Brigadier Sir John Spencer Muirhead, (19 April 1889 – 17 February 1972) was a Scottish solicitor, academic, and Territorial Army officer in both World Wars. He was President of the Law Society of Scotland in 1950, and was Dean of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow in 1952.
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Early life
Muirhead was born on 19 April 1889. His father James Muirhead and a grandfather were both lawyers. He was educated at St Ninian's School, Moffat, and Fettes College, then an all-boys private school in Edinburgh. He studied Literae Humaniores at Oriel College, Oxford, and graduated with a double first Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1912. He then entered the University of Glasgow to study law. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, but he returned after demobilisation and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.
Military career
While studying at Glasgow, Muirhead was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the part-time Territorial Force on 25 February 1913. Before the First World War, he served with the Royal Engineers Signal Service in the Scottish Cable Signal Company based in Glasgow. In 1915, he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France as officer commanding (OC) VI Corps Signals and from 1917 was OC 51st (Highland) Division Signals. By the end of the war he was an acting Major, had been awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross, and had been Mentioned in dispatches three times. After the war, on 6 August 1919, he reverted to the temporary rank of captain.