James Lumsden (1778–1856) was a Scottish stationer and merchant who served as

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

from 1843 to 1846.

Life

He was born on 13 November 1778 in

,James Lumsden
100 Glasgow Men (published 1885) the son of James Lumsden, an engraver and publisher, and his wife, Jean Adamson. The family lived in a second floor flat in Craigs Land at the head of the Old Wynd in central Glasgow. He was educated at

Glasgow Grammar School The High School of Glasgow is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational day school, day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the Cathedral school, choir school of Glasgow Cathedra ...

. Their family publishing firm J. Lumsden and Son was founded in 1783 and specialised in children's books. In 1797 he was "elected" knight companion of the Coul Club under the pseudonym of Christopher Copperplate. When his father retired in 1810, he then took over the publishing firm. In 1812 he was one of the several people including Henry Bell and Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

on the maiden voyage of the ''

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

''.James Lumsden 1778 - 1856

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and co ...

He developed the business James Lumsden & Son based at 20 Queen Street in Glasgow.Glasgow Post Office Directory 1840 In 1840 he was living at 208 St Vincent Street. Statue of James Lumsden Glasgow

In 1838 he was one of the founders of the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank () is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank plc's holding company, CYBG, would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billi ...

. He served on Glasgow Town Council from 1833 and was elected

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. The Lord Provost serves both as the chair of the city council and as a figurehead for the entire city, and is elected by the city councillors from among i ...

from 1843 to 1846, having previously been a Town councillor and baillie, and a commissioner of the

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police organisation covering the city and royal burgh of Glasgow, from 1800 to 1893, and the county of city of Glasgow, from 1893 to 1975. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to ...

. His most important achievement as Lord Provost was the crearion of the Glasgow School of Design.Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Portraits in the New Galleries of Art in Corporation Buildings He retired in 1852 and died on 16 May 1856. He was buried in the churchyard of

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, from the 12th ...

Artistic Recognition

A statue to his memory, designed by

John Mossman John G. Mossman (1817 in London – 1890) was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828. ...

, stands near the cathedral in front of

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

, of which both he and his brother Lachlan were major benefactors. He was also portrayed by Sir

Daniel Macnee Sir Daniel Macnee Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Royal Scottish Academy, PRSA LLD (4 June 1806, Fintry, Stirlingshire – 17 January 1882, Edinburgh), was a Scottish people, Scottish portrait painter who served as president of th ...

Family

He married Margaret Gourlay. They had two sons, James and George, who both initially joined the family firm. James Jr was head of the Clydesdale Bank from 1851 until his death, and was also Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1866 to 1869. He was knighted in 1868 as ''

Sir James Lumsden Sir James Lumsden DL (18 June 1808–22 March 1879) was a Scottish stationer and merchant who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1866 to 1869. He was known as the Knight of Arden. History The eldest son of James Lumsden who served as L ...

of Arden''.Sir James Lumsden
100 Glasgow Men (published 1885)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumsden, James 1778 births 1856 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow People educated at the High School of Glasgow 19th-century Scottish merchants 19th-century Scottish politicians Scottish bankers Scottish company founders Lord provosts of Glasgow Liberal Party (UK) politicians Councillors in Glasgow Philanthropists from Glasgow 18th-century Scottish merchants