Lawrence Dundas, 1st Earl of Zetland (10 April 1766 – 19 February 1839) was a Scottish MP 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. ...

from 1790 to 1820 when he was raised to the peerage.

Early life

Dundas was the son of

Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (16 February 1741 – 14 June 1820), known as Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet from 1781 to 1794, was a British people, British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1763 ...

and was born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

on 10 April 1766. He was educated at Harrow and was admitted at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He married Harriot Hale, one of the twenty-one children of General John Hale and his wife Mary Chaloner, by whom he had three sons and four daughters.

Political career

Dundas was elected Whig

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

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is from the county town of Northallerton and situated on t ...

in 1790. Twelve years later he exchanged this seat for that of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, and in 1808 returned to

as representative for his old Richmond seat. In 1811 he was again elected MP for

, and became Lord Mayor of the city that same year, having been an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

since 1808. He was Lord Mayor a second time in 1821. In 1820 Dundas succeeded his father as second Baron Dundas and as a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. He was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland. The Lieutenancy was replaced by two Lieutenancies, the Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and the Lord Lieutenant of Shetland, in 1948. * James Douglas, 11th Earl of Morton 17 ...

in 1831, and in 1838, on the occasion of the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, he was created Earl of Zetland (i.e.

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

) for having provided financial assistance to the new Queen's parents, the Duke & Duchess of Kent, in the years preceding her accession.

Slave holder

According to the '' Legacies of British Slave-Ownership'' at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, Zetland was awarded compensation in the aftermath of the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administrati ...

with the

Slave Compensation Act 1837 The Slave Compensation Act 1837 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 3) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 23 December 1837. It authorised the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the Briti ...

. Zetland was associated with "T71/880 Grenada claim no. 604 (Dougalston Estate)" and "T71/881 Dominica claim no. 576A & B (Castle Bruce)", he owned 351 slaves in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

and

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

and received a £8,135 payment at the time (worth £ in ). Retrieved 15 September 2021.

Later life and legacy

Dundas's wife died in 1834. He died suddenly on 19 February 1839 at his home of

Aske Hall Aske Hall is a Georgian country house, with parkland attributed to Capability Brown, north of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It contains an impressive collection of 18th-century furniture, paintings and porcelain, and in its grounds a Joh ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He was succeeded by his eldest son

Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland, KG (5 February 1795 – 6 May 1873), was a British nobleman and politician. Born in Marylebone, London, eldest son of the 1st Earl and his wife Harriet Hale, he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, ...

. He is buried in the family vault at Trinity Church in central

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

References

External links