James Foulis of Colinton, Lord Retfurd or Redford (–1711), was a Scottish judge and politician. He was one of the main investors in the

Company of Scotland The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, also called the Scottish Darien Company, was an overseas trading company created by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland in 1695. The Act granted the Company a monopoly of Scottish trade ...

and their

Darien Expedition The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing ''New Caledonia'', a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the co ...

Life

Foulis was born around 1645 at

Colinton Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...

Castle, the eldest son of Sir James Foulis, Lord Colinton, whom he succeeded as third Baronet in 1688. His mother was Barbara Ainslie daughter of Andrew Ainslie. His father 'bestowed liberally' upon his education. He studied Law at

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, and was admitted as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

on 8 June 1669. He was appointed

lord of session The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session) ...

November 1674, when he took the courtesy title of Lord Reidfurd. The name Redford links to Redford House which was built is south Colinton around 1670. In 1685 he is listed as one of the founders of the "Company of Scotland Trading with Africa and the Indies" generally just known as the

. Although the terms of their foundation limited personal investment to £3000 the simple maths of the 30 founders raising £400,000 means that the individual investment amounted to an average of £35,000 (£4 million in modern terms). This money was used to fund the ill-fortuned

Darien Scheme The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing ''New Caledonia'', a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the co ...

to colonise Panama. By 1689 all investors and lost everything. Foulis was elected commissioner for

Edinburghshire Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh ...

on 20 January 1685, was a supporter of the extreme measures of the government, but continued to sit after

The Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, 'until his seat was declared vacant, 25 April 1693, because he had not taken the oath of allegiance and signed the assurance'. After the death of

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

he was made colonel of the Midlothian militia, and sworn of the

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

(1703). From 1704 until 1707 (the Act of Union) he represented Edinburghshire in the Scottish Parliament. Although publicly he spoke in opposition to the

Union of 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, under the terms of the Act, he, and the fellow stockholders of the Company of Scotland were all fully "compensated" for their losses. This included "interest" on the failed investment. This is viewed by most historians as a bribe by the English parliament, as they (the English parliament) bore no responsibility whatsoever for the losses. Foulis's receipt in 1707 would be around £40,000 (around £5 million in modern terms). It would probably be very difficult for Foulis to be "against the Union" under these circumstances. Although Foulis was not a signatory to the Act of Union (as several members of the Company of Scotland were) as a commissioner representing Edinburgh alongside

Sir Patrick Johnston Sir Patrick Johnston (1650–1736) of Edinburgh was a Scottish merchant and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 to 1707 and as a Whig in the British House of Commons between 1707 and 1713. He was Lord Provost of Edinb ...

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

, they were responsible for setting up the terms for the Act of Union, including their personal "compensation" (Johnston was also in the company and was signatory to the Act). Colinton Castle remained in the hands of the Foulis family until 1800 when it was bought by

William Forbes of Pitsligo William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

as his Edinburgh residence. The site became

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled a ...

in the 20th century. The name Redford (a second house in the grounds of Colinton Castle) is preserved in the names Redford Road and

Redford Barracks Redford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks is located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. Redford Barracks was built between 1909 and 1915 by the War Office and designed by Harry Be ...

Family

Foulis married Margaret, daughter of John Boyd,

Dean of Guild A Dean of Guild, under Scots law, was one of a group of burgh magistrates who, in later years, had the care of buildings. The leader of the group was known as Lord Dean of Guild. Originally, the post was held by the head of the Guild brethren o ...

, Edinburgh, by whom he had several children. On his death, in 1711, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, with whom he is sometimes confounded—e.g. by Anderson. Foulis was engaged in a complex lawsuit with Dame Margaret Erskine, Lady Castlehaven, his stepmother, as to her interest in his father's estates. The chief papers were published, with notes by him, or compiled under his direction, and exhibit some details as to Scotch aristocratic life and customs of the period ('An Exact and Faithful relation of the Process pursued by Dame Margaret Areskine, Lady Castlehaven, against Sir James Foulis, now of Collingtoun,' Edinburgh, 1690). Among the Lauderdale MSS. are various official reports and addresses to Charles II and the

Duke of Lauderdale Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

, to which the signature of Foulis is appended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foulis, James 1645 births 1711 deaths Nobility from Edinburgh Politicians from Edinburgh 17th-century Scottish politicians 18th-century Scottish politicians Senators of the College of Justice Members of the Privy Council of Scotland Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1685–1686 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1689 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland