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Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland

British businessman (1892-1970)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ7614493
Source-derived summary

Captain Alexander Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland, KT, MC (13 September 1892 – 10 December 1970), known as Sir Steven Bilsland, Bt, between 1921 and 1950, was a Scottish businessman and public servant.

Life

Bilsland was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Bilsland, 1st Baronet, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and his wife, Agnes Anne Steven, daughter of Alexander Steven, of Provanside, Glasgow. He was the brother-in-law of Lord Clydesmuir. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. He was head of Bilsland Brothers Ltd, bakers, of Glasgow, founded by his uncle James Bilsland. He was also chairman of the Scottish National Trust Ltd. Bilsland succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1921. In November 1938 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the newly formed 8th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (57th Searchlight Regiment) (having previously served as a captain in the old 8th Battalion). In 1950 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Bilsland, of Kinrara in the County of Inverness, in recognition of his "...public services in Scotland". He was further honoured in 1955 when he was made a Knight of the Thistle.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland” is british businessman (1892-1970). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Steven, Bilsland and Baron, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1892, 1970, 1921, 1950—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Steven, Bilsland and Baron is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “british businessman (1892-1970)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7614493. The first chronological checks are 1892, 1970, 1921 and 1950.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland primary sources, Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland archive and Steven research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Steven Bilsland, 1st Baron Bilsland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.