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'''John Hyndford Cochrane''' (3 July 1750 – 21 November 1801) was a wealthy merchant and author from a notable Scottish aristocratic family.

John Cochrane was born in 1750, the second living son of [[Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]] and Jane Stuart. His father was serving as a [[HM Customs and Excise|Commissioner of the Excise]] for Scotland at the time, but unexpectedly inherited the title of [[Earl of Dundonald]] in 1758 on the death of his younger cousin William, the 7th Earl.

John Cochrane was sent to India at the age of 16, obtaining an appointment as a clerk or [[East_India_Company#Writers|Writer]] due to the influence of his uncles [[Andrew Stuart (1725–1801)|Andrew Stuart]] and [[James Stuart (East India Company officer)|James Stuart]].<ref>''East India Patronage and the British State: The Scottish Elite and Politics in the Eighteenth Century'', George McGilvary, London/New York: I. B. Tauris, 2008, p. 173</ref>

From 1779 to 1783 Cochrane acted as a deputy paymaster in British North America.<ref>Report on Canadian Archives, 1889, Douglas Brymner, Ottawa: Brown, Chamberlin, 1890, p. 58</ref> In May 1783 Cochrane was sued by [[Frederick Haldimand|General Haldimand]] for refusing to sue merchants himself for amounts owed the Crown for bills of exchange; Cochrane and the merchants lost in the provincial courts, a painful loss which demonstrated to the merchants the need for a better legal system in Quebec.<ref>The Empire of the St. Lawrence: A Study in Commerce and Politics, 2nd ed., Donald Creighton, 1956, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, reprint 2002, p. 95-6</ref>

From 1790 to 1792 Cochrane held the contract for victualling the British fleet in India. In 1792 he signed over the contract to his brother [[Basil Cochrane|Basil]], returning to London to be his brother's agent there.<ref>''Sustaining the Fleet, 1793-1815: War, the British Navy and the Contractor State'', Roger Knight and Martin Howard Wilcox, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2010, p. 164</ref>

In 1793 Cochrane was appointed as Deputy Commissary for North Britain.<ref>The annual register, or, A view of the history, politics, and literature for the year 1794, Edmund Burke, London: J. Dodsley, 1799, p. 94</ref>

==Personal life==
In addition to his fellow [[nabob]] Basil, John Cochrane's siblings included [[Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald|Archibald]] (1748–1831), the eldest son and 9th Earl of Dundonald; Admiral [[Alexander Cochrane]] (1758–1832); [[George Cochrane (politician)|George]], a soldier and MP; and [[Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone|Andrew]] (1767–1833), an adventurer and MP who was disgraced in the [[Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814]].

The [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Earl of St. Vincent]], [[Admiral of the Fleet]], wrote of the Cochrane brothers in 1806, "The Cochranes are not to be trusted out of sight, they are all mad, romantic, money-getting and not truth-telling—and there is not a single exception in any part of the family."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/cochrane-%28afterwards-cochrane-johnstone-%29-hon-andrew-james-1767-1833 |title=Cochrane-Johnstone, Hon. Andrew James (1767-1833) |first=R. G. |last=Thorne |work=History of Parliament Online |year=2013 |accessdate=7 September 2014}}</ref>

Cochrane reputedly had at least three illegitimate children. With Geneviève Dulan in Quebec he had Admiral [[Nathaniel Day Cochrane]] (1780–1844) and Angelica Cochrane (1782–1834); he also sired [[John Cochrane (chess player)|John Cochrane]] (1798–1878), a notable lawyer in India and chess player.

Cochrane married Selina Fitzroy Birch (born c. 1769) on 7 May 1800; Selina and an infant son died a month before Cochrane the following year.<ref>Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, Volume 3: The Streatham Years, eds. Lars Troide and Stewart Cooke, McGill Queen's Press, 1994, p. 358-9, n. 13</ref>

A portrait of Cochrane exists, by portraitist [[Lemuel Francis Abbott]].<ref>[http://www.artnet.com/artists/lemuel-francis-abbott/portrait-of-the-hon-john-cochrane-1750-1801-tVy72b__6YdyCf8uvAW3YQ2 ArtNet listing for Abbott portrait of Cochrane]</ref>

==Publications==
Cochrane wrote several long pamphlets on subjects of interest to him:
* ''Examination of the Plans Proposed for the East India Company's Shipping; the Great Importance of Adopting a Proper System Explained; and a Plan Suggested for Making the Ships Employed in the Commerce with Asia, Beneficial Both to the State and to the East India Company'' - London, [[John Stockdale]], 1795
* ''The Seaman's Guide: Shewing how to Live Comfortably at Sea. Containing, Among Other Particulars, Complete Directions for Baking Bread, ... Recommended Also to Public Bakers, as Well as to Private Housekeepers'' - J. Murray and S. Highley, 1797.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, John}}
[[Category:1750 births]]
[[Category:1801 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish civil servants]]
[[Category:Scottish businesspeople]]
[[Category:British East India Company civil servants]]
[[Category:Cochrane family|John]]
[[Category:Younger sons of earls]]

John Cochrane (merchant) - Revision history

>CrumbleCrumble at 22:06, 25 May 2021