The Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP is to deliver his second Sir Alexander Stone Lecture in Rhetoric, nineteen years after he gave the inaugural address.

The free public event takes place in the Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre at 6pm on Wednesday 7 October 2009. Charles Kennedy will speak on the subject of ‘Political Rhetoric: What future, if any?’.

The Sir Alexander Stone Lectures in Rhetoric aim to illustrate and reflect on the public role of rhetoric in modern society. Past speakers have included political journalist and commentator Andrew Marr, The Bishop of Durham – David Jenkins and Baroness Warwick – Chief Executive of Universities UK.

A successful banker, Sir Alexander Stone set up a charitable foundation to help West of Scotland charities concerned with education, the arts, the relief of poverty and distress. 

Among the many gifts and endowments, he funded a new building in the microbiology department at the University of Glasgow; endowed scholarships to encourage people seeking careers in law; and established chairs in commercial law and in business law and practice at the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde respectively.  His belief in the skill of oratory led to his sponsoring a lectureship in rhetoric.

Since his death in 1998, Lady Stone has generously continued to support by giving in Sir Alexander’s memory. 

University of Glasgow rector, Charles Kennedy has a long association with the lecture series having delivered the inaugural lecture in May 1990 entitled: ‘Political Rhetoric – What role today?”.

Doors to the Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre open at 5.30pm. The lecture is expected to last from 6pm to 7.30pm.
 
Attendees are requested to register in advance by emailing Angela Hair at: a.hair@admin.gla.ac.uk or by calling 0141 330 3593.
 
Further information:
Martin Shannon, Senior Media Relations Officer
University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 8593


Sir Alexander Stone

Sir Alexander Stone was born in 1907. His Russian-born parents were driven out of their native land by a Cossack pogrom and arrived in Glasgow in 1903 with few possessions and little money. They settled in the Gorbals area of Glasgow with other Jewish immigrant families.

After attending Hutchesons’ Boys’ Grammar School in Crown Street, Alexander Stone went into the family’s furniture business as a salesman and auctioneer.  Aged 25, he decided to study law at the University of Glasgow and in 1935 he founded his own law firm, Alexander Stone and Co.  He quickly established himself as a brilliant and highly successful lawyer and developed a particular interest in corporate law.  In 1956 he embarked on a career in banking, having acquired the British Bank of Commerce, a small London merchant bank with four employees and capital of £10,000.  So successful was this enterprise that, when it went public in 1967, the bank had 125 employees and capital assets totalling £40m.

During 1973 the public lost its confidence in subsidiary banks and this resulted in the sale of the British Bank of Commerce and the loss of a personal fortune.  However, quite remarkably, in 1980, at the age of 73, Alexander Stone set up a second merchant bank, Combined Capital Ltd, in Glasgow’s Renfield Street. This was wholly owned by the Alexander Stone Foundation and most of the profits were donated to West of Scotland charities concerned with education, the arts, the relief of poverty and distress.  Among many gifts and endowments, he funded a new building in the microbiology department at the University of Glasgow; he endowed various scholarships to encourage people seeking careers in law; he established chairs in commercial law and in business law and practice at the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde respectively.  His belief in the skill of oratory led to his sponsoring a lectureship in rhetoric.

Alexander Stone always valued his days at Hutchesons’ Grammar School.  As a former pupil he took a continued interest in the life of the school and for many years this interest was made tangible by his donations to the school prize funds which benefited many generations of Hutchesons’ pupils.

Since his death in 1998, Lady Stone has generously continued to support by giving in Sir Alexander’s memory. 

First published: 29 September 2009

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