James Lumsden (1778–1856) was a Scottish stationer and merchant who served as Lord Provost of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

from 1843 to 1846.

Life

He was born on 13 November 1778 in

,James Lumsden
100 Glasgow Men (published 1885) the son of James Lumsden, an engraver and publisher, and his wife, Jean Adamson. The family lived in a second floor flat in Craigs Land at the head of the Old Wynd in central Glasgow. He was educated at

Glasgow Grammar School The High School of Glasgow is an independent, co-educational day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the choir school of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, and is the oldest school in Scotland, and t ...

. Their family publishing firm J. Lumsden and Son was founded in 1783 and specialised in children's books. In 1797 he was "elected" knight companion of the Coul Club under the pseudonym of Christopher Copperplate. When his father retired in 1810, he then took over the publishing firm. In 1812 he was one of the several people including Henry Bell and Sir

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 ...

on the maiden voyage of the ''

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

''.James Lumsden 1778 - 1856
Gazetteer for Scotland He developed the business James Lumsden & Son based at 20 Queen Street in Glasgow.Glasgow Post Office Directory 1840 In 1840 he was living at 208 St Vincent Street. Statue of James Lumsden Glasgow

In 1838 he was one of the founders of the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank ( gd, Banca Dhail Chluaidh) is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for ...

. He served on Glasgow Town Council from 1833 and was elected

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. Elected by the city councillors, the Lord Provost serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. The office is equiv ...

from 1843 to 1846, having previously been a Town councillor and baillie, and a commissioner of the

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 3 ...

. His most important achievement as Lord Provost was the crearion of the Glasgow School of Design.Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings He retired in 1852 and died on 16 May 1856. He was buried in the churchyard of

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbisho ...

Artistic Recognition

A statue to his memory, designed by

John Mossman John G. Mossman (London 1817–1890) was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828. His fa ...

, stands near the cathedral in front of

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

, of which both he and his brother Lachlan were major benefactors. He was also portrayed by Sir

Daniel Macnee Sir Daniel Macnee FRSE PRSA LLD (4 June 1806, Fintry, Stirlingshire – 17 January 1882, Edinburgh), was a Scottish portrait painter who served as president of the Royal Scottish Academy (1876). Life He was born at Fintry in Stirlingshir ...

Family

He married Margaret Gourlay. They had two sons, James and George, who both initially joined the family firm. James Jr was head of the Clydesdale Bank from 1851 until his death, and was also Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1866 to 1869. He was knighted in 1868 as '' Sir James Lumsden of Arden''.Sir James Lumsden
100 Glasgow Men (published 1885)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumsden, James 1778 births 1856 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow People educated at the High School of Glasgow Lord Provosts of Glasgow Liberal Party (UK) politicians Councillors in Glasgow Philanthropists from Glasgow