Kirkman Finlay (April 1773 – 4 March 1842) was one of the leading merchants in

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 ...

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 ...

. He was

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 ...

and

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 ...

Life

Kirkman Finlay was born in the Gallowgate, the second son of well known Glasgow merchant and textile manufacturer James Finlay (1727–1790). Upon his father's death in 1790 he became head of James Finlay & Company, manufacturers and East India merchants. He made strenuous efforts to capture lucrative Asian markets, successfully challenging the supremacy of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in trade with India and the Far East. Under his leadership the business expanded, moving into cotton manufacturing with the purchase of the Ballindalloch Works in 1798, the Catrine Mills in 1801 and the Deanston Mills in 1806.. They became the largest textile concern in Scotland and the first British merchant to trade directly with India (1816).Kirkman Finlay
University of Glasgow (see "Summary" for birth/death dates) Whilst developing James Finlay & Co. into the leading merchant firm of its time he also led a very active public life. He was Governor of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, President of the Glasgow

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

eight times, Dean of Guild,

(1812),

(1812–1820). A marble statue by John Gibson (1790–1866) is in the vestibule of the Merchants' House on George Square. His opinions, especially on mercantile questions, were listened to when he was 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. ...

, and quoted there when he had left it; always a busy man, he still found time for much public and charitable work – he was a liberal and a kindly man, and his word was as good as his bond. In 1819 he was elected Lord Rector of

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. Described as "a political economist of an advanced type", his knowledge of banking was considerable. He was an extraordinary director of

The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Ba ...

from 1821 until his death in 1842, and made his presence felt in many matters of importance in Scotland at that time. He was part of the abortive scheme to raise a joint-stock bank in Glasgow around 1793, he agitated for the retention of the Scottish one pound note in 1826 (appearing before the House of Commons Committee on Promissory notes in Scotland and Ireland), and was also active in opposing the changes to factory conditions in 1833. Finlay's financial success demonstrated the central importance of cotton textiles in Glasgow's domestic economy and he deserves a place on the roll of those who have helped to make Glasgow. Kirkman Finlay statue

In 1820 he built Castle Toward on the

Cowal Cowal ( gd, Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, that extends into the Firth of Clyde. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by the Argyll Forest Park managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. The Arrochar ...

peninsula as his country home and he died there in 1842. Finlay was educated at the Glasgow Grammar School and briefly studied at the University of Glasgow and was elected its

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

in 1819. In 1820, unfounded rumours spread around the university that he was building up a motion to disallow student voting at rectorial elections. In the resulting student campaign Finlay was defeated in the re-election by

Francis Jeffrey Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic. Life He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Session ...

. He however later served as Dean of Faculties between 1839 and 1840.

Family

His daughter Hannah Finlay married Thomas Grahame second son of Robert Grahame of Whitehill,

1833/4. Finlay's nephew

George Finlay George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian. Biography Finlay was born in Faversham, Kent, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the Royal Engineers, was inspector of government powde ...

was a noted historian and philhellene. His cousin Mary was mother to the merchants and politicians

John 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 * Secon ...

and

Alexander Dennistoun Alexander Dennistoun (also known as Alex Dennistoun; 1789–1874) was a Scottish merchant, bank director, property developer and, for a two years, from 1835 to 1837, Member of Parliament for Dunbartonshire. He was responsible for establishing the ...

. Finlay Avenue, Campberdown, Victoria, Australia is named for the brothers (C)olin Campbell and Alexander Kirkman Finlay, his grandsons. Campbell Finlay died at Castle Toward on 15 February 1899.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, Kirkman 1773 births 1842 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow Lord Provosts of Glasgow Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 Rectors of the University of Glasgow Scottish merchants 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish economists Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies Politicians from Glasgow