Boyd Alexander

1796 - 1861

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

London West India merchant, partner in Hon. Wm Fraser, Alexander & Co., large-scale mortgagees of 'slave-property.'

  1. Son of Claud Alexander of Southbar, who became paymaster-general in East India Company, returned to Britain and bought Ballochmyle House and Estate. Brother (and partner in Hon Wm Fraser, Alexander & Co. (q.v.)) of William Maxwell Alexander (1790-1853) (q.v.), and brother of Claud Alexander (1789-1845). Boyd Alexander's son was a soldier (Major-General Sir Claud Alexander 1st Bart.): his grandson, also Sir Claud 2nd Bart. (d. 1947), 'moved South' around 1900 according to his grandson in turn, Sir Claud Hagart Alexander (1927-2006). The current baronet was born 1963.

  2. Married Sophia Elizabeth Hobhouse, daughter of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, 1st Bart., 17/01/1828. Six children born between 1831 and 1839 while the family were living at Hanover Terrace, Westminster, where they were still living in the census of 1841.

  3. Boyd Alexander of 30, Leadenhall Street, was a proprietor of the American Land Company in 1835. He had two votes so had bought between 15 and 30 shares at £50 each.

There is no reference to the mercantile involvement of the two brothers in the limited materials on the family found to date. Their names are distinctive, however, and this, coupled with the Alexander family's linkage to Claud Neilson and the fact that London court directories show the brothers with London addresses in the period of their partnership, appears to provide clear confirmation.


Sources

T71/877 Antigua claim no. 1045 (Yapton Farm?).

  1. Rev. Charles Rogers, Memorials of the Earl of Stirling and the house of Alexander (Edinburgh, William Patterson, 1877) Vol. II pp. 28-31 http://www.archive.org/stream/memorialsofearlo02rogeuoft/memorialsofearlo02rogeuoft_djvu.txt [accessed 30/03/2011].

  2. http://thepeerage.com/p42924.htm [accessed 19/12/2011]; the births of all children given in Ancestry.com, London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 [database online]; for the death of Boyd Francis Alexander, see http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=74130635 [accessed 19/12/2011]; 1841 census online.

  3. List of the proprietors of the British American Land Company: incorporated and established by Charter and Act of Parliament, 1834 (London, n.d.) p. 5 (via Archive.org) p. 5.

The will of Boyd Alexander of Southbar Renfrewshire [made in 1808] proved 09/02/1836 was that of the uncle of Boyd Alexander (d. 1861). In the will he rehearsed his marriage settlement with 'Mrs Camilla Porterfield or Alexander my wife' under which she was entitled to an annuity of £400 p.a., to be reduced to £300 p.a. if the couple had a son or sons who survived him [Boyd Alexander], and a lump sum of £4000. He settled his heritable estates on William Maxwell Alexander (q,v,) and referred to his nephew Boyd Alexander as merchant in London, the son of his brother Claud Alexander, PROB 11/1857/106.  

 


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Sophia Elizabeth Hobhouse (17/1/1828]
Children
Sir Claud Alexander 1st Bart. (1831-99), Captain John Hobhouse Inglis Alexander (1832-1875), Lt. Col. Boyd Francis Alexander (1834-1917), William Maxwell (1836-), Helenora Margaret Angela (1837-), Michael Stewart (1839-)

Associated Claims (10)

£1,681 4s 1d
Awardee (Mortgagee)
£3,679 6s 5d
Awardee (Judgement creditor)
£8,926 12s 3d
Awardee (Mortgagee)
£2,993 13s 1d
Awardee (Mortgagee)
£3,101 19s 9d
Awardee (Mortgagee)
£3,363 5s 10d
Awardee
£7,856 11s 7d
Awardee
£3,794 13s 7d
Awardee
Mortgagees-in-possession by 1822, possibly owners-in-fee by 1834.
£6,525 9s 0d
Awardee (Mortgagee)
£1,341 12s 9d
Awardee

Legacies Summary

Commercial (2)

Name partner
 
Firm Investment
 
notes →
See biog...

Imperial (1)

East India Company
Other  
notes →
Son of Claud Alexander of Southbar, who became paymaster-general in East India...

Physical (1)

Estate
Ballochmyle House and Estate [Purchased] 
description →
The image is of the house before 1887 (when it was substantially extended because the family felt it was "too small"). From Sir Claud Hagart-Alexander's account of The Alexander Family of...
notes →
The house was built in 1760 for the Whitefoord family, possibly to designs by William Adam (1689-1748). Bought by Claud Alexander in 1776. Subsequent modifications included the adding of the frontage...

Relationships (3)

Brothers
Business partners
Business partners

Addresses (3)

15 Hanover Terrace, London, Middlesex, London, England
30 Leadenhall Street, London, Middlesex, London, England
Ballochmyle House, Mauchline, Ayrshire, Southern Scotland, Scotland