John Malcolm

1805 - 30th May 1893


Biography

Son of Neill Malcolm 12th of Poltalloch and brother and heir of Neill Malcolm 13th of Poltalloch (both of whom q.v.). One of the great collectors of Victorian Britain, with an entry in the ODNB as 'art collector and landowner' with important cultural legacies at the British Museum (the Malcolm Collection of Old Master drawings) and the British Library (Sforza Book of Hours). There are also items in the Victorian & Albert Museum.

  1. He left over £400,000 in personalty at his death.

Sources

Stephen Coppel, ‘Malcolm, John, of Poltalloch (1805–1893)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/62981, accessed 15 Jan 2015]. The names of the children given by Coppel do not fit completely with other sources, which show also Leonard Malcolm.

Among other sources on his collections see J. C. Robinson, Descriptive catalogue of the drawings by the old masters, forming the collection of John Malcolm of Poltalloch, esq. (privately printed, London, 1869) [reprinted in an expanded edition in 1876 with revised attributions and new preface by Malcolm].

  1. National Probate Calendar 1893.

Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Isabella Harriett Stratford
Children
John Wingfield; Edward; William; Isabella
Wealth at death
£413,046 17S 6D
School
Harrow [1819/20-1823 ]
University
Christ Church, Oxford [1824-1827; MA, 1830 ]
Legal Education
Lincoln's Inn (but not called to the Bar) [1829 ]
Occupation
Art collector and landowner

Legacies Summary

Cultural (10)

Library - mss.
...Sforza Book of... 
notes →
Presented to the British Museum by John Malcolm a few days before his death in 1893. Stephen Coppel, ‘Malcolm, John, of Poltalloch (1805–1893)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,...
Other
Old Master... 
notes →
Purchased from the heir of John Malcolm for the nation for £25,000. Stephen Coppel, ‘Malcolm, John, of Poltalloch (1805–1893)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University...
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
C19th, Album, Henri Deux Ware, Photographs of 20 examples of this ware, chiefly in English Collections, Arundel Society, London, 1868 (under the sanction of the Science & Art Department); Anon.... 
notes →
Full details at: Victoria & Albert Museum Collection: Prints, Drawings & Paintings . Thanks to Allyson Take for...
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
Drawing, Designs (3 on 1 sheet) for panels of grotesque ornament, by Nicoletto da Modena, Italian School, pen and ink, background darkened with brown wash, ca.... 
notes →
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
Drawing, Designs (3 on 1 sheet) for panels of grotesque ornament, by Nicoletto da Modena, Italian School, pen and ink, background darkened with brown wash, ca.... 
notes →
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
Drawing, Designs (2 on 1 sheet) for panels of grotesque ornament, the left one decorated with scenes from the legend of Hercules, by Nicoletto da Modena, Italian School, pen and ink, ca.... 
notes →
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
Drawing, Designs (7 on 1 sheet) for ornamental friezes, by Nicoletto da Modena, Italian School, pen and ink, ca.... 
notes →
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
Drawing, Designs (4 on 1 sheet) for panels of grotesque ornament, by Nicoletto da Modena, Italian School, pen and ink, ca.... 
notes →
V & A: Prints, Drawings & Paintings
Drawing, Designs (3 on 1 sheet) for a panel of grotesque ornament and for two panels filled with trophies, by Nicoletto da Modena, Italian School, pen and ink, ca.... 
notes →
V & A: Sculpture
Statue, group, marble, Cupid and Pan, by Holme Cardwell, English, executed in Rome,... 
notes →
Full details at: Victoria & Albert Museum Collection: Sculpture. Thanks to Allyson Take...

Imperial (1)

Landowner
Australia: South Australia 
notes →
With his brother Neill Malcolm 13th of Poltalloch, John Malcolm established a cattle station called Poltalloch in South Australia which he sold in 1873 with a second station for £175,000. ...
sources →
Stephen Coppel, ‘Malcolm, John, of Poltalloch (1805–1893)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005...

Relationships (3)

Brothers
Son → Father
Grandson → Grandfather

Addresses (1)

7 Great Stanhope Street, London, Middlesex, London, England