Sir Laurence Dundas, 1st Baronet of Kerse, (c. 1710 – 21st September 1781) was the son of Thomas Dundas of Fingask and Bethia Baillie.
Laurence Dundas started adulthood as a merchant in Edinburgh with his brother Thomas Dundas of Fingask. He was reasonably successful and on the 9th of April 1738, he married Margaret Bruce, who also hailed from Edinburgh. Margaret (4th Oct. 1716 - 11th Oct 1802) was the daughter of Major Alexander Bruce of Kennet. They had one son, Thomas Dundas, born in 1741.
Clackmannan Estate
After the insolvency of David Bruce of Clackmannan, his land and properties were to be sold. In 1708 they were auctioned to the highest bidder, which at this time was Clackmannan M.P. Colonel William Dalrymple. Dalrymple did not stay on the estate, and used deputy sheriffs locally in his stead, preferring to stay in his home area of Wigtonshire.
In 1742, Laurence Dundas bought the Clackmannan Estate from Dalrymple, as Dalrymple's wife, the Countess of Dumfries, had recently deceased in Clackmannan. Thus he returned the land indirectly (through his wife, a Bruce of the neighbouring and related Kennet Estate) to the Bruce family. On the face of it he took little further to do with the estate, other than to keep the coal mines running.
Fortunes
He soon became a merchant contractor and during the 1745 Jacobite uprising, he managed to secure lucrative army contracts, which very much boosted his fortune. Using this money, he entered politics as M.P. for Linlithgow Burghs in 1747, creating a few high ranking enemies along the way. In 1748, the Duke of Cumberland ordered 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. 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 also earned him an immense fortune.
Baronetcy
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, he became 1st baronet of Kerse. Sir Laurence Dundas' home in Scotland was now situated on the Kerse Estate (which he had bought in 1749) in an area which is now known as Grangemouth. This mansion building has since been demolished. The nearby village of Laurieston is named after him.
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. In 1763, in the North Ridings of Yorkshire, Sir Laurence bought the Aske Estate and the accompanying Richmond estate from Lord Holderness, which has remained the family home to this date. The Aske estate included the pocket borough of Richmond, so Sir Laurence was, therefore, able to appoint the Member of Parliament. In 1764 he bought the Loftus estate in East Cleveland. Further properties were purchased, which included a large house in Arlington Street, London and Moor Park in Hertfordshire.
Governor of the Royal Bank Of Scotland
From 1764 to 1777 he was the governor 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 was M.P. for Orkney and Shetland in 1766.
In 1768 he acquired a tavern "Peace and Plenty" on the land destined to become Edinburgh's New Town. This was shown on James Craig's plan as a potential site for a church, but Dundas's wealth and ownership of the site allowed him to design his own mansion here, somewhat off the grid of the New Town. The Building was completed in 1774, in the area now called St Andrew Square. This building would, in 1825, become the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Slave Owner
Sir Laurence also had a couple of slave estates in the West Indies, one in Grenada, and one in Dominica.
Forth and Clyde Canal
In 1777, Sir Laurence also invested heavily in the Forth and Clyde Canal project, which would pass through his estate. He planned to build a new port connected to the canal on his land, to generate income from this new cross-country route. This plan was executed and the port of Grangemouth (as it was eventually called) on the river Forth came into existence, essentially killing off the neighbouring river port of Borrowstounness. The main port in Glasgow on this canal was named after him (Port Dundas). The canal project was completed in 1790.
Sir Laurence was a patron of the arts and formed a magnificent collection of paintings and tapestries along with furniture by Chippendale.
He died on 21st Sept. 1781, leaving an estate worth £16,000 p.a. and a fortune of £900,000 in personal and landed property. Sir Laurence is buried in the Dundas Mausoleum at Falkirk Old Parish Church, where his wife Margaret and son Thomas eventually joined him.
Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet
On the death of Sir Laurence, his son, Thomas, succeeded to the baronetcy and estates at the age of 41 years. Known as Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet (of Kerse) from 1781 to 1794, he was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1763 to 1794, after which he was raised to the peerage. He was responsible for commissioning the Charlotte Dundas, the world's "first practical steamboat".
Thomas was born on 16th Feb. 1741, and was educated at Eton and St. Andrews University. He was Member of Parliament for Richmond, 1763-1768. Stirlingshire, 1768-1794, Lord Lieutenant and Vice Admiral of Orkney and Shetland, Councillor of state to the Prince of Wales (later George IV), President of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries. Colonel of the North York Militia.
He was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dundas of Aske in August 1794.
He acquired Marske Hall in North Yorkshire in 1762 after the death of Sir William Lowther, 3rd Baronet. He succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet of Kerse in 1781, inheriting the Aske Estate, as well as all of his father's other properties, including the Clackmannan Estate.
Once again, the Clackmannan estate was not high on the list of areas for development, however he continued to allow his distant relative Catherine Bruce to live in her mansion house at Clackmannan Tower, until her death in 1791. There was little maintenance carried out however, and by 1795, the tower had been let out to a ploughman. The adjoining mansion house was left to moulder. By 1815, the mansion house was derelict and the stone of the building was reputedly used in the building of the new parish church, just down the hill. Thomas continued to invest in the coal mining operations on the estate, but by the time of his death in 1820, the fortunes of Clackmannan had dwindled, and the village had already been overtaken by Alloa as the main county town. Just two years later this was made official.
The 'Charlotte Dundas'
Dundas followed his father in having an interest in Grangemouth and in the Forth and Clyde Canal, under construction from 1768 to 1790, and he would have been aware of the 1789 trials on the canal of Patrick Miller of Dalswinton's double-hulled paddle boat powered with a steam engine fitted by William Symington. In 1800 Dundas, as Governor of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, engaged Symington to design a steam tug. The boat was built to Symington's design. It had successful trials on the River Carron in June 1801, and further trials towing sloops from the river Forth up the Carron and thence along the Forth and Clyde Canal.
However, the other proprietors of the canal were concerned about wave damage to the canal banks, and the Committee decided that the boat would "by no means answer the purpose". Symington had proposals for an improved boat which were presented in the form of a model, shown to Lord Dundas. The boat would become famous as the Charlotte Dundas, named in honour of one of his Lordship's daughters. One account states that Lord Dundas had advised Symington to prepare the model and bring it to his Lordship in London, where Symington was introduced to the Duke of Bridgewater who was enthusiastic enough to immediately order eight boats of similar construction for his canal. Unfortunately, the Duke of Bridgewater died a few days before the first sailing, and nothing came of this order.
Lord Dundas and some of his relatives and friends were on board for the first sailing of the boat on the canal in 1803, but despite the success of the Charlotte Dundas fears of erosion of the banks prevailed, and the trials were ended leaving Symington out-of-pocket. The boat was taken along the canal to Bainsford and left to rot until it was broken up in 1861.
Family
Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet, married Lady Charlotte FitzWilliam, the daughter of William FitzWilliam, 3rd Earl FitzWilliam, on 24th May 1764 and over the following years they had 14 children:
Laurence Dundas, 1st Earl of Zetland (1766–1839)
Anne Dundas (1767)
Thomas Dundas (born 1768; died young)
Lt-Col. William Lawrence Dundas (18 May 1770 – 1796), died in Santo Domingo
Charles Lawrence Dundas (18 July 1771 – 25 January 1810), married Lady Caroline Beauclerk, daughter of Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans
Margaret Dundas (9 November 1772 – 8 May 1852), married Archibald Spiers
Charlotte Dundas (18 June 1774 – 5 January 1855), married Rev. William Wharton
Thomas Lawrence Dundas (12 October 1775 – 17 March 1848)
Frances Laura Dundas (24 May 1777 – 27 November 1844), married Robert Chaloner.
George Heneage Lawrence Dundas (1778–1834)
Maj-Gen. Sir Robert Lawrence Dundas (27 July 1780 – 23 November 1844)
Dorothy Dundas (August 1785 – December 1790)
Mary Dundas (30 May 1787 – 1 November 1830), married Charles FitzWilliam, 5th Earl FitzWilliam
Isabella Dundas (25 February 1790 – 6 December 1887), married John Charles Ramsden
Thomas died on Wednesday 14th June 1820, at Aske Hall. He was buried at the Dundas Mausoleum at Old Falkirk Parish Church.
Succession
His son and successor, Laurence, took over all of the estates and properties.
According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Dundas was awarded compensation in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837.
On the occasion of the coronation of Queen Victoria, he was created 1st Earl of Zetland in 1838, for having provided financial assistance to the new Queen's parents, the Duke & Duchess of Kent, in the years preceding her accession.
Dundas was associated with "T71/880 Grenada claim no. 604 (Dougalston Estate)" and "T71/881 Dominica claim no. 576A & B (Castle Bruce)", he owned 351 slaves in Grenada and Dominica and received a £8,135 payment at the time.
Laurence Dundas's wife, Harriet Hale, died in 1834. He died suddenly on 19th February 1839 at his home of Aske Hall, Yorkshire. He is buried in the family vault at Trinity Church in central Falkirk.
He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland (5 February 1795 – 6 May 1873).