George Kinloch MP

30th Apr 1775 - 28th Mar 1833


Biography

Slave-owner in Jamaica, where he inherited the Grange estate on coming of age in 1796 (he also inherited the Kinloch estate in Scotland which reportedly his uncle John Kinloch (q.v., under John Kinlock or Kinloch) had repurchased from slave-derived wealth before his death in 1770). Radical politician, fleeing sedition charges in France 1819-1822, elected as MP for Dundee in January 1833 after the Reform Act but died two months later. He has an entry in the ODNB as 'politician' which refers to the wealth of his uncle 'as a sugar planter' but does not mention George Kinloch's own slave-ownership.

The painting of Kinloch is by Hugh Collins (1834-1896). A posthumous portrait made in 1874, it is in the Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection.

A statue of George Kinloch in Albert Square, Dundee in 1872, "the first statue ever erected in the streets of Dundee", commemorates him as having been "Outlawed for the Advocacy of Popular Rights". An article in the Dundee Courier on the inauguration of the monument reproduces an address George Kinloch published in June 1831 in which he stated, "I am an enemy to slavery in all its forms - to negro slavery in particular, and would vote for its gradual abolition, as early as it can be accomplished with benefit to the uninstructed negroes themselves, and with safety to the whites." While this comment may appear to be at odds with his earlier position as a slave-owner, it should be noted that slave-owners - particularly politicians campaigning for office - often expressed general anti-slavery views while qualifying their statements by describing enslaved people as not ready or educated enough yet for Emancipation and warning that changes could be dangerous for white people in the colonies.


Sources

Charles Tennant, ‘Kinloch, George, of Kinloch (1775–1833)’, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37636, accessed 10 June 2017].

Dundee Courier 05/02/1872.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Oxford DNB Entry

Associated Estates (1)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1795 [EA] - 1803 [LA] → Owner

Legacies Summary

Cultural (1)

Paintings
Portrait of George Kinloch, executed by Hugh Collins in 1874 (40 years after Kinloch's death), now in the Dundee Art Gallery and... 
notes →

Physical (3)

Monument
George Kinloch Monument [Built] 
description →
Monument by John Steell, now in in Albert Square Dundee...
Country house
Kinloch House [Built] 
description →
In 1798 the radical politician George Kinloch of Kinloch designed and built his own house. This five-bay two-storey house, with a basement, commands panoramic views to north and south. The central...
Urban Development
Carnoustie, Angus [Purchased] 
description →
George Kinloch purchased the estate that became Carnoustie in 1808 and developed it, including building brickworks there....
notes →
Charles Tennant, The Radical Laird, George Kinloch,...

Political (1)

MP
Whig-Radical 
election →
Dundee Forfar
1833

Relationships (2)

Son → Father
Nephew → Uncle

Addresses (1)

Kinloch House, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, North-east Scotland, Scotland