Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone (24 May 1767 – 21 August 1833) was a Scottish soldier, politician, swindler and adventurer who was found guilty of participation in the
Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814
The Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814 was a hoax or fraud centered on false information about the Napoleonic Wars, affecting the London Stock Exchange in 1814.
The du Bourg hoax
On the morning of Monday, 21 February 1814, a uniformed man posi ...
. He was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland.
Life
Born Andrew Cochrane in 1767, at 'Bellevile' - a house near Holyrood Palace in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, he was the youngest son of
Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald
Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald (1691 – 31 October 1778) was a Scottish nobleman, army officer and politician. He was Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire, 1722–1727. He served as Commissioner of the Excise for Scotland from 1730 u ...
(1691–1778) and his second wife Jane Stuart (1722–1808). He became a cornet in the British Army in 1783. After returning from India to recover his health, he was elected to Parliament from
Stirling Boroughs in 1791. In November 1793 he married Georgiana Hope-Johnstone, a daughter of
James Hope-Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Hopetoun
James Hope-Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Hopetoun FRSE (23 August 1741 – 29 May 1816), known as Viscount Aithrie from 1742 to 1781, was a Scottish Representative Peer and military leader.
Life
Hopetoun was the son of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, ...
; she died in 1797. Cochrane added "Johnstone" to his name at the time of their marriage. Despite the opposition of
Henry Dundas
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...
to his election in 1791, Cochrane-Johnstone supported the government of
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
, and was re-elected in 1796 in a race against his cousin
Sir John Henderson, who was in opposition.
In 1794 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and in 1797 was promoted to Colonel and then made
Governor of Dominica
This article lists the governors and other administrators of Dominica (where known), during its time as a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain (1761–1778; 1784–1800), the Kingdom of France (1778–1784), and the United Kingdom (1800–1978).
...
(which terminated his position as M.P.)
Cochrane-Johnstone served as governor on Dominica until 1803; an 1802 mutiny by the 8th West India Regiment was quelled with severity, but led to a court-martial of the governor on charges of embezzlement, arbitrary rule, using soldiers for private servants, and other charges. The court-martial in 1805 cleared Cochrane-Johnstone, but his military career was over.
He had married Amelia Constance Gertrude Etienette de Clugny, a widow of Godet des Marais and the only child of a French governor of
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
, in February 1803; they were forced by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
to divorce in May 1805.
In 1807 Cochrane-Johnstone was elected MP for
Grampound
Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...
in Cornwall, a notorious
rotten borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
, along with his brother George, reputedly financed by their wealthy brother
Basil
Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...
. He was disqualified in March 1808 for lack of property. By then he had gone to the West Indies where he lived in the customs house in
Tortola
Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...
, which was under the command of another brother, Admiral
Alexander Cochrane
Admiral of the Blue Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane (born Alexander Forrester Cochrane; 23 April 1758 – 26 January 1832) was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of admiral.
He had previously captain ...
. Made an agent and auctioneer for the navy in the conquest of some of the other Danish islands, Cochrane through bribery and fraud illegally obtained captured goods; arrested, he escaped to England with his profits.
One of his next business ventures (1809) involved manufacturing muskets for the Spanish government; in the course of this he engaged in smuggling and defrauded several of the Spanish colonial governments by failing to deliver promised armaments.
Cochrane-Johnstone returned to Parliament in July 1812 after his brother George resigned in his favour; this was perhaps an expedient to avoid debtors. He was elected on his own account from Grampound in the same year, after a deal with fellow MP
John Teed
John Teed (c. 1770 – before 1837) was an English merchant, banker, and politician.
Born to a family from Devon, by around 1804 Teed was established as a ship agent, banker, and merchant in Plymouth. In 1806 he unsuccessfully sought election to ...
.
History of Parliament Onliine, entry "John Teed"
/ref>
In February 1814 Cochrane-Johnstone was one of the chief organisers of the Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814
The Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814 was a hoax or fraud centered on false information about the Napoleonic Wars, affecting the London Stock Exchange in 1814.
The du Bourg hoax
On the morning of Monday, 21 February 1814, a uniformed man posi ...
; Cochrane-Johnstone and other associates purchased government securities just before spreading a false rumour of the death of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. At the news of Napoleon's death, the value of the securities rose dramatically, at which point the conspirators sold them again: Cochrane-Johnstone was believed to have profited to the tune of £4931 (approx. £450,000 in modern terms). He was convicted of fraud and fled to France; he was expelled from Parliament on 5 July 1814. Cochrane-Johnstone's nephew Admiral Thomas Cochrane was also convicted; although he claimed innocence and the public was on his side, he was forced to resign and did not return to the British Navy until 1832. Cochrane-Johnstone fled to the West Indies, where he discovered that his property in Dominica had been seized, although he was able to take slaves from his plantation to a new establishment, a coffee plantation in Dutch Demerara
Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...
. By 1829 he was living in Paris, France and fraudulent claims by him on the French government were being exposed. It was there (at 96, rue du Faubourg St Honoré) that he died in poverty in August 1833.
The Earl of St. Vincent, Admiral of the Fleet, wrote of the Cochrane brothers in 1806, "The Cochranes are not to be trusted out of sight, they are all mad, romantic, money-getting and not truth-telling—and there is not a single exception in any part of the family."
Family
Cochrane-Johnstone had an illegitimate son, Captain John Dundas Cochrane
Captain John Dundas Cochrane (14 February 1793 – 12 August 1825) was a Scottish officer in the Royal Navy, traveller and explorer. An illegitimate son of Scottish MP, army-commander and swindler Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone, John Dundas Cochrane ...
(February 1793 – August 1825), an explorer who published a ''Pedestrian Journey through Russian and Siberian Tartary'' in 1824. It is not proven, but is likely that John's mother was Georgiana Hope-Johnstone, who married Andrew nine months after John's birth. Andrew and Georgiana also had one daughter, Elizabeth Cochrane (26 December 1894 – 6 June 1883); she married William Napier, 9th Lord Napier
William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier, Baron Napier () FRSE (13 October 1786 – 11 October 1834) was a British Royal Navy officer and trade envoy in China.
Early life
Napier was born in Kinsale, Ireland, on 13 October 1786.Laughton, J. K.. "N ...
in 1816.
Further reading
* ''(Fictional treatment)'' Second edition:
* Defence of the Honourable Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone. Edinburgh 1806.
Available on-line here...
* The Trial of ... Sir Thomas Cochrane, commonly called Lord Cochrane, the Hon. Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, etc... London 1814.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane-Johnstone, Andrew
1767 births
1833 deaths
Politicians from Edinburgh
Military personnel from Edinburgh
Governors of Dominica
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall
UK MPs 1807–1812
UK MPs 1812–1818
Scottish politicians convicted of crimes
Scottish fraudsters
British politicians convicted of fraud
Andrew
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...
Expelled members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Younger sons of earls