Sir Lawrence Dundas, 1st Baronet (c. 1710 – 21 September 1781) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

businessman, landowner and politician.

Life

He was the son of Thomas Dundas and Bethia Baillie. He made his first fortune as Commissary General: supplying goods to the British Army during their campaigns against the

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

and in Flanders during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754– ...

, 1756-1763. He subsequently branched out into banking, property (he developed

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

in 1777) and was a major backer of the

Forth and Clyde Canal The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allowe ...

which happened to run through his estate, centred on Kerse House, near

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

. He left his son an inheritance worth £900,000. Sir Lawrence was also a man of taste, elected a member of the

Society of Dilettanti The Society of Dilettanti (founded 1734) is a British society of noblemen and scholars that sponsors the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, and the creation of new work in the style. History Though the exact date is unknown, the Society is ...

in 1750.

He bought the Aske Estate, near Richmond in North Yorkshire in 1763 from Lord Holderness for £45,000 and proceeded to enlarge and remodel it in

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

taste by the premier Yorkshire architect, John Carr, who also designed new stables. In 1768 he acquired a tavern "Peace and Plenty" on the land destined to become

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

. This was shown on James Craig's plan as a potential site for a church, but Dundas's wealth and ownership of the site allowed him to design his own mansion here, somewhat off the grid of the New Town. This house, now

Dundas House Dundas House is a Neoclassical building in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at 36 St Andrew Square, in the city's first New Town. The building was completed in 1774 as a private town house for Sir Lawrence Dundas by the architect Sir Willi ...

in St. Andrew Square, was designed by

Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. Bio ...

, became the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1825. The facade and later 1857 ceiling feature on the current designs of the banknotes issued by the Royal Bank. He purchased Leoni's grand house near London, Moor Park, for which he ordered a set of Gobelins tapestry hangings with medallions by

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegorie ...

and a long suite of seat furniture to match, for which

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

provided designs: they are among the earliest English neoclassical furniture. Other new furnishings, for Aske and for Sir Lawrence's magnificently appointed London house at 19 Arlington Street, were supplied by

Thomas Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...

(1763–66), and Chippendale's rivals, the royal cabinet-makers

William Vile William Vile ( 1700 – September 1767) was an English cabinetmaker. Biography Vile was one of the best English cabinetmakers of the Early Georgian Period (1745 – 1780) only overshadowed by Thomas Chippendale of the Late Georgian Period (1750 � ...

and John Cobb, and Samuel Norman (Gilbert). A pair of marquetry commodes in the French taste by a French cabinet-maker working in London, Pierre Langlois, is at Aske.

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English lan ...

worked on the park at Aske and provided a design for a bridge. In the 1770s, Sir Lawrence turned to Robert Adam for further remodelling and designs for furnishings. The Aske estate included the

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

of Richmond, so Sir Lawrence was, therefore, able to appoint the Member of Parliament. Sir Lawrence married Margaret Bruce, and they had one son, Thomas Dundas.

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 his friend and older contemporary the English writer S ...

described Dundas as "a comely jovial Scotch gentleman of good address but not bright parts ... I liked him much". Dundas was a great collector of art. Long after his death, Messrs Greenwood sold 116 of his paintings on 29–31 May 1794 from their room in Leicester Square. They included works by Cuyp, Murillo,

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditi ...

and Teniers. Some of the Murillo's and perhaps other works would have been bought on commission by Dundas's friend John Blackwood. Sir Lawrence died in 1781 and is buried in the Dundas Mausoleum at

Falkirk Old Parish Church Falkirk Old & St. Modan's Parish Church also known as "Falkirk Trinity Church" is a congregation of the Church of Scotland in Falkirk, central Scotland. The medieval Old Parish Church is located in the centre of Falkirk, and may have been founde ...

where his wife Margaret and son Thomas eventually joined him.

Notes

References

* Colvin, Howard. ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840,'' 3rd edition 1995. *Gilbert, Christopher. ''The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale'' 1978. vol I, pp 154–60. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dundas, Lawrence, 1st Baronet 1710 births 1780 deaths Scottish businesspeople Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Newcastle-under-Lyme British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Clan Dundas