William Fairlie (merchant)
William Fairlie (1754–1825) was a Scottish merchant in Bengal.
Life[edit]
He was the third son of John Fairlie and his wife Agnes Mure or Muir.[1] He came to India in the early 1780s, remaining there until 1812, and was associated with the "Fairlie House" in Calcutta, an agency that traded under a succession of names.[2] He initially went into partnership with John Fergusson in 1782.[3] They operated as free merchants, not beholden to the British East India Company.[4]
The house was also on good terms with David Scott & Co. of London, run by David Scott, and Fairlie became a partner in it.[5]
Enterprises[edit]
In a legal case of the 1840s, it was argued that Fairlie had participated in four successive firms based in Calcutta:[6]
- Fergusson & Fairlie. Fergusson returned to Great Britain in 1789, took over David Scott's business in London, and died in 1793.[7]
- Fairlie, Reid & Co.
- Fairlie, Gilmore & Co.
- Fairlie, Fergusson & Co.
The last of these was succeeded in 1818 by Fergusson, Clark & Co.[6]
From 1793 Fairlie, with Scott and his son, ran for about 20 years a business empire operating in London, New York, India, China and South-East Asia.[7] Fairlie, Bonham & Co., involving Fairlie, H. Bonham and John Innes, was a London house, a successor to Scott, Bonham, Hartwell, Innes & Co.[8][9]
Family[edit]
Fairlie married Margaret Ogilvy, daughter of John Ogilvy of Murtle. Their children included:[1]
- William Fairlie (1798–1822)
- John Fairlie (born 1799)
- James Ogilvie Fairlie
- Agnes Maria, eldest daughter, married James Fairlie of Holms, her cousin.[10]
- Margaret Eliza, married John Stuart Hay.
Coodham House[edit]
After Fairlie's death, his widow Margaret began construction on Coodham House, near Symington, South Ayrshire, which she named "Williamfield". It became the family seat.[1][11] It later belonged to William Houldsworth.[12]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c Burke, Bernard (1871). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. I. Harrison. p. 416.
- ^ Greenberg, Michael (1969). British Trade and the Opening of China 1800-1842. CUP Archive. pp. 35–36.
- ^ Powell, Avril Ann (2010). Scottish Orientalists and India: The Muir Brothers, Religion, Education and Empire. Boydell & Brewer. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-84383-579-0.
- ^ Cage, R. A. (12 October 2021). The Scots Abroad: Labour, Capital, Enterprise, 1750-1914. Routledge. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-000-44159-8.
- ^ Singh, S. B. (1966). European Agency Houses In Bengal 1783-1833. p. 11.
- ^ a b House of Lords (1843). Reports of Cases Heard and Decided in the House of Lords on Appeals and Writs of Error: During the Sessions 1831[-1846]. Vol. VIII. J. & W. T. Clarke. p. 123.
- ^ a b Tomlinson, B. R. (2002). "From Campsie to Kedgeree: Scottish Enterprise, Asian Trade and the Company Raj". Modern Asian Studies. 36 (4): 786. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 3876474.
- ^ Lords, Great Britain Parliament House of (1841). Reports of Cases Heard and Decided in the House of Lords on Appeals and Writs of Error: During the Sessions 1831[-1846]. Vol. V. J. & W. T. Clarke. p. 499.
- ^ "Innes, John (1767-1838), of 9 Broad Street Buildings, London, History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
- ^ Burke, Bernard (1894). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Harrison. p. 616. ISBN 978-0-394-48726-7.
- ^ Barczewski, Stephanie (1 February 2017). Country Houses and the British Empire, 1700–1930. Manchester University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-5261-1753-3.
- ^ Adamson, Archibald R. (1879). Rambles Through the Land of Burns. Dunlop & Drennan. p. 4.