James Coutts (10 March 1733 – 15 February 1778) was a Scottish politician, merchant and founder of the
Coutts & Co. bank.
Early life
Coutts 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
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
on 10 March 1733. He was the third son of Jean Steuart and
John Coutts, the former
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...
.
Among his siblings were Patrick Coutts; John Coutts;
Thomas Coutts
Thomas Coutts (7 September 1735 – 24 February 1822) was a British banker. He was a founder of the banking house Coutts, Coutts & Co.
Early life
Coutts was the fourth son of Jean (née Steuart) Coutts and John Coutts (merchant), John Coutts (1 ...
and Steuart Coutts, and one sister, Margaret Coutts.
His maternal grandfather was
Sir John Steuart, 2nd Baronet of
Allanbank
Allanbank is a village near Allanton, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the historic county of Berwickshire.
Allanbank Chapel was dedicated to St. Mary and was located in a small field named Chapel Haugh.
Nearby places include Blac ...
(son of
Sir Robert Steuart, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Steuart (or Stewart), 1st Baronet of Allanbank (1643 – 1707) was a Scottish politician who represented North Berwick in the Parliament of Scotland from 1698 to 1702.
Early life
Steuart was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1643. He was ...
and Jean Gilmour, a daughter of
Sir John Gilmour). His great-uncle was
Archibald Stewart, the
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...
.
Coutts was educated at the
Royal High School, Edinburgh
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 ...
.
Career
On his marriage, Coutts was taken into partnership by his wife's uncle, George Campbell, head of the Whig bank in the Strand who counted
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
as a customer. Upon Campbell's death in 1761, James took his brother
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
into partnership with him.
Lord Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
, as
privy purse
The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018.
Overview
The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres (200 ...
to
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, placed the royal account at Coutts' bank. In 1762, Coutts received an allotment of £76,000.
On 27 February 1762 by-election, as a supporter of Lord Bute (who became
Prime Minister of Great Britain
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pri ...
in May 1762), Coutts was elected to replace
George Lind as the Scottish representative for
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 ...
in the
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...
. Coutts supported the
Grenville Administration, Bute's successor, on
Wilkes and general warrants. On 19 March 1764, when speaking on a motion to regulate Scottish banks,
his language in the House was sometimes "strange and incoherent". In response, his friends sent him an anonymous letter, a draft of which is preserved in the papers of
Caleb Whitefoord
Caleb Whitefoord (1734 – 25 January 1810) was a Scottish merchant, diplomat, and political satirist.
Life
He was born in Edinburgh in 1734, probably in the family home of Whitefoord House on the Canongate, the illegitimate son of Colonel C ...
.
"I am going to offer you my advice on a delicate point, I mean speaking in the House ... It was with great concern that I saw you rise up to speak several times during the last session—the first time you spoke it was in some degree necessary—Would to Heaven you had stopped there, for indeed my dear Sir you are by no means qualified for speaking ... If you regard your own peace and quiet, if you regard your political interest, if you regard the opinion of many eminent and worthy persons you will give up all thought of speaking in the House ... The fair character you bore with everybody and your very becoming deportment in business and in every other situation of life made me feel the most sensible concern to see you appear so unlike yourself."
"After the letter, Coutts continued to attend the House and its committees, but there is no record of any further speech by him."
In
1768
Events
January–March
* January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London.
* February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...
, he was succeeded by the
Whig member
Sir Lawrence Dundas.
Later life
In 1774, on the expiration of their 12 years partnership agreement, his brother Thomas took steps to protect the bank's credit from James' perceived "irresponsible actions."
Lord Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
, Stuart Mackenzie,
Sir John Pringle and family friends signed a declaration that James was "an improper person to be connected with such a business" and he was forced to accept a financial settlement which he bitterly protested.
In June 1775, however, he was forced to cut ties with the bank.
Coutts went abroad in July 1775 and, again, in November 1776. Between 1777 and 1778, he became so violent in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
that he kept under military guard. His keepers sent home aboard a ship but he died, while in confinement, at
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
on 15 February 1778.
Personal life
In April 1755 Coutts was married to heiress Mary "Polly" Peagrum at
St George's Hanover Square Church 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 ...
.
Polly, a daughter of Elizabeth (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Campbell) Peagrum and John Peagrum of Elmstead, was the niece and heiress of London banker George Campbell. She was also the niece of
John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane and Holland
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, the granddaughter Sir John Campbell of
Glen Orchy
Glen Orchy ( gd, Gleann Urchaidh) is a glen in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It runs from Bridge of Orchy to Dalmally.
Geography
Glen Orchy is about 17 km or 11 miles long, and runs south-west from Bridge of Orchy () to Dalmally () fo ...
and the great-granddaughter of
William Graham, 1st Earl of Airth.
Together, they were the parents of:
* Frances Coutts (d. 1809), who married
Sir John Steuart of Allanbank, 4th Baronet (1754–1817).
Coutts died on 15 February 1778 at
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
on his forced way back to England.
Descendants
Through his only child Frances, he was a grandfather of
Sir John James Stuart, 5th Baronet of Allanbank, who married twice, but had no children by either marriage, therefore, the baronetcy ended with his death in 1849.
Wrong before James died in 1776 he married again in secret and had a son that he named James James Coutts that was born 9 Sept 1776 and christening was 12 Sept 1776 at Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland and James with 2nd wife were there
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coutts, James
1733 births
1778 deaths
Scottish businesspeople
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
British MPs 1761–1768