Robert Wallace

1773 - 1st Apr 1855

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Merchant (partner in Wallace, Hunter, q.v.) and MP, son of the West India merchant John Wallace (of Cessnock and then of Kelly) and brother of the soldier Sir James Maxwell Wallace (q.v.), and owner of the Cessnock and Glasgow estates in western Jamaica.

  1. Second son of John Wallace (1712-1805) of Cessnock and Kelly and his third wife Janet, daughter of Robert Colquhoun of St Kitts. His father was a merchant in Glasgow, who amassed a large fortune in the West Indies and became proprietor of several large estates. 'By his father's will Robert Wallace received the estate of Kelly and part of the West Indian property.' He married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Forbes of Craigievar; they had no children. 'A devoted Whig', first MP for Greenock under the Act (until 1846). Law and postal reformer. 'In 1846 Wallace became embarrassed financially by the depreciation in value of some of his West Indian estates and deemed it prudent to resign his seat in Parliament. The estate of Kelly was sold, and Wallace lived in retirement at Seafield Cottage, Greenock. After his resignation a liberal public subscription was made for him, which proved an annuity of £500 p.a. Wallace died at Seafield on 1 April 1855.'

Sources

T71/872 Hanover claim no. 440 for Cessnock; T71/871 Westmoreland No. 266 for Glasgow.

  1. A. H. Millar, ‘Wallace, Robert (1773–1855)’, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28541, accessed 12/08/012].

Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Margaret Forbes
Children
d.s.p.
Wealth at death
£1,219 12S 4D
Occupation
West India merchant
Oxford DNB Entry

Associated Claims (5)

£2,249 15s 10d
Awardee
£3,298 8s 2d
Awardee
£1,532 11s 5d
Awardee
£1,812 6s 5d
Awardee (Owner-in-fee)
£2,094 14s 0d
Awardee

Associated Estates (5)

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
04/01/1805 [SD] - 1839 [LA] → Owner
04/01/1805 [SD] - 1837 [LA] → Owner
1834 [EA] - → Mortgage Holder
1834 [EA] - → Mortgage Holder
1824 [SY] - 1837 [EY] → Judgement creditor

Wallace, Tasker and Robertson were awarded a share in slave compensation in 1837 for a judgement debt from 1824 for £851 plus interest.


Legacies Summary

Commercial (1)

Senior partner
Wallace Hunter
West India merchant  
 

Political (1)

MP
Liberal 
election →
Greenock Renfrewshire
1832 - 1845

Relationships (7)

Business associates
Business partners
Brothers
Son → Father
Nephew → Uncle
First Cousins
Business partners

Addresses (3)

Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Central Scotland, Scotland
Kelly, Ayrshire, Southern Scotland, Scotland
Seafield Cottage, Esplanade, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Central Scotland, Scotland