James Auchinleck Cheyne

James Auchinleck Cheyne (1795-1853) of Oxendean and Kilmaron, Scottish Writer to the Signet and accountant, received compensation for ownership of enslaved persons in Tobago as co-trustee of Elizabeth Robertson (q.v.).

1. Born 16/04/1795 in Edinburgh to Ninian Richard Cheyne, a bookseller, and his wife Jean née Auchinleck. Joined the Society of Writers to the Signet 03/03/1818. Married Margaret Blair, daughter of Andrew McKean, 16/08/1821. They had five children, Margaret Dorothea Blair (born 09/05/1822), Jane Auchinleck (born 09/09/1823), Elizabeth (born 14/11/1825), Jemima (born 30/09/1827) and James Auchinleck (born 31/01/1829). His wife Jean died 31/05/1832 and he remarried, to Frances Charlton Sprot (daughter of James Sprott, of Chittagong, Bengal), on 29/04/1834 in Edinburgh. No known children born to this second marriage.

2. James Auchinleck Cheyne was twice listed in Services of Heirs in Scotland, once as heir to his mother Jean Auchinleck (“Wife of Ninian Richard Cheyne, Bookseller, Edinburgh”), 23/08/1829 and once as heir to his aunt Elizabeth Auchinleck (“Daur of J. Auchinleck of Woodcockdale”), 26/10/1829.

3. James Auchinleck Cheyne was one of the original directors of the National Bank of Scotland in 1825 and Manager of the Life Insurance Company of Scotland in 1832.

4. Listed at 21 South St Andrew Street, Edinburgh as a Writer to the Signet and Accountant in the Edinburgh Post Office Directory of 1835/6.

5. In 1851 he was living at Kilchearean in the parish of Lismore and Appin in Argyll, age 55, occupation “Landowner Justice of Peace in Berwickshire” with his second wife, son and 3 female servants.

6. Death of James Auchinleck Cheyne 21/06/1853 in Lismore, Argyll, Scotland.

T71/891 Tobago claim nos. 24 (Lambeau’s), 46 (Concordia), 70 (Craighall) and 274 (Lambeau).

A comprehensive genealogy of the Cheyne family (including James Auchinleck) can be found at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheyne/p2400.htm.

1. A History of the Society of Writers to the Her Majesty’s Signet (Edinburgh, T. & A. Constable, 1890) p. 38. Births of childen at www.familysearch.org batch no. C11983-5. Marriages at www.familysearch.org batch nos. M11984-5 and M11984-6.

2. Decennial Indexes to the Services of Heirs in Scotland, 1700-1859 (Murray and Gibb, Edinburgh, 1863) pp. 13 and 17.

3. www.banking-history.co.uk/fife.html [accessed 22/06/2012]. Lee, Thomas Alexander, Seekers of Truth: The Scottish Founders of Modern Public Accountancy (Oxford, JAI Press, 2006) p. 81.

4. Edinburgh Post Office Directory, 1835-6.

5. 1851 census online.

6. www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheyne/p2400.htm [accessed 22/06/2012].