A Thomas Annan photograph of a portrait of Kirkman Finlay of Castle Toward (1773-1842). The painting was by John Graham Gilbert.
Finlay was the son of a politically-liberal businessman who named him after a leading advocate of political reform in London, Alderman Kirkman. He took the reins of James Finlay & Co following his father's death in 1790. He became a magistrate in 1804 and was Lord Provost from 1812 to 1815 and again in 1818. He was MP for the Clyde Burghs 1812-1818 and was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow in 1819.
Finlay was the first merchant to import tea directly from Calcutta to Glasgow. The 600-ton Buckinghamshire sailed in 1833 following the end of the East India Company's monopoly on trade with British India.
Reference: Mitchell Library, GC 920.041435 COR
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Buckinghamshire, Castle Toward, Clyde Burghs, cotton manufacturers, cotton traders, East India Company, exports, James Finlay & Co, Lord Provosts, magistrates, Members of Parliament, MPs, portraits, Rectors, tea importers, tea traders, University of Glasgow
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