Sir William McAlpine
| Sir William Hepburn McAlpine | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
12 January 1936 Dorchester Hotel, London, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse(s) | Jill Benton Jones 1959–2003 (deceased) Lady Judith McAlpine 2004– |
| Children | Andrew William McAlpine Lucinda Mary Jane McAlpine |
Sir William Hepburn McAlpine, 6th Baronet (born 1936) is a British millionaire businessman, a former director of the construction company Sir Robert McAlpine.
Born in London in 1936 at the family-owned Dorchester Hotel, McAlpine is the oldest son of Sir Edwin McAlpine, later created Lord McAlpine of Moffat, by his marriage to Ella Mary Gardner Garnett. His great-grandfather was "Concrete Bob", Sir Robert McAlpine, the first of the McAlpine baronets and the founder of the construction company. He had two younger brothers Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green, was his younger brother, as is David McAlpine.
Brought up at the family home in Surrey and educated at Charterhouse School, McAlpine joined the family firm from school, starting his career at the Hayes Depot in Middlesex, a 30-acre (120,000 m2) site which housed the McAlpine railway locomotive and wagon fleet. The years after the Second World War were a busy time for the construction industry.
In 1990, on the death of his father, McAlpine inherited his baronetcy and became Sir William. He is patron of the Clan MacAlpine Society. He served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire for 1999. He is a director and trustee of the educational charity Shiplake Court Limited.
He is also the president of the Railway Benevolent Institution, known as the Railway Benefit Fund, a charity helping current and retired railway industry workers.
An acknowledged railway enthusiast, he returned to Hayes depot during the Beeching Axe to find that the company's Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No.31 was for sale for £100. He purchased the locomotive, and moved it to his country estate home at Fawley, Buckinghamshire. This marked the start in 1961 of the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Fawley Hill Railway, a private railway which now runs to over a mile long, combining the steepest gradient at 1:13 on a British railway, and includes:
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