Andrew Spottiswoode (19 February 1787 – 20 February 1866) was a Scottish printer, publisher and politician, MP for from 1826 to 1830, and from 1830 to 1831.

Life

He was the fourth son of John Spottiswoode (died 1805) of Spottiswoode, Berwick and Margaret Penelope Strahan, daughter of William Strahan. He was educated at

Edinburgh High School The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

. The family descended from

John Spottiswoode John Spottiswoode (Spottiswood, Spotiswood, Spotiswoode or Spotswood) (1565 – 26 November 1639) was an Archbishop of St Andrews, Primate of All Scotland, Lord Chancellor, and historian of Scotland. Life He was born in 1565 at Greenbank in ...

(1565–1639), archbishop of St. Andrews and lord chancellor of Scotland. Spottiswoode lived at 9

Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...

, London and

Broome Hall Broome Hall is a Grade II-listed country house with grounds including cottages and outhouses on the wooded, upper southern slopes of the Greensand Ridge near Coldharbour in Surrey, England. It was built around 1830 for the politician and prin ...

, Surrey.

A. and R. Spottiswoode

In 1819 Andrew and his brother Robert took over the running of the printing business of their uncle

Andrew Strahan Andrew Strahan (1749–1831) was an MP and printer who served as the King's Printer. Biography Andrew Strahan was the youngest son of William Strahan (1715–1785), and carried on his father's business with success, becoming one of the joint ...

. They brought in steam-powered printing presses. They were also publishers, of works by

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as ''The Nightmare'', deal with supernatura ...

and

William Henry Pyne William Henry Pyne (1769 in London – 29 May 1843 in London) was an English writer, illustrator and painter, who also wrote under the name of Ephraim Hardcastle. He trained at the drawing academy of Henry Pars in London. He first exhibited ...

among others, including

Anna Eliza Bray Anna Eliza Bray (born Kempe, afterwards Stothard; 25 December 1790 – 21 January 1883) was an English historical novelist. She also wrote several works of non-fiction. Biography Anna Eliza Kempe was born in the parish of Newington, Surrey on 2 ...

's memoir of her husband

Charles Alfred Stothard Charles Alfred Stothard (5 July 1786 – 28 May 1821) was an English antiquarian draughtsman, with a special interest in monumental effigies. Life Stothard was born in London, the son of the painter, Thomas Stothard. He was educated at a sch ...

King's Printer

In 1830, Strahan was granted a renewed 30-year patent as

King's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers o ...

. It resulted in a successful petition against Spottiswoode's election in Colchester, on the grounds that he was a government contractor. The monopoly it conferred was also attacked by

Joseph Hume Joseph Hume FRS (22 January 1777 – 20 February 1855) was a Scottish surgeon and Radical MP.Ronald K. Huch, Paul R. Ziegler 1985 Joseph Hume, the People's M.P.: DIANE Publishing. Early life He was born the son of a shipmaster James Hume ...

, a Radical colleague of

Daniel Whittle Harvey Daniel Whittle Harvey (10 January 1786 – 24 February 1863) was a Radical English politician who founded The Sunday Times newspaper and was the first Commissioner of the City of London Police. Harvey trained as a lawyer, and became a Fellow ...

to whom Spottiswoode had come second in Colchester (which elected two members). Hume made allegations about the patent, beginning a period in which the status of the monopoly was brought into play. Spottiswoode gave evidence on Bible printing costs to a parliamentary committee in 1832, as did David Hunter Blair who held the Scottish patent as King's Printer. An attack on him by the Baptist minister Thomas Curtis, on the grounds of inaccurate printing, appeared in 1833.

Family

Spottiswoode married Mary (1801–1870), daughter of

Thomas Norton Longman Thomas Norton Longman (1771–1842) was an English publisher, who succeeded to the Longman’s publishing business in 1793. Biography Thomas Norton Longman was born in England, son of Thomas Longman (1730–1797), and his wife, Elizabeth Harris (1 ...

, the printer; they had two sons and three daughters. One of the sons was the mathematician and physicist

William Spottiswoode William H. Spottiswoode HFRSE LLD (11 January 1825 – 27 June 1883) was an English mathematician, physicist and partner in the printing and publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode. He was president of the Royal Society from 1878 to 1883. Biogra ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spottiswoode, Andrew 1787 births 1866 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies MPs for rotten boroughs

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 ...

UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831