Stained Glass in Glasgow Cathedral commemorating William Stirling of Keir, donated by Sir John Stirling Maxwell, 1861.
This memorial is dedicated to William Stirling, whose father, Archibald Stirling the Younger (1769-1847) is a named beneficiary of the Slave Compensation Act of 1837. He was given financial compensation for a number of slave-run plantations in Jamaica – namely Hampden in St James, Frontier in St Mary, Kerr or Keir Settlement in Trelawney and Grange Hill in Westmoreland.
Both William Stirling of Keir, and Archibald Stirling the Younger were ancestors of James Stirling of Keir and Cadder (1693-1749) who lost his estates in 1715 after being accused of plotting to help the Stuart family regain the British throne during the first Jacobite uprising. Like many Scottish families who supported the Stuarts at that time, a number of his children- and later grandchildren – re-located to the West Indies to buy and manage plantations which were run by enslaved people. Many members of the family owned a number of these plantations in Jamaica, amassing a large fortune. This included:
Archibald Stirling the Elder (1710-1783) , son of James Stirling of Keir and Cadder. Archibald Stirling profited both from slave-run plantations in Jamaica before and from estates in India.
James Stirling the Elder (1714-1773), son of James Stirling of Keir and Cadder (d.1749), and younger brother of Archibald Stirling the Elder (d.1783). Owner (along with his brother Robert) of Hampden in St James. In 1776, Hampden estate was listed as owning 378 enslaved people, of whom 211 were listed as male and 167 as female. 53 were listed as boys, girls or children.
Kenmure House, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow.
William Stirling of Keir (d.1793) was also the father of Charles Stirling of Cadder (1772-1830). Charles (1772-1830) was a partners in Stirling Gordon and Co. – a West Indian mercantile company set up to profit from the goods grown on plantations, run by enslaved people. Charles Stirling used the profits of his business to commission David Hamilton to build Kenmure House, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow c. 1806.
Information taken from: UCL Legacies of British Slave Ownership database, the Dictionary of Scottish Architects, and Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry, 1878.
Image Attributes:
Image 1: – Stained Glass commemorating William Stirling of Keir, donated by Sir John Stirling Maxwell, 1861. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/30120216@N07/6217308549/)
Image 2 :- Kenmure House, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow. Architect David Hamilton for Charles Stirling of Cadder (Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry, 1878)
