James Townsend Oswald (23 February 1748 – 3 January 1814) was a Scottish politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1768 and 1779. Dunnikier House - geograph

Oswald was the son of James Oswald, a politician of

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, ...

. The Oswald family became the dominant force in Kirkcaldy politics in the 18th century and Dysart, the second-largest burgh was controlled by the St. Clair interest. The combined Oswald and St. Clair influence often decided who was to be elected. Oswald was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Dysart Burghs in succession to his father in 1768 and was Secretary for the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

in 1772. He lost the seat in 1774 when to his surprise a rich outsider bribed his way into Parliament. In 1776 Oswald was elected MP for

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

until he resigned on being appointed

Auditor of the Exchequer The Auditor of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The office originated in early times as the clerk of the Lord High Treasurer at the Receipt of the Exchequer. He was responsible for filing and entering the Teller' ...

of Scotland on 2 July 1779. About 1790 he had built Dunnikier House, "a handsome mansion beautifully situated in a richly-wooded demesne". ''Kinkell - Kirkcaldy'', A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846), pp. 82-98 Date accessed: 5 January 2010
/ref> Oswald died at age 65. He had married Janet Grey of Skibo, Sutherland, who died in 1843. Their son was General Sir John Oswald and their daughter Elizabeth married

Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (; 20 July 176614 November 1841) was a British nobleman, soldier, politician and diplomat, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures (known as the Elgin Ma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald, James Townsend 1748 births 1814 deaths People from Kirkcaldy British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies