William Jacks

William Jacks
Member of Parliament for Stirlingshire
In office 1892–1895
Preceded by	Joseph Cheney Bolton
Succeeded by	James McKillop
Member of Parliament for Leith District of Burghs
In office 1885–1886
Preceded by	Andrew Grant
Succeeded by	William Ewart Gladstone
Personal details
Born	18 March 1841 Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland
Died	9 August 1907 (aged 66) The Gart, Callander, Stirlingshire
Political party	Liberal
Other political affiliations	Liberal Unionist (1886)
Profession	Politician, Businessman, Ironmaster

William Jacks (18 March 1841 – 9 August 1907) was a British ironmaster, author and Liberal politician.

Jacks was born at Cornhill-on-Tweed, near Coldstream, Northumberland the son Richard Jacks, a farmer and land steward, and his wife, Mary Lamb. His father died when he was very young and his mother moved to Swinton, near Duns where he was educated at Swinton Village School. He served an apprenticeship in the shipbuilding yard Pile & Co. at West Hartlepool. In his spare time, he studied foreign languages and other subjects and this helped him develop a career in the iron and steel industry.

Jacks moved to a shipyard in Sunderland, and then became manager of Sunderland and Seaham Engine Works and Foundry. With his language skills, he was sent on an errand to Italy to intercept goods that the buyer did not intend to pay for, and not only retrieved the goods, but sold them at a higher price and obtained fresh business for his employers. He was encouraged to join a business in Glasgow in 1870 and founded the iron and steel merchants William Jacks & Co in 1880. He built and sold steamers, completed large contracts for ironwork, and became a director of several companies. It was in the 1885 that Jacks took as a junior partner in the firm Bonar Law, future Conservative prime minister. Although Jacks' politics were on the opposite side of those of the junior partner, his example may have had an influence on the younger man.

In 1885 Jacks was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leith District of Burghs but in the 1886 general election which followed Gladstone played what was known as the "Leith dirty trick", standing unopposed and thus ousting his former supporter. In the by-election which followed in August 1886 when Gladstone decided to resume the Midlothian seat he had feared losing, Jacks stood as a Liberal Unionist, but was heavily defeated. In the 1892 general election Jacks stood again as a Liberal and was elected MP for Stirlingshire, but lost that seat in 1895.

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