John Craig (1874-1957) was born on 11 December 1874 at Mossend, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was educated at Dalzell Public School, North Lanarkshire, and, in 1888 , entered employment as an office boy in the firm of David Colville & Sons Ltd , iron and steel manufacturers, Motherwell, Scotland, his father's employers. He very soon became an order clerk, responsible for the purchase of pig iron. In 1895 John Colville, chairman of David Colville & Sons Ltd , entered Parliament, and John Craig was given responsibility for carrying out his duties at the Royal Exchange in Glasgow. With the death of John Colville in 1901 these responsibilities increased and, in 1902 , he was one of several senior employees to be offered shares in the firm. He was appointed iron works salesman in 1905 , and invited to become a member of the board of directors in 1910 . When both Archibald Colville and David Colville, jnr, died suddenly in 1916 , John Craig was unanimously appointed chairman of the company. John Craig 's business acumen allied to Andrew McCance 's technical expertise resulted in what has been referred to by Sir William McLintock as 'the consolidation and rationalisation of the steel industry in Scotland'. He was a member of the executive committees, of the National Federation of Iron & Steel Manufacturers, the British Iron & Steel Federation, and president of the National Federation of Iron & Steel Manufacturers, the Iron & Steel Institute, and the West of Scotland Iron & Steel Institute. In addition to his business interests, he was active in Christian circles and served as both chairman and president of the Scottish National Council of the Young Mens' Christian Association. From 1901 he was an elder in Dalziel Free Church, serving for more than fifty years. He was appointed CBE in 1918 , and knighted in 1943 . He was a Justice of the Peace in Lanarkshire from 1919 , and Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Lanark in 1934 . The University of Glasgow awarded him an honorary degree of LLD in 1951 . He retired in 1956 and died at Cambusnethan, Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, on 1 February 1957 .
Slaven, A and Checkland, S (eds), Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography 1860-1960 vol 1 (Aberdeen, 1986)
From the guide to the Paper of John Craig, chairman of Colvilles Ltd, iron and steel manufacturers, Motherwell, Scotland, 1904-1975, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
