Sir William Tomlinson, 1st Baronet

Sir William Edward Murray Tomlinson, 1st Baronet, DL (4 August 1838 – 17 December 1912) was an English lawyer, colliery owner and Conservative politician.

Tomlinson was born at Heysham House in the Lancaster registration district in Lancashire. He was the eldest son of Thomas Tomlinson a barrister of 3 Richmond Terrace, Whitehall and Heysham House, and William continued to live in these two houses until his death at Heysham House. His mother, Sarah, was the only daughter of the Rev. Roger Mashiter of Bolton-le-Sands

He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1880 and was called to the Bar in 1884, becoming a barrister of the Inner Temple. He was a twin, his twin sister Ellen died on 6 January 1919. He was part owner of the Worsley Mesnes Colliery Company.

Tomlinson was elected as member of parliament for Preston in 1882, and held the seat until the 1906 General Election when the Tories lost both Preston seats on the free trade issue. In the 1900 election he was challenged unsuccessfully by Keir Hardie. It was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of King Edward VII, and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Richmond terrace, Whitehall, in the city of Westminster, in the county of London. At the end of March, 1903, Tomlinson was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Lancashire and from 1891 sat on the bench for the Amounderness Division.

His obituary describes him as a Conservative of the old school, small and dapper, a man of considerable wealth, a strong friend of the Volunteer movement (he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel) and an office holder in the Church of England.

Winston Churchill was challenged to fisticuffs when he referred to Tomlinson as "a miserable old man".

Tomlinson, who was never married, was confined to his house for the last two years of his life. On his death from a stroke at the age of 74 the baronetcy became extinct.