John Campbell Colquhoun (23 January 1803 – 17 April 1870) was a Scottish writer and politician.
Life
Colquhoun was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
on 23 January 1803, son of
Archibald Colquhoun and Mary Ann, daughter of the Rev. William Erskine, episcopalian minister at
Muthill
Muthill (pronounced ) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The name derives from Scottish Gaelic meaning “soft-ground”.
The village lies south of Crieff, just west of the former railway line connecting Crieff with Gleneagles.
H ...
,
Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
. He was educated at
Edinburgh High School
The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder pr ...
, and
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...
.
In 1832 Colquhoun is listed as living at 10 Melville Street in the west end of Edinburgh, then newly built. In the same year he was elected Member of Parliament for
Dumbartonshire
Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Perthshire to the north, Stirling ...
, and in 1837 for
Kilmarnock Burghs. He unsuccessfully contested the Kilmarnock burghs in July 1841, however was elected in July 1842 as a member for
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...
, which he continued to represent until the dissolution of 1847, when he retired from reasons of health.
A wealthy Conservative and evangelical, Colquhoun served as president of the Glasgow Society. He was chairman of the general committee of the National Club, the
Church of England Education Society, and the
Irish Church Mission to Roman Catholics.
Disraeli gave a pen-portrait of him (Reminiscences, ed. H.M. and M. Swartz, 1975, pp. 31–2).
Colquhoun died 17 April 1870 and was buried in
Dean Cemetery
The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...
near Edinburgh.
Works
Colquhoun wrote political and religious pamphlets on questions of the day in Scotland and Ireland. He was also the author of:
*''Isis Revelata: An Inquiry into the Origin, Progress and Present State of Animal Magnetism'', 1836;
*''Short Sketches of some Notable Lives'', 1855;
*''Life in Italy and France in the Olden Time'', 1858;
*''Scattered Leaves of Biography'', 1864;
*''William Wilberforce, his Friends and his Times'', 1866, 2nd edit. 1867; and
*''Memorials of Henrietta Maria Colquhoun'', 1870.
Family
In 1827 Colquhoun married Henrietta Maria, daughter of
Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford
Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford (8 April 1775 – 4 July 1825) was a British peer. He was the son of Thomas Powys, 1st Baron Lilford and Mary Mann of Lilford Hall. He succeeded his father as Baron Lilford in 1800. He was educated at Eton College ...
. They had two sons.
Notes
;Attribution
External links
* 1832–35
* 1837–47
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colquhoun, John Campbell
1803 births
1870 deaths
Burials at the Dean Cemetery
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newcastle-under-Lyme
UK MPs 1832–1835
UK MPs 1835–1837
UK MPs 1841–1847
Politicians from Edinburgh
People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
Presidents of the Oxford Union
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Pamphleteers
Writers from Edinburgh
Rectors of the University of Aberdeen