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Son of:
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Thomas Dundas of Fingask |
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and:
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Bethia Baillie |
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born on:
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28/10/1712 in Edinburgh. Educated at Edinburgh High
School |
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The Dundas mausoleum.
The Dundas coat of arms above the door
of the mausoleum
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died on:
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21/9/1781. Buried in the family mausoleum at Falkirk Old
Parish Church.
The Dundas mausoleum is attached to the
east end of the church. However, prior to 1811, the building
stood alone and it was only when the church was restored
and extended, that the two buildings were joined.
Items of particular note are the stone heads on
the sides of the windows at the top of the mausoleum and
the coat of arms above the oak door.
On the inside of the mausoleum, facing the
door is a wall with several niches into which the coffins
were slid, end on. The niche was then sealed and a memorial
plaque put in place. Unfortunately, the burial records have
not survived, but it is believed that there were
about six burials in the mausoleum, two of them being
Sir Laurence Dundas and his son, Thomas, 1st Baron Dundas.
The memorial plaques are regrettably missing, having fallen
into the hands of vandals over the years.
.jpg)
| The stone heads on the side
of the mausoleum |
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Occupations:
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Commissary General and contractor to the army
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M.P. Linlithgow, 1747-1748. Newcastle under
Lyme, 1762-1768.
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Edinburgh, 1768-1780. Richmond, 1780-1781. Edinburgh
23/3-21/9/1781
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Governor of the Royal Bank of Scotland
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Vice Admiral Shetland and Orkney
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Kerse House. Sir Laurence Dundas' home in Scotland. It was
situated on the Kerse Estate in an area which is now known as Grangemouth.
The building no longer exists.
This and many other photographs available at Falkirk Museums,
Callendar House.
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A portrait of Sir Laurence Dundas by Sir
Thomas Hudson.
Collection of the Marquess of Zetland, Aske,
Richmond.
By kind permission of
the Marquess of Zetland
Sir Laurence Dundas started
of in life as a merchant in Edinburgh with his brother
Thomas Dundas of Fingask.
He soon became a merchant contractor and during the "Forty
Five", he managed to secure lucrative army
contracts, which made him a man of some substance. In
1748, the Duke of Cumberland ordered Sir Laurence to attend
in Flanders and appointed him Commissary General to
the army under his command
However, Laurence's greatest opportunity came with the
Seven Years War, when he managed to secure even
greater contracts for the allied forces on the continent.
Sir Laurence engaged in several large and extensive contracts
with the Lords of His Majesty’s Treasury for the service
of the army in Germany under the command of Prince
Ferdinand, where he acted so prudently that he
gained not only the regard and esteem of the army, but earned
an immense fortune. After the war was concluded, his Majesty,
in consideration of the many services that he had rendered
for twenty years, conferred a baronetcy upon him in
November 1762, with remainder to his brother,
Thomas Dundas of Fingask.
He was a brilliant entrepreneur in his own right and made
large sums by his legitimate speculation in
Government stock and in East India Company stock.
Laurence had made his home at Kerse in Stirlingshire, which
he had bought by 1749. This was not however his only
property. He also had purchased a residence
in Berkeley Square, London and as his wealth grew,
he made further large purchases in the property market.
He purchased Marske, Upleatham and Redcar in 1762 and the
Loftus estate in 1764 in East Cleveland. In the
North Ridings,
Yorkshire, Sir Laurence bought Aske and the accompanying
Richmond estate, which has remained the family home to this
date. Further properties were purchased, which included
a house in Arlington Street, London and Moor Park
in Hertfordshire. Sir Laurence also had a house
built in Edinburgh, which is now the home of the Royal Bank
of Scotland.
Besides the great landed
estates which he purchased, Sir Laurence also had a controlling
interest in the Forth and Clyde Navigation
Company whose canal passed through his land.
He was a director of
the Royal Bank of Scotland and steered the bank through the
crisis that arose as a result of the failure of the Bank
of Ayr. Sir Laurence also had a couple of
slave estates in the West Indies.
Sir Laurence was a
great patron of the arts and formed a magnificent collection
of paintings and tapestries along with furniture by
Chippendale.
Sir Laurence entered
politics as M.P. for Linlithgow Burghs in 1747 and Orkney
and Shetland in 1766. He received a Baronetcy in 1762.
On the death of Sir
Laurence, his son, Thomas succeeded to the baronetcy and
estates at the age of 41 years.
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The founding of Grangemouth and the part played by Sir
Laurence Dundas
In 1767, when a public company, the
Forth and Clyde Navigation Company was formed to build a canal from
the river Carron into the Forth, the company issued 15000 £100
shares. Sir Laurence
Dundas put up an astonishing £10.000 of his family fortune
into the venture. Although Sir Laurence had a great deal to gain
from the building of the canal as it would join the river Carron
on his land and he intended that a new port would be built to handle
the trade that the canal would generate, (this would be considerable
because the only way to move goods in large quantities in
the 1700's, was by water), the town of Grangemouth and the
canal would probably never had existed had it not been for the vision,
the hard work, and of course the money of Sir Laurence Dundas.
Unfortunately, Sir Laurence did not live long enough
to see the work completed, as he died in 1781 and the canal was not
completed until 1796. Three years earlier, just as Sir Laurence had
planned, work had began on the new port and the village of Grange
Burn Mouth. The new community was unofficially known as Sealock,
but the name Grangemouth was chosen, and had a population
of about 400. The rapid growth of Grangemouth caused the steady
decline of the port of Bo'ness, which never recovered .
Sir Laurence's son, Thomas, was created Lord Dundas and
in 1832, Thomas' son, who was also called Laurence, was created 1st
Earl of Zetland, which led to that part of Grangemouth becoming known
as the "Earl's Gates."
The village of Laurieston which is near to Grangemouth, came
into being in 1765 when it was owned by Sir Laurence Dundas. The town takes
it name from Sir Laurence.
Portrait by Zoffany of Sir Laurence Dundas and his grandson
who later became 1st Earl of Zetland.
Painted at Sir Laurence's London home in Arlington Street
and now in the collection of the Marquess of Zetland, Aske, Richmond.
By kind permission of the Marquess
of Zetland
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