James Stuart Mackenzie

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James Stuart Mackenzie (born February 23, 1719 , † April 6, 1800 in London ) was a British politician who was elected five times as a member of the House of Commons . As a capable administrator, he made in the politically changeable time at the beginning of the rule of George III. no career of his own, but remained a loyal supporter of his family and especially of his brother Lord Bute .

Origin and youth

James Stuart Mackenzie came from an old branch line of the Scottish noble family Stuart . He was born James Stuart, the second son of James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute and his wife Anne Campbell . After his father's death in 1723, he inherited his great-grandfather's will, Sir George Mackenzie, whose estates, including Rosehaugh near Avoch in Black Isle, lands in Forfarshire , Perthshire and houses in London. As an heir, the young James added his family name to Stuart Mackenzie . His maternal uncles John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll and his brother Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay took over his guardianship. From 1728 to 1732 he attended Eton College , after which he went on a Grand Tour . He studied at the Dutch University of Leiden in 1737 .

Start of political career and affair with a ballerina

After the death of Charles Campbell , the previous MP for Argyllshire , Mackenzie was elected as MP for Argyllshire in a by-election in February 1742 with the support of the 2nd Duke of Argyll. As his uncle's advocate, he was a member of the House of Commons opposition to the Whigs- led government. In late 1742 or 1743 he began an affair in London with the celebrated ballet dancer Barberina . He traveled abroad with her in 1743. He wanted to marry her in Venice, but his uncle, the 3rd Duke of Argyll, turned to Lord Hyndford , the British ambassador to Berlin with whom he was friends. Hyndford managed to have Mackenzie arrested in Venice. Mackenzie and his lover were brought to Berlin, where the Barberina was under contract as a dancer at the Royal Opera of Frederick II . Mackenzie, on the other hand, was sent back to Great Britain from Berlin. His uncle was extremely angry about this affair, so that Mackenzie ran in the general election in 1747 as a member of the parliament for Buteshire , which was politically controlled by his brother Lord Bute . On February 16, 1749, Mackenzie married his cousin Elizabeth Campbell , a daughter of his late uncle John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll.

Service as a diplomat

In the general election in May 1754 Mackenzie ran unsuccessfully for Ross-shire , where he lost despite the support of the Duke of Argylls and by Lord Bute in the vote with 14 to 18 votes against Kenneth Mackenzie . He was then elected unopposed as MP for Ayr Burghs with the support of his relatives . As a Member of Parliament, he regularly attended meetings of the House of Commons, but never made a speech. As a lobbyist for the Duke of Argyll, he was seen as an opponent of the government of the Duke of Newcastle . In contrast, he supported the government of the Duke of Devonshire and the subsequent government of the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt . With the support of the Prince of Wales , he became British Envoy Extraordinary to the Kingdom of Sardinia in June 1758 . In Turin he was admired for his lavish lifestyle. Because of his absence he was not involved in the dispute between the Bute and Campbell families from 1759 to 1760. When the Prince of Wales in 1760 as George III. ascended the throne, Mackenzie hoped in vain for a government office or the office of British envoy in Venice . In consultation with Lord Bute, Kenneth Mackenzie had renounced a new candidacy in Ross-shire in the general election in 1761, whereupon James Stuart Mackenzie had now been elected unchallenged. After the death of the Duke of Argyll, who had died in April 1761 without any legitimate children, Lord Bute called Mackenzie back to Great Britain, so that he left Turin in August 1761.

The Kinpurnie Tower, built by Mackenzie as an observatory

Government Representative for Scotland

The office of Secretary of State for Scotland had not been occupied since the Jacobite Rising in 1746. The most powerful politician in Scotland had been the Duke of Argyll, and Lord Bute Bute now hired Mackenzie to succeed his uncle in representing government interests in Scotland. For this job he was initially paid £ 2,000 a year. Mackenzie eagerly took on his duties. He appointed William Mure as his representative . His brother Bute trusted his assessments of other Scottish politicians and commissioned him in the summer of 1762 with preliminary negotiations for a peace treaty with France . Mackenzie was still striving for a diplomatic career, but although he applied to his brother for the post of ambassador to Spain or even to France, the latter left him in Scotland. There Mackenzie took care of the universities, banks, fisheries and factories. After the end of the Seven Years' War , he organized numerous government measures such as the settlement of discharged soldiers and sailors. Because of these diverse tasks, he had little time to attend meetings of the House of Commons in London.

Mackenzie certainly tried to be politically honest, but he was politically naive. In doing so, he acted tactlessly on several occasions, whereby he was convinced, like his brother, that he was right. In 1762 he made the well-meaning attempt to fill offices in the Church of Scotland with the most qualified candidates for him. This led to a dispute with various church groups. His attempts to please all sides led to further controversy over the occupation of civil servants and judges. The Stuart brothers' familiarity with the king sparked much hostility in the House of Commons and, as with the rest of his family, his popularity declined due to the increasing unpopularity of his brother Bute. When he resigned as Prime Minister, he got Mackenzie confirmation as government commissioner for Scotland, for which he became a member of the Privy Council and Lord Seal Keeper of Scotland in April 1763 . His office was given considerable powers and his annual salary increased to £ 3,000. Despite his resignation as prime minister, Bute continued to maintain significant influence over the king. He told the new Prime Minister Grenville to trust Mackenzie's recommendations on Scottish issues. In return, Mackenzie campaigned for Scottish MPs to support the Grenville government. Mackenzie made other opponents, especially the Duke of Bedford . Prime Minister Grenville initially had to accept unauthorized appointments from Mackenzie until serious tension arose between the two in 1765. Mackenzie's brother had since completely lost his influence over the king, and when the king continued to entrust Grenville with government in May 1765, Grenville insisted on Mackenzie's dismissal as government commissioner and lord seal keeper for Scotland. As a result, the reluctant King Mackenzie was released on May 23rd.

Further political activity

In the months following his release, Mackenzie took an active part in parliamentary sessions. The government under William Pitt, who had been raised to Earl of Chatham, reinstated Mackenzie as Lord Keeper of the Seal of Scotland in August 1766. Although he was paid an annual salary of £ 3,000 again, he now had almost no political powers. Nevertheless, he still had considerable political influence in Scotland until the early 1770s. In the general election in 1768 and 1774 he was re-elected as a member of parliament for Ross-shire. While several of his nephews like John and Frederick Stuart were active as MPs in the House of Commons, Mackenzie continued to lose influence. He spent the winter from 1777 to 1778 in Italy, and only because Alexander Wedderburn refused the office out of loyalty to the Bute family, Mackenzie remained Lord Keeper of Scotland. Finally, in the summer of 1780, he declared that he would not run again in the upcoming general election in October. But he kept the office of Lord Seal Keeper until his death.

The Mackenzie Meridian , a landmark that James Stuart Mackenzie had erected near Meigle around 1770 for his astronomical observations

Scientific activity

After his retirement from politics, Mackenzie devoted himself more to his scientific studies. He tried to improve the agriculture on his estates, but above all he worked as an amateur scientist. He tried to measure distant hills with the help of triangulation , made weather observations and built a tower on Kinpurnie Hill that was used as an astronomical observatory. As an amateur scientist, he was in contact with Giuseppe Piazzi , Nevil Maskelyne and probably also with James Bradley . As a pedantic bureaucrat, Mackenzie made lists of the numerous instruments used by his scientific friends, but he never published his observations himself. In 1783 he was one of the founders of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

Family and inheritance

Mackenzie had two children with his wife, Elizabeth Campbell, who both died young. His wife died in Mayfair on July 16, 1799 . Mackenzie, who was grieving for her, died less than a year later. Over his inheritance there was a dispute between Herbert Stuart , the second son of his nephew John Stuart and his nephew James Stuart-Wortley , the second son of his brother John. Eventually his nephew James inherited his possessions in 1803.

literature

  • D. Gavine: James Stewart Mackenzie (1719-1800) and the Bute MSS . In: Journal for the History of Astronomy , 5 (1974), pp. 208-214.
  • Alexander Murdoch: 'The people above': politics and administration in mid-eighteenth-century Scotland . Donald, Edinburgh 1980, ISBN 0-85976-053-7 .
  • John S. Shaw: The management of Scottish society, 1707–1764: power, nobles, lawyers, Edinburgh agents and English influences. Donald, Edinburgh 1983, ISBN 0-85976-085-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stuart Mackenzie, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stuart, James; Stuart-Mackenzie, James; Mackenzie, James Stuart
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1719
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1800
Place of death London