Sir James King, 1st Baronet,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(13 July 1830 – 1 October 1911) was a Scottish businessman who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow 1886 to 1889. He was Director of the Clydesdale Bank for over forty years. He was also Chairman of the

Caledonian Railway Company The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scotland, Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edi ...

. His family motto was “Honos Industriae Praemium”.

Life

He was born in Glasgow on 13 July 1830Sir James King
Retrieved 2 July 2018. the eldest of seven children to John King of Leverholme and Campsie, and his wife, Christina McNie. He attended Glasgow High school then Glasgow University before joining the family business of Hurlet & Campsie Alum Company, in their offices at 77 Union Street in Glasgow. The firm made various raw chemical products, including potash and alum. He played a very active part in the life of Glasgow joining the Town Council in 1874 and being variously

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 ...

, Chairman of the

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Dean of Faculties at the University of Glasgow, and Chairman of the

Clyde Navigation Trust Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a t ...

. He was also Deputy Lieutenant and a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Lanarkshire. In 1877, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, Sir

Charles Wyville Thomson Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the Challenger expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his knight ...

, Sir James David Marwick and

James Bryce James Bryce may refer to: *James Bryce (geologist) (1806–1877), Irish naturalist and geologist * James Bryce (footballer) (1884–1916), Scottish footballer *James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838–1922), British jurist, historian and politician ...

. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1887 following her official visit to the city. In 1888 he oversaw the Glasgow International Exhibition in his role of Lord Provost. He was then raised to the rank of Baronet. In 1889 he served on the Royal Commission on the Highlands and Islands and was involved in paving the way for the Crofters Commission. Through the 1880s and 1890s he rented the habitable sections of Bothwell Castle from the Earl of Home. In 1910, he has two listed addresses: 115 Wellington Street in Glasgow and Carstairs House. Carstairs House was later renamed Monteith House in part due to the confusion and stigma for the similarly named

Carstairs Hospital The State Hospital (also known as Carstairs Hospital, or simply Carstairs) is a psychiatric hospital near the village of Carstairs Junction, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It provides care and treatment in conditions of high security for aroun ...

, a hospital once linked with the criminally insane, and itself now also renamed. He died on 1 October 1911.

Family

In 1861 he married Marian Westall, daughter of William Westall of Streatham Common. They had seven children two of which died in early infancy. He was succeeded by John Westall King (1863-1940) 2nd Baronet. He in turn was succeeded by James Granville le Neve King, 3rd Baronet.

Artistic Recognition

His full-length portrait by Edward Arthur Walton (commissioned in 1889) is held by Glasgow Council. The Clydesdale Bank commissioned a portrait by Sir George Reid. In 1910 he was subject as one of the highly popular series of figures of the day in the magazine Vanity Fair. He appeared under the title of “King of Campsie”. The portrait is signed HCO.Vanity Fair (magazine): 24 August 1910.

References

# {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Sir James 1830 births 1911 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow Lord Provosts of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor 19th-century Scottish businesspeople