Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet, (9 October 1775 – 27 March 1822) was a Scottish poet,

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

, and songwriter. The son of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's friend and biographer

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

of Auchinleck, he used the funds from his inheritance to pay for a seat in Parliament and then successfully sought a baronetcy for his political support of the government. However, his finances subsequently collapsed and after being revealed as the author of violent attacks on a rival, he died as a result of wounds received in a duel. Auchinleck House

Early life

Boswell was the eldest son of

Auchinleck Auchinleck ( ; sco, Affleck ;
gd, Achadh nan Leac

and

Margaret Montgomerie Margaret "Peggy" Boswell born Margaret Montgomerie (1738 – 4 June 1789) was the Scottish wife and cousin of the diarist James Boswell. Life She was born in about 1738 at Lainshaw in Ayrshire. She was soon an orphan as her father James Boswell ( ...

of Lainshaw, and grandson of

Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, 8th Laird of Auchinleck (1706–1782) was a judge of the supreme courts of Scotland. He was the father of the author and biographer James Boswell, and grandfather of songwriter Alexander Boswell (songwriter), ...

. He was born in

Auchinleck House Auchinleck House is an 18th-century mansion in Scotland. It is situated near the town of Auchinleck near Cumnock and Ayr in East Ayrshire. The Auchinleck Estate has been inhabited since the 13th century, and the remains of Auchinleck Castle and A ...

. He attended

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

Academy in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1786 and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

from 1789 to 1792. Following his father's intention that he follow a legal career, he went to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1793. Shortly after his father's death he went to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

to study law, but soon dropped out of the course and visited

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and Berlin before returning to London in the summer of 1796. Boswell was a tall and muscular man who was thought by his sister to have exceeded his expectations. Having inherited land from his father, he took care of his inheritance and by 1801 the rents paid annually to him were more than his father had received. Boswell had an active interest in agriculture and was keen on country sports.

Poetry

Having abandoned a legal career, Boswell developed his interest in old Scottish authors and became a poet and bibliophile, becoming friends with

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

. In 1815 he established a private press at Auchinleck which printed the poetry of his circle."Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

'' 1790–1820, vol III pp. 229–230. He wrote some popular Scottish songs, of which ''Jenny's Bawbee'' and ''Jenny dang the Weaver'' are the best known. He was also a captain in the Ayr yeomanry from 1803, promoted to Major in 1815 and becoming the Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant in 1816.

Parliament

Boswell bought his entry to the House of Commons in 1816, paying Paul Treby who controlled one seat in the borough of

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient Stannary, stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down riv ...

in Devon. In politics he was a staunch

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

, generally voting with the Government of the day; however, he developed a grudge against the ministers personally and against Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in particular. His complaint was that Liverpool had not given help to him in his search for a seat in Parliament, despite having "conscientiously supported the administration with more persevering punctuality than any paid man in office", as he wrote to Lord Sidmouth.Sidmouth manuscripts, Boswell to Sidmouth, 19 November 1820; quoted in "Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

'' 1790–1820, vol III p. 230.

Countering sedition

When Sidmouth as Home Secretary brought in the " Six Acts" against sedition following the Peterloo Massacre, Boswell turned up to speak on the Seditious Meetings Bill despite wanting to be on the spot to suppress sedition in Ayrshire with his yeomanry. He also spoke against reform of Scottish

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

government in 1819. In 1820 he was with the yeomanry and highly active in suppressing dissent, although he did not only use force in countering them.See F.A. Pottle, "Pride and Negligence", pp. 18, 39 and "Poetical Works of Sir A. Boswell" ed. by R.H. Smith, pp. xl–xliv; cited in "Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

'' 1820–1832, vol IV pp. 314–5. Boswell attended an Ayrshire meeting to vote a loyal address to King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

over the Queen Caroline affair on 30 December 1820.

Leaving Parliament

Having sought a baronetcy from the Government for his support, Boswell became angered when Liverpool's refusal to grant one was given good publicity. In November 1820 he was on the point of resigning his seat when Sidmouth implied that Liverpool might have rethought his opposition. However, he was then hit by a financial crisis in his once profitable land holdings: Boswell had made some bad decisions to buy land, and his rental income suffered in a poor economy. He also had the expense of equipping his yeomanry. It cost him £1,000 per session to remain in Parliament, and Boswell concluded that he could not afford it; he resigned in February 1821, the day after voting in support of the Government over Queen Caroline. Ironically that summer he received the baronetcy he had sought, in recognition of his loyalty."Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

'' 1820–1832, vol IV pp. 314–5. James Stuart of Dunearn (1775–1849), Duellist and Pamphleteer by Daniel Macnee

Death

After leaving Parliament, Boswell wrote a series of virulent but anonymous attacks in two Scottish newspapers, the ''Beacon'' and the ''Sentinel'', attacking a prominent Whig ( James Stuart of

Dunearn Dunearn is a hill fort located south south east of Nairn in Highland, Scotland. It is situated on a steep-sided hill called Doune rising to approximately above ordnance datum just south of Dulsie Bridge (which provides a modern crossing of the ...

) as a bully and a coward. When a legal fight broke out between the proprietors of the ''Sentinel'', Stuart was able to get access to internal documents which indicated Boswell was probably the author. Stuart demanded that Boswell either deny authorship or apologise; Boswell refused to do either and as a result Stuart challenged him to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

. They met on 26 March 1822 at

Auchtertool Auchtertool (; gd, Uachdar Tuil) is a small village in Fife, Scotland. It is 4 miles west of Kirkcaldy. The name is from the Gaelic ''uachdar'', meaning ''upland'' or ''heights'' above the Tiel burn (from Gaelic ''tuil'' meaning ''torrent'').Tay ...

, near

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

in Fife. Boswell deliberately fired wide, but Stuart, who had never before handled a gun, shot Boswell in the collarbone. Boswell was taken to Balmuto House, part of the Boswell family estate, and died the following day. He left assets of £10,000 and debts of £72,000. Stuart was unanimously found not guilty of murder at his trial. More than 11,000 people attended Boswell's funeral and the funeral procession was over a mile long.

References

External links

*
The trial of James Stuart

contemporary account of the duel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boswell, Alexander 1775 births 1822 deaths Scottish songwriters Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Clan Boswell Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plympton Erle People educated at Eton College Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 Duelling fatalities Deaths by firearm in Scotland British duellists