William de Bois Maclaren
| William de Bois Maclaren | |
|---|---|
Director of Rubber Estate Agency
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| Born |
William Frederick McLaren November 17, 1856 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | June 3, 1921 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Publisher |
| Known for | Donation of Gilwell Park to The Scout Association |
William Frederick de Bois Maclaren (17 November 1856 – 3 June 1921) was publisher, businessman and Scout Commissioner for Rosneath, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He is most recognized as the first major benefactor of Scouting by donating Gilwell Park in 1919.
William Frederick de Bois Maclaren was born on 17 November 1856, in Blythswood, Glasgow in Scotland, as the son of Walter Gray McLaren (Master Printer, sometimes misspelt as painter) and Caroline Amelia De Bois, from France. He had an elder sister Margaret Ann Aitken McLaren (born 25 April 1855), and younger brothers Walter Gray (born 14 April 1858, attended Glasgow University, ordained 1885 in New Zealand where he lived until 1903, died 1916 in Glasgow), Charles (born 19 November 1859) and John (born 28 June 1861).
By the beginning of the 20th century, Maclaren and Frank Copeman were sole partners of Maclaren & Sons Ltd, 37–38 Shoe Lane, London, in the Fleet Street neighbourhood, who were publishers or publishers' agents of industrial books and magazines, such as The Brick and Pottery Trades Journal, and Ceylon Observer, and publishers of household titles, under the name of The British Baker, such as All About Pastries. One of their periodicals was the India Rubber Journal, the leading publication for the flourishing rubber industry in the beginning of the 20th century, with Sir Herbert Wright as editor for the period 1907–1917. Copeman and Maclaren founded in 1906 the Rubber Estate Agency. It was the first UK company for the specific purpose of financing the acquisition of rubber estates and of acting as secretaries and agents of rubber and other plantation companies. With this expertise in the rubber industry, Maclaren wrote and published The Rubber Tree Book (Maclaren and Sons, London, 1913, 384 pages), about technology and business administration of rubber plantations. In 1919, the Rubber Estate Agency was sold to the Belgium company Societé Internationale de Plantations et de Finance. The R.E.A. company still exists, and was worth approximately GBP 37 million in 2010.
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