Charles Cowan (7 June 1801 – 1889) was a Scottish politician and paper-maker.

Life

He was born in

Charlotte Street Charlotte Street is a street in Fitzrovia, historically part of the parish and borough of St Pancras, in central London. It has been described, together with its northern and southern extensions (Fitzroy Street and Rathbone Place), as the ' ...

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 7 June 1801, the son of

Alexander Cowan Alexander Cowan (17 June 1775 – 13 February 1859) was a Scottish papermaker and philanthropist. He was the 13th child and third surviving son of Charles Cowan (8 June 1735 – 23 February 1805) and Marjory Cowan nee Fidler (16 July 1734 – 3 ...

, papermaker and philanthropist, and Elizabeth Hall, daughter of George Hall a merchant in

Crail Crail (; ) is a former royal burgh, parish and Community council#Scotland, community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018). Etymology The ...

in Fife. He was the eldest of eleven children, eight of whom survived until adulthood. He was educated at

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; ; ) is a town and former Police burgh, burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River Esk, Lothian, River North Esk. It lies on the A701 road, A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hil ...

Parish School 1806-11 and then the High School in

. He then attended university both in

(1814–17) and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(1817-18). He then followed his father into the paper-making industry. He wrote the article on papermaking for the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

''. In May 1819, he was sent to learn the papermaking trade at

St Mary Cray St Mary Cray is an area of South London, South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Historically it was a market town in the county of Kent. It is located north of Orpington, and south-east of Charing Cross. History ...

, Kent, where he worked at either Lay's or Hall's mill on the

River Cray The River Cray is the largest tributary of the River Darent. It is the prime river of outer, south-east Greater London, rising in Priory Gardens, Orpington, where rainwater percolates through the chalk bedrock of the Downs to form a pond wher ...

.Rootsweb
/ref> In the general election of June 1847, he ran as a

Radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

free-trade candidate in

, defeating the incumbent Whig

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was an English historian, poet, and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 184 ...

. His initial election was declared null and void due to his being a party to a government contract, but he was re-elected in a second election that December. He was re-elected in the 1852 election in second place on the ballot, and returned unopposed in the 1857 election. He did not stand in 1859, and retired from politics. In 1863 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. He then lived at ''Mount Grange'' a large house in the

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * The Grange (Toronto), Toronto, Ontario, built in 1817 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to ...

on the south side of Edinburgh. He died at ''Wester Lea'', a villa in

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

on 29 March 1889.

Family

He married Catharine Menzies (d.1871) in 1824.

Other accomplishments

* In 1838 he founded the Royal Caledonian Curling Club * For the year 1864-65 he served as president of the

Royal Scottish Society of Arts The Royal Scottish Society of Arts is a learned society in Scotland, dedicated to the study of science and technology. It was founded as The Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in Scotland by Sir David Brewster in 1821 and dedicate ...

References

;Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Charles 1801 births 1889 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 People from St Mary Cray