Peter McLagan (1823 – 31 August 1900) was a British Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1893. He was Scotland's first non-White and first Black MP.

Life

McLagan was born in Demerara in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. His father was Peter McLagan (1774–1860), and his mother was an unknown black woman. His father co-owned a sugar plantation with Samuel Sandbach. When the UK Government emancipated the slaves in the 1830s, they paid over £21,000 (£2,791,310 in 2020) in compensation to the elder McLagan and Sandbach for the legal emancipation of over 400 slaves. He left British Guiana with his father as a child and was educated in Tillicoultry and Peebles, before attending the University of Edinburgh. In 1841, at the age of 18, he is known to be living at 77 Great King Street in the New Town, Edinburgh, with his father and cousin. His father died in 1860 and is buried in New Calton cemetery. At the 1865 general election, he was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament for Linlithgowshire, and was re-elected at the next six general elections. He resigned his seat on 2 June 1893 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead. As an MP, he supported women's suffrage, the need for women doctors, and the Irish Home Rule Movement, although he abstained on the First Home Rule Bill. In 1878, he and his wife supported the erection of the McLagan memorial water fountain in Bathgate. McLagan owned the Pumpherston estate in

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

. He died at Marylebone in London but is buried with his wife in the churchyard of

Kirk of Calder Kirk of Calder is a medieval church in Mid Calder, West Lothian. It is listed as a Listed building#Scotland, Category A building by Historic Environment Scotland. The church is of Ashlar stone in a Gothic architecture, Gothic style. The present K ...

in Mid Calder, West Lothian.

Family

He was married to Elizabeth Ann Taylor (1846–1882).

References

External links

* 1823 births 1900 deaths Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Black British politicians UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 Black British MPs {{Scotland-Liberal-UK-MP-stub