Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet, (9 October 1775 – 27 March 1822) was a Scottish poet,

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

, and songwriter. The son of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's friend and biographer

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

of Auchinleck, he used the funds from his inheritance to pay for a seat in Parliament and then successfully sought a

baronetcy 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 ...

for his political support of the government. However, his finances subsequently collapsed and he was revealed as the author of violent attacks on a rival. Boswell died as a result of wounds received in a duel. Auchinleck House

Early life

Boswell was the eldest son of

of Auchinleck and Margaret Montgomerie of Lainshaw, and grandson of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck. He was born in Auchinleck House. He attended

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

Academy in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1786 and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1789 to 1792. Following his father's intention that he follow a legal career, he went to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1793. Shortly after his father's death he went to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

to study law, but soon dropped out of the course and visited

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and Berlin before returning to London in the summer of 1796. Boswell was a tall and muscular man who was thought by his sister to have exceeded his expectations. Having inherited land from his father, he took care of his inheritance and by 1801 the rents paid annually to him were more than his father had received. Boswell had an active interest in agriculture and was keen on country sports.

Poetry

Having abandoned a legal career, Boswell developed his interest in old Scottish authors and became a poet and bibliophile, becoming friends with

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. In 1815 he established a private press at Auchinleck which printed the poetry of his circle."Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in ...

'' 1790–1820, vol III pp. 229–230. He wrote some popular Scottish songs, of which ''Jenny's Bawbee'' and ''Jenny dang the Weaver'' are the best known. He was also a captain in the Ayr yeomanry from 1803, promoted to Major in 1815 and becoming the Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant in 1816.

Parliament

Boswell bought his entry to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

in 1816, paying Paul Treby who controlled one seat in the borough of Plympton Erle in Devon. In politics he was a staunch

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

, generally voting with the Government of the day; however, he developed a grudge against the ministers personally and against Prime Minister

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

in particular. His complaint was that Liverpool had not given help to him in his search for a seat in Parliament, despite having "conscientiously supported the administration with more persevering punctuality than any paid man in office", as he wrote to Lord Sidmouth.Sidmouth manuscripts, Boswell to Sidmouth, 19 November 1820; quoted in "Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

'' 1790–1820, vol III p. 230.

Countering sedition

When Sidmouth as Home Secretary brought in the "

Six Acts Following the Peterloo Massacre on 16 August 1819, the government of the United Kingdom under Lord Liverpool acted to prevent any future disturbances by the introduction of new legislation, the so-called Six Acts aimed at suppressing any meetings ...

" against sedition following the

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Eighteen people died and 400–700 were injured when the cavalry of the Yeomen charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who ...

, Boswell turned up to speak on the Seditious Meetings Bill despite wanting to be on the spot to suppress sedition in Ayrshire with his yeomanry. He also spoke against reform of Scottish

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

government in 1819. In 1820 he was with the yeomanry and highly active in suppressing dissent, although he did not only use force in countering them.See F.A. Pottle, "Pride and Negligence", pp. 18, 39 and "Poetical Works of Sir A. Boswell" ed. by R.H. Smith, pp. xl–xliv; cited in "Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

'' 1820–1832, vol IV pp. 314–5. Boswell attended an Ayrshire meeting to vote a loyal address to King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

over the Queen Caroline affair on 30 December 1820.

Leaving Parliament

Having sought a

from the Government for his support, Boswell became angered when Liverpool's refusal to grant one was given good publicity. In November 1820 he was on the point of resigning his seat when Sidmouth implied that Liverpool might have rethought his opposition. However, he was then hit by a financial crisis in his once profitable land holdings: Boswell had made some bad decisions to buy land, and his rental income suffered in a poor economy. He also had the expense of equipping his yeomanry. It cost him £1,000 per session to remain in Parliament, and Boswell concluded that he could not afford it; he resigned in February 1821, the day after voting in support of the Government over Queen Caroline. Ironically that summer he received the baronetcy he had sought, in recognition of his loyalty."Boswell, Alexander (1775–1822)" in ''

'' 1820–1832, vol IV pp. 314–5.

Death

After leaving Parliament, Boswell wrote a series of virulent but anonymous attacks in two Scottish newspapers, the ''Beacon'' and the ''Sentinel'', attacking a prominent Whig ( James Stuart of Dunearn) as a bully and a coward. When a legal fight broke out between the proprietors of the ''Sentinel'', Stuart was able to get access to internal documents which indicated Boswell was probably the author. Stuart demanded that Boswell either deny authorship or apologise; Boswell refused to do either and as a result Stuart challenged him to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

. They met on 26 March 1822 at Auchtertool, near

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) 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, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

in Fife. Boswell deliberately fired wide, but Stuart, who had never before handled a gun, shot Boswell in the

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

. Boswell was taken to Balmuto House, part of the Boswell family estate, and died the following day. He left assets of £10,000 and debts of £72,000. Stuart was unanimously found not guilty of murder at his trial. More than 11,000 people attended Boswell's funeral and the funeral procession was over a mile long.

References

External links

*
The trial of James Stuart

contemporary account of the duel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boswell, Alexander 1775 births 1822 deaths People from Auchinleck Nobility from East Ayrshire Scottish male songwriters Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Clan Boswell Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plympton Erle People educated at Eton College Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 Politicians killed in duels Deaths by firearm in Scotland Scottish duellists