William McArthur (Lord Mayor of London) William McArthur (Lord Mayor of London) Sir William McArthur, (6 July 1809 – 16 November 1887) was an Irish businessman and Lord Mayor of London, and a Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885. McArthur was born at Malin, County Donegal, the son of Rev. John McArthur, a Methodist minister in Londonderry. In 1821 he was apprenticed to a woollen draper in Enniskillen. He moved to Lurgan in 1825 where he was a merchant and in 1831 established a drapery business in Derry initially in a partnership, but later on his own. In
Lord Mayor of London the Foreign Secretary addresses an audience of international dignitaries. The Lord Mayor sometimes takes part in major state occasions, for example in 2013, the then-Lord Mayor, Roger Gifford carried the Mourning Sword at Margaret Thatcher's Funeral, processing ahead of the Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, into St Paul's Cathedral. The Lord Mayor performs numerous other functions, including serving as the Chief Magistrate of the City of London, Admiral of the Port of London, Rector of City, University of London, President of Gresham College, President of City of London Reserve Forces and Cadets Association, and Trustee of St Paul's