Evan Baillie
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Evan Baillie (1741 – 28 June 1835) was a Scottish slave-trader, merchant and landowner in the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
.Alston, David (2021), ''Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean'', Edinburgh University Press, pp. 22 - 25, He was a Whig politician who sat in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
from 1802 to 1812.


Life

Baillie was the third son of Hugh Baillie of Dochfour, Inverness and his wife Emilia Fraser, the daughter of Alexander Fraser. Joseph Gaston Baillie Bulloch. ''A history and genealogy of the family of Baillie of Dunain, Dochfour and Lamington : with a short sketch of the family of McIntosh, Bulloch, and other families.''
/ref> Though it has been claimed that his early life was obscure and that he suffered "fatal neglect" in formal education,R. G. Thorne ''The House of Commons, 1790–1820, Volume 1''
/ref> it appears that he was educated in Inverness and that he remembered
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, ( 1667 – 9 April 1747) was a Scottish landowner and head of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Convicted of high treason in the United Kingdom, high treason for his role in the Jacobite rising of 1745, he was the last ma ...
, visiting his mother to seek the support of the Baillies for the Jacobite cause and later witnessing the battle of Culloden from the hill above Dochfour. The Baillies remained loyal
Hanoverians The House of Hanover ( ) is a European royal house with roots tracing back to the 17th century. Its members, known as Hanoverians, ruled Hanover, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire at various times during the 17th to 20th centurie ...
. Evan entered the army in early life and served in part of the American war. He was first in the West Indies in 1759–60, serving with the 4th Foot in
Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
, as his 1835
Inverness Courier ''The Inverness Courier'' is a local, bi-weekly newspaper, published each Tuesday and Friday in Inverness, Scotland. It reports on issues in Inverness and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It is the longest, continually running local newspap ...
obituary makes clear. Baillie himself seems to have been a staff officer to
General William Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, (10 August 1729 – 12 July 1814), was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three broth ...
at the
Siege of Havana The siege of Havana was the successful capture of the Spanish-held city of Havana, Cuba in 1762 as part of the war between the two nations which formed part of the larger Seven Years' War. After the Spanish abandoned their former policy of neu ...
in the adjutant's department. He then transferred to the 19th Regiment (later the Green Howards) as a lieutenant, and retired on half-pay. He then seems to have spent most of the next 15 years in partnership with his brothers, Alexander and James, who had begun a partnership in
St. Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...
known as Smith and Baillies, which was eventually based in
Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...
and later in
St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305 ...
as the partnership of Garraway and Baillie. One of their business connections was with
Henry Laurens Henry Laurens (December 8, 1792) was an American Founding Father, merchant, slave trader, and rice planter from South Carolina who became a political leader during the Revolutionary War. A delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Laur ...
of Charleston in
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
with whom they exchanged African slaves and plantation produce for necessary stores. A 1779 letter from James Baillie to his cousin, William Baillie of Dunain, then serving in India, indicates that Evan had returned to Britain in about 1774 and settled in Bristol. He became directly involved in the transport of slaves from Africa in 1784 when he funded the construction of the slave ship ''Emilia'' and in 1787 he also owned a share in the ''Daniel''. A 1775 letter from John Alves in Inverness to the same William Baillie, Alves's brother-in-law confirms that he had bought at the same time, for £10,000, the estate of Kinmylies, Inverness, from the army agent, George Ross of Pitkerrie, who intended to concentrate on developing Cromarty. Alves also indicates that he was believed in 1775 to have married in the West Indies, wedding Mary Gurley of St Peter's Hope, St Vincent, in 1777. He founded what became the firm of Evan Baillie, Son & Co in Bristol, and was a common councilman for Bristol in 1785. He was sheriff of Bristol for 1786–87 but declined becoming mayor. In 1789 he was member of a committee of merchants to defend the slave trade, in all branches of which he had from time to time invested and financed. During the
French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries ...
Baillie raised the Bristol Volunteer Infantry in 1797 and served as their Lieutenant-Colonel (
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
in 1798). After the short-lived
Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...
he re-raised them as the Royal Bristol Volunteer Infantry.Col R.M. Grazebrook, 'Royal Bristol Volunteers, 1803–14', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol 37, No 150 (June 1959), p. 93.
/ref> On the death of his brother Alexander in 1798 Baillie succeeded to the family estates in
Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...
. He was also partner in an Inverness hemp manufacturers and other businesses. He continued to purchase more land in Scotland as a result of concerns about the effects of the war with France and effects of
abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
. In 1802 Baillie became an alderman of Bristol. Also in 1802, he was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament for
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
. He was unopposed again in 1806 and 1807. He noted how feeble were attempts in parliament to oppose slave trade abolition bill but he was not among those who made last stand against it. By 1811, he was suffering poor health and was concerned for his son Peter (by then MP for the Inverness burghs) who died in 1812. He therefore decided not to stand in the 1812 election. Baillie retired to Scotland and left the business operations to his sons. He resigned as alderman of Bristol in 1821 pleading old age, but survived to the age of 94. He was reputed to be one of the wealthiest commoners in Britain and his sons were among the largest recipients of compensation following
emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...
.


Family

His wife Mary Gurley was the daughter of Peter Gurley of St. Vincent. Their sons Peter Baillie,
Hugh Duncan Baillie Hugh Duncan Baillie (31 May 1777 – 21 June 1866) was a British Army officer and politician who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Ross-shire from 1843 to 1866. Early life He was the second son of Evan Baillie of Dochfour, a prosperous Scottish ...
and
James Evan Baillie James Evan Baillie (1781 – 14 June 1863) was a British West Indies merchant, landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1813 and 1835. Baillie was the third son of Evan Baillie of Dochfour and his ...
all became members of parliament. Baillie's brother James Baillie was also an MP and West Indies merchant.


See also

* George Baillie


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baillie, Evan 1741 births 1835 deaths People from Inverness Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Bristol UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 Councillors in Bristol High sheriffs of Bristol 18th-century Scottish slave traders