(1818–1898), was born at Chunar, Bengal province, on the 21st of May 1818 - Died 1898

In 1868 he was elected to represent the universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews in parliament, and retained his seat till 1885, from which date until 1892 he sat as member for Leeds.

In 1873 he was made postmaster-general, and in the following year, after the dissolution of parliament, was applied to by the incoming Tory government to preside over a commission to inquire into the working of the civil service. Its report established a completely new system, which has ever since been officially known as the “Playfair scheme.” The return of Mr Gladstone to power in 1880 afforded opportunity for Playfair to resume his interrupted parliamentary career, and from that time until 1883 he acted as chairman of committees during a period when the obstructive tactics of the Irish party were at their height. On his retirement from the post he was made K.C.B. In 1892 he was created Baron Playfair of St Andrews, and a little later was appointed

lord-in-waiting to the queen.​