AmanGautamArtist: added biography

2026-03-04T06:46:04Z

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{{Short description|Scottish nabob}}
{{other people|John Johnstone}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Johnstone
| image = John Johnstone attrib Helry Raeburn.jpg
| caption = from a larger painting<ref name=bbc/>
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1734|04|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|1795|12|10|1734|04|28|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Alva, Clackmannanshire]], Scotland
| known_for = Making a fortune in India
(equivalent to £{{formatprice|{{inflation|UK|300,000|1865}}}} in {{inflation/year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}
| spouse = Elizabeth
}}
'''John Johnstone''' (28 April 1734 – 10 December 1795)<ref name="burke" /> was a Scottish [[nabob]],<ref name="marshall" />
a corrupt official of the [[British East India Company]] who returned home with great wealth. Described as "a shrewd and unscrupulous business man",<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" />
he survived several scandals and became a major landowner when he returned to Scotland in 1765.

Johnstone sat in the [[House of Commons of Great Britain]] from 1774 to 1780, having bribed his way to a victory in the [[Dysart Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Dysart Burghs]].

== Early life and family ==

Johnstone was born in [[Edinburgh]], the fifth son of [[Sir James Johnstone, 3rd Baronet]] (1697–1772) and his wife, Barbara (died 1773), daughter of [[Lord Elibank|Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank]].<ref name="odnb" />
The [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] plotter [[Alexander Murray of Elibank]] was his uncle.<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" />

His brothers included the [[British Army]] officer and politician [[Sir James Johnstone, 4th Baronet]] (1726–1794), the wealthy lawyer and politician William (later [[Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet]] (1729–1805), and the politician and [[Royal Navy]] officer [[George Johnstone (Royal Navy officer)|George Johnstone]] (1730–1787).<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" />
Another brother, Patrick, died in the [[Black Hole of Calcutta]].<ref name="odnb" /> His sister was [[Margaret Ogilvy, Lady Ogilvy|Margaret, Lady Ogilvy]], a Jacobite.

In 1765 Johnstone married Elizabeth Caroline Keene, daughter of a Colonel Keene from Northamptonshire, and niece of the diplomat [[Sir Benjamin Keene]].<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" /> They had one son and daughter. His daughter, Ann Elizabeth (b. 1776, d. 1851) married James Gordon of Craig. His son, James Raymond Johnstone of Alva, married [[Cholmondeley (surname)|Mary Elizabeth Cholmeley]] (b. c 1778, d. 9 Sep 1843).<ref name="burke" />

The family became very powerful, and it was claimed that by the late 1750s they were "involved in every major event in the [[British Empire]]".<ref name="harrington" />

== Career ==

=== India ===
Johnstone went to Bengal in 1751, as a [[British East India Company#Writers|writer]] for the East India Company. He was at Dacca in 1756 when conflict broke out and was taken prisoner. After his release, emboldened by the death of his brother Patrick, he volunteered to join the company's military forces under [[Robert Clive]] for the [[Battle of Plassey]], and saw further military service before resuming civilian work in 1757.<ref name="odnb" />

In about 1760 Johnstone was placed in charge of the company's affairs in [[Midnapore]], and became a member of the Bengal Council. His success there led to a transfer in 1762 to [[Burdwan]], where he developed private businesses which led to conflict with [[Henry Vansittart]], the [[Governor of Bengal]]. This led to Johnstone being dismissed by the Company in early 1764, but the company's [[Court of Directors]] overturned the decision on 21 March 1764,<ref name="evans" /> and he was reinstated by May.<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" />

Johnstone's former ally [[Robert Clive]] did not support Johnstone's return to his post, and when Clive succeeded Vansittart as governor in 1765 he began an inquiry into gifts totalling over £50,000 which Johnstone had secured from the new [[Nawab of Bengal]], [[Najimuddin Ali Khan]].<ref name="evans" />

In 1764, the Company had adopted new regulations which required its officers to sign a covenant that they would accept non-trivial gifts only with the prior approval of the directors.<ref name="a-m-khan" />
Clive forced the resignation of Johnstone, who sailed for Britain in October 1765<ref name="evans" />
with a fortune estimated at £300,000<ref name="d-hamilton" />
(equivalent to £{{formatprice|{{inflation|UK|300,000|1865}}}} in {{inflation/year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}).

Aged 31, Johnstone proceeded to buy estates in Scotland, first at [[Alva, Clackmannanshire|Alva]] in Stirlingshire, and later in [[Selkirkshire]] and [[Dumfriesshire]].<ref name="odnb" />

=== Scotland ===
[[File:John-johnstone-betty-johnstone-and-miss-wedderburn.jpg|thumb|John Johnstone, his niece Betty Johnstone and her aunt Miss Wedderburn, attributed to [[Henry Raeburn]]<ref name=bbc>
[https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-johnstone-betty-johnstone-and-miss-wedderburn-124273 John Johnstone, Betty Johnstone and Miss Wedderburn], attrib [[Henry Raeburn]], BBC, retrieved July 2014</ref>]]
The Johnstone family account says that he spent "about a ninth" of his money on the estates at Alva, Hangingshaw and [[Denovan]], and "lived quietly" there until his election to Parliament.<ref name="evans" /><ref>{{harvnb | Johnstone | 1909 | pp=180–1}}</ref>
However his letters to his brother William reveal that he continued to engage in speculation and [[stock manipulation]].<ref name="evans" />

Meanwhile, the directors of the East India Company moved to prosecute Johnstone for his actions.<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" />
His allies, led by [[George Dempster of Dunnichen|George Dempster]], lobbied on his behalf<ref name="evans" /> and in his defence Johnstone published in 1766 ''"A letter to the proprietors of East-India stock"'', subtitled "Vindication of His Conduct in Receiving Presents from the Native Governments of India".<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795" /><ref name="letter-to-proprietors" />
In May 1767, the General Court of the East India Company over-ruled its directors, and dropped all prosecutions against its former servants, and Johnstone walked free.<ref name="evans" />

The following year, at the [[1768 British general election|1768 general election]], Johnstone contested the [[Haslemere (UK Parliament constituency)|parliamentary borough of Haslemere]] in Surrey, where he was defeated.<ref name="evans" />

At the [[1774 British general election|next election, in 1774]] Johnstone used guile and money to win the seat of [[Dysart Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Dysart Burghs]], which consisted of five [[burgh]]s in the county of [[Fife]]: [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Burntisland]], [[Kinghorn]], and [[Dysart, Fife|Dysart]]. The ''[[Caledonian Mercury]]'' reported on 2 November 1774 that Johnstone did not declare his interest until after the burghs had chosen their delegates, and caught the sitting MP [[James Townsend Oswald|James Oswald]] by surprise. Johnstone won the support of Dysart, and bribed the backing of Burntisland and Kinghorn delegates, winning the seat.<ref name="histparl-dysart-burghs-1754-90" />

However, at the [[1780 British general election|1780 election]] Johnstone lost the support of Burntisland to his opponent [[Sir John Henderson, 5th Baronet|John Henderson]], who won the seat on the casting vote of Kirkcaldy.<ref name="histparl-dysart-burghs-1754-90" />

=== Family links to slavery ===
When Johnstone returned to Scotland from India, he brought with him a number of Indian servants who may have been indentured. One of these was [[Bell (Belinda)|Bell, or Belinda]], who was variously referred to as a girl, a woman, a servant, a slave and 'property'.<ref>{{Cite book |jstor=10.3366/j.ctv2f4vh1g |title=The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women |date=2018 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-3627-4 |editor-last=Ewan |editor-first=Elizabeth |location=Edinburgh |oclc=on1064105757 |editor-last2=Pipes |editor-first2=Rosemary J. |editor-last3=Rendall |editor-first3=Jane |editor-last4=Reynolds |editor-first4=Sian}}</ref> Bell gave birth to a baby boy who was later found in the [[River Leven, Fife|River Leven]] in Fife and she was accused of [[infanticide]]. The court at [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] accepted her petition to be banished "to one or other of His Majestys (sic) Plantations or settlements in the East or West Indies or in America".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rothschild |first=Emma |title=The inner life of empires: an eighteenth-century history |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-691-15612-5 |edition=1. paperback pr |location=Princeton, NJ}}</ref> She was indentured as a "slave for life" to a [[Glasgow]] merchant and transported to [[History of slavery in Virginia|Virginia]] in 1772. Bell was the last person to be deemed a slave by a British or Scottish court.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=Alister |title=Big and Little History Both |url=https://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2012/mayjun/littlehistory.html |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Books and Culture |language=en}}</ref>

Slavery was found to be "not recognised by the laws of this kingdom" by the Perth court in 1774, when an enslaved man, [[Joseph Knight (slave)|Joseph Knight]] brought a claim to be free of his master [[John Wedderburn of Ballindean|John Wedderburn]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Whyte |first=Iain |title=Scotland and the Abolition of Black Slavery, 1756-1838 |date=2022 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |others=Desmond M. Tutu |isbn=978-0-7486-2699-1 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> Wedderburn was married to Johnstone's niece Margaret, daughter of his sister [[Margaret Ogilvy, Lady Ogilvy|Margaret, Lady Ogilvy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whyte |first=Iain |title=Scotland and the Abolition of Black Slavery, 1756-1838 |date=2022 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |others=Desmond M. Tutu |isbn=978-0-7486-2699-1 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> Wedderburn appealed to the [[Court of Session (Scotland) Act 1745|Court of Sessions]] in [[Edinburgh]] which eventually ruled that slavery was incompatible with [[Scots law|Scots Law]].<ref name=":1" />

Johnstone later subscribed to the [[Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade]], founded in 1787.<ref name=":0" />

== Death and legacy ==
[[File:Alva House early 20th c postcard.jpg|thumb|Alva House in the early 20th century]]
[[File:The Johnstone mausoleum, old Alva churchyard.jpg|thumb|The Johnstone mausoleum, old Alva churchyard]]
Johnstone died on 10 December 1795, aged 61, at home in Alva House,<ref name="odnb" />
which had been remodelled and expanded in 1789 to the designs of [[Robert Adam]].<ref name="rcahms" />

Adam's works also included a family [[mausoleum]] to house the remains of Johnstone and his wife Caroline in Alva churchyard.<ref name="mausoleum" />

His son James Raymond Johnstone (died 1830), had 8 children, of whom the eldest [[James Johnstone (1801–1888)|James Johnstone]] (1801–1888) was MP for [[Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (UK Parliament constituency)|Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire]].<ref>{{harvnb | Johnstone | 1909 | p=301}}</ref>

Alva house remained in his family for over a century, and in 1890 it passed to his descendant Carolin Johnstone. She sold the surrounding estate to reduce her debts, but failed to clear them, and the house was abandoned by the 1920s. It was used for target practice during World War II, and left in ruins.<ref name="macinnes" />

== References ==
<references>

<ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB
| id = 63515
| title=Johnstone, John (1734–1795)
| first = D. L.
| last = Prior
| year = 2004
}}</ref>

<ref name="histparl-john-johnstone-d1795">{{cite web
| first = Edith
| last = Haden-Guest
| title = JOHNSTONE, John (1734–95), of Denovan and Alva, Stirling
| url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/johnstone-john-1734-95
| work = The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790
| editor1 = L. Namier
| editor2 = J. Brooke
| publisher = Boydell and Brewer
| access-date = 19 June 2014
| year = 1964
}}</ref>

<ref name="histparl-dysart-burghs-1754-90">{{cite web
| first = John
| last = Brooke
| title = Dysart Burghs: Single Member Scottish burgh
| url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/johnstone-john-1734-95
| work = The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790
| editor1 = L. Namier
| editor2 = J. Brooke
| publisher = Boydell and Brewer
| access-date = 19 June 2014
| year = 1964
}}</ref>

<ref name="burke">{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=F_4GAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA302
| title = A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank: But Uninvested with Heritable Honours, Volume 2
| page = 302
| first = John
| last = Burke
| publisher = Henry Colburn
| year = 1835
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="harrington">{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16
| title = Sir John Malcolm and the Creation of British India
| page = 16
| first = Jack
| last = Harrington
| publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
| year = 2010
| isbn = 978-0-230-10885-1
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="evans">{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HNWXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65
| title = The Gentleman Usher: The Life & Times of George Dempster 1712–1818
| pages = 65–72
| first = John
| last = Evans
| publisher = Pen and Sword
| year = 2004
| isbn = 978-1-84415-151-6
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="a-m-khan">{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZL38wll43-MC&pg=PA91
| title = The Transition in Bengal, 1756–75: A Study of Saiyid Muhammad Reza Khan
| page = 91
| first = Abdul Majed
| last = Khan
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| year = 2007
| isbn = 978-0-521-04982-5
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="d-hamilton">{{cite book
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yWREzTm3Z-AC&pg=PA434
| title = The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History
| chapter = Chapter 22: Scotland and the 18th-century Empire
| editor1-first = T. M.
| editor1-last = Devine
| editor2-first = Jenny
| editor2-last = Wormald
| page = 434
| first = Douglas
| last = Hamilton
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| year = 2012
| isbn = 978-0-19-956369-2
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="macinnes">{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rFnrLH0IrekC&pg=PA135
| title = Caleb's List: Climbing the Scottish Mountains Visible from Arthur's Seat
| page = 135
| first = Kellan
| last = MacInnes
| publisher = Luath Press Ltd
| year = 2014
| isbn = 978-1-908373-53-3
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="rcahms">{{cite web
| url = http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/111955/details/alva+house/
| title = Site Record for Alva House
| publisher = Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="mausoleum">{{cite web
| url = http://www.clacksweb.org.uk/visiting/johnstonemausoleum/
| title = Johnstone Mausoleum
| publisher = Clackmannanshire Council
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="marshall">{{cite ODNB
| first = P. J.
| last = Marshall
| title = Eighteenth-century India
| year = 2004
| doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/92745
| url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/92745
| access-date = 19 June 2014
}}</ref>

<ref name="letter-to-proprietors">{{cite book
| title = A letter to the proprietors of East-India stock
| first = John
| last = Johnstone
| location = London
| year = 1766
| id = British Library UIN BLL01001889842
| isbn = 978-1-170-51679-9
}}</ref>

</references> 

== Bibliography ==
*{{cite book
| url = https://archive.org/stream/historyofjohnsto00grah
| title = History of the Johnstones, 1191–1909, with descriptions of border life
| first = C. L.
| last = Johnstone
| year = 1909
| publisher = W. & A.K. Johnston, Ltd
| location = Edinburgh
}}

== External links ==
* [https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-johnstone-betty-johnstone-and-miss-wedderburn-124273 Portrait of John Johnstone, Betty Johnstone and Miss Wedderburn]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef | before = [[James Townsend Oswald]] }}
{{s-title
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Dysart Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Dysart Burghs]]
| years = [[1774 British general election|1774]]–[[1780 British general election|1780]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Sir John Henderson, 5th Baronet|Sir John Henderson, Bt]] }}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, John}}
[[Category:1734 births]]
[[Category:1795 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:British MPs 1774–1780]]
[[Category:British East India Company people]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish landowners]]
[[Category:People from Clackmannanshire]]
[[Category:Paintings by Henry Raeburn]]

John Johnstone (East India Company) - Revision history

AmanGautamArtist: added biography