William Cunninghame of Lainshaw (1731–1799) was a leading

Tobacco Lord The Tobacco Lords were a group of Scottish people, Scottish merchants and slave traders who in the 18th century made enormous fortunes by International trade, trading in tobacco. Many became so wealthy that they adopted the lifestyle of aristocr ...

who headed one of the major Glasgow syndicates that came to dominate the transatlantic tobacco trade. The Glasgow Story
Retrieved June 2012 Most of the tobacco shipped from American slave plantations was sold to France. He later also made a further fortune stockpiling tobacco bought at keen prices shortly before the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, assuming that Great Britain would not be able to retain control over her rebellious colonies, and then selling at high prices. Cunninghame's (much altered and expanded) neo-classical house on Glasgow's Queen Street today houses the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art.

Early life

Cunninghame was born in 1715 in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, into a prosperous merchant family. He was a blood relative of Andrew Cochrane of Brighouse (1693–1777), who was one of Glasgow's most respected Lord Provosts. Family ties were of great importance in helping to build Cunninghame's growing fortune.The Glasgow Story
Retrieved June 2012

Career

Cunninghame first sailed to America in 1746 as a young apprentice in the firm of Cochrane, Murdoch & Company. After four years of training he was promoted to become a manager and in 1752 he came to oversee all the company business in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. In 1762 he returned to Scotland, where he became the principal partner in the firm of Cochrane, Murdoch & Co. By the early 1770s he changed the company name to William Cunninghame & Company, and it grew to become one of the city's five largest importers. Twice a year his flagship – named ''The Cunninghame'' – arrived in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

, loaded with European luxury goods such as silverware and furniture, and ready to collect Tobacco for export back to Europe. Cunninghame, like the other Glasgow merchants, extended credit to the growers enabling them to buy goods from the company store before their tobacco was sold at market. However, many growers found themselves deeply in debt and thereby forced to accept low prices for their crop. Cunninghame was known to offer prices as much as 10% below market value to distressed growers.Oliver, p.342

American Revolution

Cunninghame made an even greater fortune from the tobacco scarcity caused by the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. On the outbreak of war, Cunningham's business partners found themselves in possession of substantial stocks of tobacco which they had purchased for around three pence per pound. As war began to disrupt the trade the price rose, and Cunningham's partners, confident that the rebellious colonists would soon be defeated, sold out their stock at sixpence per pound. Cunningham took the opposite view and he personally purchased their entire stock. Eventually, as the long war disrupted supplies, the price of tobacco rose to a staggering 3 shillings and sixpence, making a huge fortune for Cunninghame.Royal Exchange History
Retrieved June 2012 Like many wealthy Glasgow merchants, Cunninghame used some of his profits to buy a country estate. In 1778 he purchased for £26,200 for the estate of

Lainshaw The Lands of Lainshaw lie in Strathannick and were part of the Lordship of Stewarton, in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Lainshaw House is a category B listed mansion, lying in a prominent position above the Annick Water and its holm in the Parish of ...

, in

. He also purchased a property in the Cow Loan in Glasgow, which he renamed Queen Street after the wife of George III, and in 1780 he built there a large mansion in the neo-classical style at a cost of £10,000, an immense sum at the time. In 1779 he completed his rise to the wealthy landed gentry by registering his family coat-of-arms at the office of the Lord Lyon in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1780 Cunninghame retired from the tobacco business, although he was not yet fifty years old.

Family life

Cunninghame married three times and had fourteen children. He disinherited his eldest sons Thomas and Alexander and it was his third son

William Cunninghame William Cunninghame of Lainshaw (1731–1799) was a leading Tobacco Lord who headed one of the major Glasgow syndicates that came to dominate the transatlantic tobacco trade.

who eventually inherited the estate in 1799.Paterson, Page 588

Legacy

Today Cunninghame's neo classical palace on Glasgow's Queen Street houses the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art.

Notes

References

* Devine,Tom ''The Tobacco Lords: A Study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and their Trading Activities, 1740–1790'' (John Donald, 1975) *Oliver, Neil, ''A History of Scotland'', Phoenix, Orion Books, London (2009) * Paterson, James, ''History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton. Vol. IV. Part I. Cunningham''. Edinburgh: J. Stillie.

External links

Royal Exchange History
Retrieved June 2012
The Glasgow Story
Retrieved June 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunninghame, William People associated with Glasgow Scottish businesspeople Scottish people of the British Empire Scottish landowners Scottish merchants 1731 births 1799 deaths People from Kilmarnock