Patrick Heron of

Kirroughtree Kirroughtree Forest is located near Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland and overlooks the Irish Sea. It is managed by Forestry and Land Scotland and is part of the Galloway Forest Park. It has been developed as a centre ...

( – 9 June 1803) was a Scottish banker and politician. From 1794 to 1803 he was a Whig Member of Parliament for Kirkcudbright Stewartry. He was the grandson of

Patrick Heron Patrick Heron (30 January 1920 – 20 March 1999) was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall. Heron was recognised as one of the leading painters of his generation. Influenced b ...

of Kirroughtrie, who had been MP for the Stewartry from 1727 to 1741. His mother Margaret was the daughter of John Mackie of Palgoun. He was educated at the

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

. He married Jean Home, in 1761, daughter of

Henry Home, Lord Kames Henry Home, Lord Kames (169627 December 1782) was a Scottish writer, philosopher, advocate, judge, and agricultural improver. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, a founding member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, and a ...

, but the couple were divorced in 1772. In 1775, he married Lady Elizabeth Cochrane, daughter of

Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald (1691 – 31 October 1778) was a Scottish nobleman, army officer and politician. He was Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire, 1722–1727. He served as Commissioner of the Excise for Scotland from 1730 u ...

, and cousin to the diarist

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

. He was a founder of a bank in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, Douglas, Heron & Company, which went bankrupt during the credit crisis of 1772. Heron was elected unopposed at a by-election in March 1795 as the MP for the Kirkcudbright Stewartry, filling the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander Stewart. His election was the result of a deal brokered with the support of

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Pri ...

whereby he was to alternate the seat with two others. However, Heron managed to keep the seat for himself and was re-elected unopposed in

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital ...

. At the general election in July 1802, he faced a contest from the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

candidate Montgomery Stewart, son of the

Earl of Galloway Earl of Galloway is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1623 for Alexander Stewart, 1st Lord Garlies, with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Stewart. He had already been created Lord Garlies in the Peera ...

. Heron was returned, but Stewart lodged a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

, and on 10 May 1803 the result was overturned in Stewart's favour by the Committee of the House of Commons which heard the case. The campaigns are recorded in three works by Robert Burns, now known as the ''Heron Ballads''. Burns was himself a supporter of Heron:

An' there will be trusty Kerroughtree,
:Whose honour was ever his law, If the virtues were pack'd in a parcel,
:His worth might be sample for a'.

Heron died on 9 June 1803, aged about 68. He was survived by only one child, a daughter Mary. She had married John Maxwell, who changed his name to Heron-Maxwell when they inherited Mary's father's estates. The following year he succeeded to his father's baronetcy, becoming Sir John Heron-Maxwell, 4th Baronet.

References

External links

Patrick Heron
at
jamesboswell.infoThe Heron Ballads
a
The Literature Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heron, Patrick 1736 births 1803 deaths Scottish bankers Scottish company founders 18th-century Scottish businesspeople Whig (British political party) MPs for Scottish constituencies Politics of Dumfries and Galloway Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 Alumni of the University of Glasgow