Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Baxter, William Edward
BAXTER, The Right Hon. William Edward, M.P., was born at Dundee, in 1825, and after passing through the High School of that town, studied in the University of Edinburgh. In 1855 he succeeded the late Mr. Joseph Hume as M.P. for the Montrose burghs, which he has represented ever since. He was offered office under Government more than once, but declined, until Mr. Gladstone, in 1868, formed an administration pledged to economy, when he accepted the appointment of Secretary to the Admiralty. In March, 1871, he succeeded Mr. Stansfeld an Secretary to the Treasury, which office he resigned Aug. 6, 1873. He was sworn of the Privy Council, March 24, 1873. Mr. Baxter, who carries on business as a foreign merchant in Dundee, was a conspicuous supporter of the North during the American war, and is a well-known opponent of Church establishments. He is the author of "Impressions of Central and Southern Europe, being notes of successive journeys in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and the Levant," 1850; "The Tagus and the Tiber: or, Notes of Travel in Portugal, Spain, and Italy, in 1850–51," 2 vols., 1852; "America and the Americans," 1855; "Hints to Thinkers: or, Lectures for the Times," 1860; "Free Italy," a lecture delivered in 1874; and "A Winter in India," in 1882.