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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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died on:
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21/9/1781. Buried in the family mausoleum at Falkirk Old
Parish Church.
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Occupations:
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Commissary General and contractor to the army
. M.P. Linlithgow, 1747-1748. Newcastle under
Lyme, 1762-1768.
Edinburgh, 1768-1780. Richmond, 1780-1781. Edinburgh
23/3-21/9/1781 Governor of the Royal Bank of Scotland
Vice Admiral Shetland and Orkney |
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 |
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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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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. |
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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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.
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.jpg)  |
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The stone heads on the side
of the mausoleum |
The Dundas mausoleum. |
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The Dundas coat of arms above the door
of the mausoleum |
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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. |
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Portrait of the 3rd Marquess of Zetland. 
.jpg)