James Glenie (or Glennie) (1750 – 23 November 1817) was a Scottish soldier, businessman and political figure associated with

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. He represented

Sunbury County Sunbury County (2021 population 27,864) is located in central New Brunswick, Canada. A large military base (CFB Gagetown) is located in the western part of the county south of the town of Oromocto. The county also hosts forestry and mixed farm ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

from 1789 to 1809.

Life

He was born in

Leslie, Fife Leslie (Scottish Gaelic: Fiodh Chill) is a large village and parish on the northern tip of the River Leven Valley, to the west of Glenrothes in Fife. According to the population estimates (2006), the village has a population of 3,092. The villa ...

, the son of John Glenie, an army officer, and his wife, Margaret Smith. He was educated in Leslie before attending the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, where he began studying divinity but later excelled in mathematics. He graduated MA in 1769. He entered the Royal Military Academy at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

as a cadet in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and became a second lieutenant in 1776. He served with

John Burgoyne General (United Kingdom), General John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British Army officer, playwright and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1792. He first saw acti ...

and Barrimore Matthew St Leger during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Later, working for Governor

Frederick Haldimand Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB (born François Louis Frédéric Haldimand; 11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a Swiss military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the America ...

, Glenie was charged with establishing a barracks on an island at the east end of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. After a series of disputes with the commanding officer on the island, he was put to work at Sorel instead while awaiting a

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

. He was found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer but the verdict was overturned. In 1779, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. He married Mary Anne Locke during the early 1780s. In 1785, he was supervising army work parties in the Saint John River area of New Brunswick. Glenie applied for a land grant in the region but was not successful. He returned to England, but resigned his commission and brought his family to New Brunswick in 1787. He set up a business supplying masts for ships with a partner based in London. He encountered opposition in this enterprise from

Thomas Carleton General Thomas Carleton ( 1735 – 2 February 1817) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was promoted to colonel during the American Revolutionary War after relieving the siege of Quebec in 1776. After the war, he was appointed as Lie ...

, governor for the province, who had taken part in Glenie's earlier court martial. Glenie began a series of attacks on Carleton and the ruling elite of the province. He was named deputy surveyor for the king's woods in New Brunswick in 1791 at the recommendation of John Wentworth. In January 1794, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, upon the proposal of

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

Thomas Charles Hope Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Scottish physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density at ...

and Andrew Duncan. By early 1795, Glenie was no longer involved in the masting business. In 1795, he introduced a bill which had the intent of granting more power to the elected assembly and less to the appointed legislative council. Glenie was one of the leaders in a dispute between the assembly and the council in 1802 regarding who had the power to recommend a replacement for the clerk of the house. Although Glenie was reelected in 1802, the remaining members of the assembly were more supportive of the governor. In 1804, Glenie left for England, leaving his wife, Mary Anne Locke, behind. A witness for the crown in the 1809 trial of

Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle (c. 1762–1833) was a Welsh Lt. Colonel in the dragoons under Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, and a member of parliament. He brought charges against Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, and owned an interest in a gin distil ...

, he was severely criticised by Lord Ellenborough, the judge, and lost his reputation and positions. He died in poverty in

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

and was buried in the churchyard of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

in central London.

Works

*'The Division of Right Lines, Surfaces, and Solids', ''Philosophical Transactions''. (lxvi. 73) *'General Mathematical Laws which Regulate and Extend Proportion Universally'. ''Philosophical Transactions''. lxvii. 450, *''A Short Essay on the Modes of Defence best adapted to the Situation and Circumstances of this Island … by an Officer'',’ 1785. *''The History of Gunnery, with a new method of deriving the theory of projectiles in vacuo from the properties of the square and rhombus'', 1776. *''The Doctrine of Universal Comparison, or General Proportion'', 1789. *''Observations on Construction'', 1793. *''The Antecedental Calculus, or a Geometrical Method of Reasoning, without any consideration of motion or velocity applicable to every purpose to which fluxions have been or can be applied, with the geometrical principles of increments, &c.'', 1793. *''Observations on the Duke of Richmond's Extensive Plans of Fortification, and the new works he has been carrying on since these were set aside by the House of Commons in 1786, including the Short Essay which chiefly occasioned the famous debate and division in the House of Commons on his Grace's projected works for Portsmouth and Plymouth'', 1805. *''Observations on the Defence of Great Britain and its Principal Dockyards,'' 1807. *He contributed papers to the ''Transactions’ of the Royal Society of Edinburgh'' 'On the Principles of the Antecedental Calculus', (iv. 65), 'On the Circle', (vi. 21), and 'On a Boy born Blind and Deaf', (vii. 1). *In

Francis Maseres Francis Maseres (15 December 1731 – 19 May 1824) was an English lawyer. He is known as attorney general of the Province of Quebec, judge, mathematician, historian, member of the Royal Society, and cursitor baron of the exchequer. Biography ...

's ''Scriptores Logarithmici'' will be found his 'Problem concerning the Construction of a certain Triangle by means of a Circle only', vol. iv., commented on by Maseres in vol. vi., and ‘A Demonstration of Sir I. Newton's Binomial Theorem,’ vol. v. *He contributed articles to ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'', was an important 19th-century British people, British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minis ...

'' on Artillery carriages, Cannon and Fortification.

References

;Attribution

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glenie, James 1750 births 1817 deaths People from Leslie, Fife Alumni of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Royal Artillery officers 19th-century Scottish engineers Scottish mathematicians British military engineers 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation New Brunswick British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War Colony of New Brunswick people 18th-century Scottish businesspeople 18th-century Scottish engineers