Rev James Menteath, in later life James Stuart Menteath of Closeburn (c. 1718–1802) was a Scottish clergyman of the Church of England, and friend of

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

Early life

Born at Burrowine, Perthshire (now in Fifeshire) around 1718, he was son of William Menteath of Burrowine. He matriculated at the University of Glasgow in 1732. He then matriculated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

on 9 April 1736, graduating B.A. 1739, M.A. 1742. He was supported there from 1736 by a Snell Exhibition, which he vacated in 1747.

Parish priest in England

Menteath took holy orders in the Church of England, being ordained deacon in 1740, priest in 1741. He shortly became a curate at Adderbury in Oxfordshire, where John Cox was vicar. He was rector at Bishop's Cleeve, from 1754. He then moved on, as rector of

All Saints Church, Barrowby All Saints Church is a Grade I listed Anglican church in Barrowby, Lincolnshire, England. The church is west from Grantham on a hillside overlooking the Vale of Belvoir, and to the south of the A52. All Saints is in the ecclesiastical parish ...

in Lincolnshire, in 1759. He owed the Barrowby living to Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet. Sanderson Miller of

Radway Radway is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, about north-west of Banbury in neighbouring Oxfordshire. The population taken at the 2011 census had reduced to 238. The village is at the foot of Edge Hill and is notable for the ...

in Warwickshire cultivated a number of clerical friends with Oxford educations, including

Richard Jago Richard Jago (1 October 1715 – 8 May 1781) was an English clergyman poet and minor landscape gardener from Warwickshire. Although his writing was not highly regarded by contemporaries, some of it was sufficiently novel to have several imitators ...

and

William Talbot of Kineton William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

, as well as Menteath. A statue of Caractacus by James Lovell was commissioned by Lord North as a gift to Miller, for his tower on Edge Hill; it was modelled from Menteath. After a number of breakdowns, Miller was put into the hands of Francis Willis for treatment for his mental illness. While under Willis, he wrote a digressive ''Memoir'' of Menteath, dated from internal evidence to the years 1772–4. Menteath appears in Miller's ''Memoir'' as "Jacobus Montaltus", a Latinised version of his name. Annotations by Menteath state that he and Miller were close friends, from 1737 (when they overlapped at the University of Oxford, at

St Mary Hall St Mary Hall was a medieval academic hall of the University of Oxford. It was associated with Oriel College from 1326 to 1545, but functioned independently from 1545 until it was incorporated into Oriel College in 1902. History In 1320, ...

) to 1780 when Miller died. The ''Memoir'' states that Menteath was promised the Barrowby living from 1745, by Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet and his wife; the incumbent was Thomas Wood, who held it from 1732 to 1759. This was also the year of the

Jacobite Rebellion , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

, in which Menteath became embroiled, on a visit to his family. In 1770 Menteath assumed the additional surname of Stuart "for himself and his posterity."

Later life

In 1783 Menteath purchased Closeburn Castle in Dumfriesshire, from Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick. On his moving north in 1785, Adam Smith wrote to Menteath describing him as his oldest friend, outside his extended family. They knew each other from

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 Fifeshire and Smith's home in early life. Menteath died 15 July 1802.

Family

Menteath married, 15 April 1765, Catherine Maria (died 14 August 1793) daughter of the Rev. Granville Wheler, of Otterden Place, Kent, by his wife Lady Catherine Maria Hastings, daughter of Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon. Their son Charles Granville Stuart Menteath of Closeburn and Mansfield, born 12 May 1769, was created Baronet on 11 August 1838, and died 3 December 1847. He is also known as Sir Charles Granville Stuart-Menteth, 1st Baronet. His eldest son became Sir James Stuart-Menteth, 2nd Baronet. The Closeburn estate passed out of the family in 1852.

Notes

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Menteath, James 1718 births 1802 deaths 18th-century Scottish Episcopalian priests Scottish landowners