James Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie

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Hon. James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie (born September 19, 1747 , † March 1, 1818 ) was a British politician and officer.

origin

He came from an old branch of the Stuarts , which descended from the Scottish King Robert II . He was born James Stuart, the second son of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and his wife Mary Wortley-Montagu, 1st Baroness Mount Stuart of Wortley . His siblings included John , Frederick , Charles , William, and Louisa Stuart . Since his uncle Edward Wortley Montagu had no legitimate male descendants, according to the will of his grandfather Edward Wortley Montagu, who died in 1761, James inherited the estate of the Wortley family in Yorkshire and Cornwall after the death of his mother.

Life

He attended the private di Graffiani's Academy in Kensington . From 1766 he studied at the University of Edinburgh . Since he led an unrestrained life there and his father learned of an alleged secret wedding, he sent him to France together with an educator in 1767. James asked his father to have the actual wedding annulled through his relationships, but his father refused his request. Instead, he had him elected in absentia in 1768 as MP for the Scottish constituency of Ayr Burghs in the House of Commons . After Stuart returned from France in July, his father forced him to reconcile with his bride. Stuart brought her to London from Scotland and was able to take up his mandate in November 1768. In the House of Commons he remained largely inconspicuous, but after a few years was considered a good-for-nothing, gambler, drinker and adulterer. His wife then also began numerous affairs. In 1774 he ran successfully for the Scottish constituency of Buteshire , and after campaigning for the formation of a militia in Scotland from 1775 , he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Bedfordshire militia from 1778 to 1779 . At his father's request, he then joined the British Army . With the 92nd Regiment of Foot , recruited in Scotland , he was transferred to the West Indies , where he arrived in July 1780. Shortly after his arrival, he fell ill with tropical fever and returned to England. His return thwarted his family's election plans as his father had not prepared for him to be re-elected. Without a parliamentary mandate, the indebted James lost his immunity from his creditors, so that his father finally had to acquire him a mandate in Plympton Alder , south-west England , which was also considered a Rotten borough . In the next few years he lived a relatively modest farmer and overcame his addiction to gambling and alcohol. Shaken by the death of his young daughter in 1786, he turned into a serious politician. He supported the oppositional Whigs under Charles James Fox and was friends with William Adam of Blair Adam , but he did not play a significant active role. In the elections of 1790 he was elected MP for Bossiney , the Stuarts family seat in Cornwall. In the next few years he moved from the opposition to the government camp. After his mother's death in 1794 and the onset of her inheritance, he changed his surname to Stuart-Wortley in January 1795. In 1796, his eldest son John ran for Bossily, but after his sudden death in January 1797, James was re-elected as a member of Parliament for Bossiney. In 1798 he commanded a unit of the Yorkshire Militia during the rebellion in Ireland . In 1802 he renounced a renewed candidacy in Bossiney in favor of his second son James Stuart-Wortley.

After the death of his uncle James Stuart Mackenzie in 1800 there was an inheritance dispute with his cousin Herbert Windsor Stuart over his extensive estates in Ross-shire and Angus , which in 1803 was finally decided in favor of Stuart-Wortley by the House of Lords . He then changed his name to Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie and initially lived in seclusion on his country estate. He attempted to drain parts of his property, but the cost only increased his debt. At the instigation of his brother in 1806 he was re-elected to the House of Commons for Buteshire, where he was a member of the opposition to the government of Lord Grenville . After the fall of the government in March 1807, Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie resigned from office in May 1807 for health reasons. His attempts to become a peer failed. He withdrew to his estates, where he continued to live beyond his means.

Family and offspring

From his marriage to Margaret Cunynghame , daughter of Sir David Cunynghame, 3rd Baronet (of Milncraig) , on June 8, 1767, while studying in Edinburgh , he had several children, including:

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personal data
SURNAME Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, James Archibald (full name); Stuart, James; Stuart-Wortley, James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, member of the House of Commons and officer
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1747
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 1818