John (Gladstones) Gladstone Bt (1764 - 1851)

Born 11 Dec 1764 in Leith, Edinburghshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Hall) Gladstone — married 1792 (to 1798) in Liverpool, Lancashire

Husband of Ann Mackenzie (Robertson) Gladstone — married 29 Apr 1800 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Descendants

Died 7 Dec 1851 at age 86 in Fasque House, Kincardineshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Biography

John Gladstone, 1st Bart. of Fasque and Balfour in the County of Kincardine, Scotland (Gladstones until 1835)^[1]

Baptised on 20 Dec in North Leith.

Name

Gladstones until 10 February 1835 when by royal license, he dropped the final "s."^[2]

Origin

John was born 11 December 1764 at Leith, Edinburghshire, Scotland and was the eldest son of Thomas Gladstone (1732–1809) and Helen Neilson (1739–1806).^[1] He was the second of the family's sixteen children.^{[1] [3]}

His father, Thomas Gladstones, was born in Biggar, Lanarkshire, the son of a miller and farmer. Thomas moved to Leith in 1746, aged 14, to be apprenticed to a wine merchant. Thomas later became a successful corn merchant in Leith and 1762 he married Helen Neilson. Thomas Gladstones was a Whig and an elder in the Church of Scotland. He is buried in North Leith churchyard on Coburg Street.^[1]

Occupation and Positions

John Gladstones followed his father into the mercantile business, working first for his father's business, before basing himself in Liverpool in 1787, where he entered the house of grain (largely corn) merchants Corrie & Company as a clerk. He was eventually taken into the firm as a partner, the name of the house becoming Corrie, Gladstone & Bradshaw. The business of the firm, and the wealth of its members, soon grew very large. Once he had settled in Liverpool, Gladstones dropped the final "s" from his surname, although this was not legally regularized until 1835.^[1]

According to the Victorian Web, Sir John Gladstone made his fortune in trade especially with America and the West Indies: it was there that he owned sugar plantations.^[4] His sugar and cotton trading with the West Indies began in 1803, in ventures undertaken with his brother Robert (from 1801). Gladstone extended this to include purchasing estates and the enslaved in British Guiana (Demerara as was) in 1803 (the Belmont Estate) and several others. The largest was the Vreedenhoop estate in Demerara which he bought in 1826 for £80,000. It had 430 enslaved people working on it. Further, in the 1820s, Gladstone expanded his sugar estate holdings in the Caribbean, despite the rise of abolitionism and made several claims for compensation for plantations in Guyana and Jamaica.^[5]

John was created a Baronet on 18 July 1846.^[2]

Marriage and Family

John married twice.

• John married in 1792 to Jane Hall (b 1765), the daughter of Joseph Hall of Liverpool.^[2] She had poor health and died in 1798; John and Jane had no children.^[2]

• John married on 29 April 1800, at St Peter's Parish Church in Liverpool, as his 2nd, to Anne MacKenzie Robertson (b 1772), the daughter of Andrew Robertson, a solicitor and Justice of the Peace and the Provost of Dingwall, co. Ross.^[2] The couple made their home at 62 Rodney St., Liverpool.^[6] In 1804, John left the Church of Scotland and joined the newly built Anglican Church of St. Mark, where he purchased two seats for £203.^[6]

John and Anne had six children together:^[2][7]

1. Anne MacKenzie Gladstone, b 24 Dec 1802, d 19 Feb 1829
2. Sir Thomas Gladstone, 2nd Baronet, b 25 July 1804, d 1889; mar Louisa Fellowes
3. Robertson Gladstone, b 15 Nov 1805, d 1875, of Court Hey, co Lancaster, J.P.; mar Mary Ellen Jones
4. John Neilson Gladstone, b 18 Jan 1807, d 1863; mar Elizabeth Honoria Bateson
5. William Ewart Gladstone, b 29 Dec 1809, d 1898; mar Catherine Glynne
6. Helen Jane Gladstone, b 28 June 1814, d 1880 at Cologne, Germany, unmarried

Property

In 1829, John purchased Fasque House at Kincardine and returned to Scotland, where he remained until his death.^[1]

Death and Legacy

Sir John died on 7 December 1851,^[7] at Fasque House, aged 86, and was buried at St Andrew's Episcopal Church at Fasque.^[1] Anne had died on 23 September 1835.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Wikipedia contributors, "Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet." 24 November, 2015, accessed 16 December 2015.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Burke, John, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. (Vol I A-L, Page 847) London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1914, HathiTrust.org accessed 16 December 2015.
3. ↑ Scotlands People OPR Birth/Baptism Index: Name: GLADSTONES, JOHN s/o THOMAS GLADSTONES/HELEN NEILSON FR2534 (FR2534); Sex: M; Date: 20/12/1764; Ref: 692/1 30 208; Place: Leith North
4. ↑ Shanahan, Eunice, "Jamaica v Scotland, 1837." Victorian Web 12 December 2002, accessed 16 December 2015.
5. ↑ Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery: John Gladstone
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Leonard, Dick, The Great Rivalry: Gladstone and Disraeli. (Page 25) London; New York: I.B. Tauris, 2013, GoogleBooks.com accessed 16 December 2015.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Lundy, Darryl, "Sir John Gladstone, 1st Bt." The Peerage, #59320, accessed 16 December 2015.