Sir James Nasmyth, 2nd Baronet ( – 4 February 1779), also known as Naesmyth, of Dawyck and Posso, Peebleshire, was a Scottish botanist and politician who sat in the

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

between 1732 and 1741.

Early life

Nasmyth was the eldest son of

Sir James Nasmyth, 1st Baronet Sir James Nasmyth, 1st Baronet (died 1720), also known as James Naesmith, was a successful Scottish lawyer. Life He was the son of John Nasmyth and his wife, Isabella, daughter of Sir James Murray, Lord Philiphaugh. He was admitted advocate in 168 ...

, lawyer of Dawyck and Posso and his wife Barbara Pringle, daughter of Andrew Pringle of Clifton, Roxburgh. He succeeded to the

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 ...

when his father died in 1720. He married Jean Keith, daughter of Thomas Keith.

Career

At the 1727 general election, Nasmyth contested

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lan ...

, a seat with about 20 voters which was controlled by the

Earls of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales ( Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Mar ...

. He 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 ...

after he was defeated by the sitting

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) John Douglas, claiming that the Sheriff of Peebles had been biased. The petition was rejected. When Douglas died in 1731, Nasmyth contested the seat again at the resulting by-election on 28 April 1732, against the former MP Sir Alexander Murray, Bt. By this time the 2nd Earl of March had died, and the 3rd Earl was only 6 years old. Nasmyth won the seat with the support of the Deputy Sheriff, and Murray's petition was rejected. Two separate election meetings were held at the 1734 general election, so the deputy sheriff made a double return of both Nasmyth and Murray. Murray withdrew his petition, and on 7 February 1735 Nasmyth was declared to have been elected. He voted consistently with the government, and retired from the House of Commons at the 1741 general election.

Later life and legacy

For his botanical work, Nasmyth was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1767.http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/fellowship/Fellows1660-2007.pdf Nasmyth died on 4 February 1779 leaving two sons. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son James.

References

, - 1704 births Year of birth uncertain 1779 deaths Scottish botanists Fellows of the Royal Society Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 {{Scotland-GreatBritain-MP-stub