, bowls, photography, hill and shore walking and gardening.

Family

Howie married Janet Morrison Campbell and had two sons and one daughter, and seven grandchildren.

*"He is the uncle of actor Robbie Coltrane"
*"He is the grandson on his mother's side of businessman John Ross"
*"He is the grandson on his father's side of industrialist Thomas W. Howie"

References

*"Who's Who in Scotland" (1994 edition), Carrick Media, Ayr
*Obituary, "The Scotsman", January 2001