Bilsland was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Bilsland, 1st Baronet, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and his wife, Agnes Anne Steven, daughter of Alexander Steven, of Provanside, Glasgow.
He was also chairman of the Scottish National Trust Ltd. Bilsland succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1921.
[1] In November 1938 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the newly formed 8th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (57th Searchlight Regiment) (having previously served as a captain in the old 8th Battalion).
[2] In 1950 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Bilsland, of Kinrara in the County of Inverness,[3][4] in recognition of his "...public services in Scotland".
He died in December 1970, aged 78, when the baronetcy and barony became extinct.