Sir William Baillie, 2nd Baronet
Sir William Baillie of Polkemmet, 2nd Baronet, DL was a Scottish oarsman and Conservative politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1845 and 1847.
Born in Edinburgh, he was the eldest son of Sir William Baillie, 1st Baronet and his wife Mary Lyon Dennistoun, the youngest daughter of James Dennistoun. Baillie was educated at Eton College and then at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1836.
While at Oxford, he rowed in the Oxford eight in the second Boat Race which was held in 1836, when Cambridge won. He was also a part of the Head of the River crew at Oxford with his college boat, Christ Church.
Baillie served as captain in the Midlothian Yeomanry Cavalry, and was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Edinburgh City Artillery from 1866 to 1884. In 1845 he was elected Member of Parliament for Linlithgowshire, sitting for the next two years. Baillie was a Deputy Lieutenant of Linlithgowshire from 1850 and was a Justice of the Peace.
On 14 April 1846, Baillie married Mary Stewart, the eldest daughter of Stair Hathorn Stewart. In 1854, he succeeded his father as baronet, and when Baillie died childless in 1890, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew George.
