Although best remembered as an agricultural improver and reformer George Dempster of Dunnichen played a wide-ranging role in the public life of the country. He was in turn lawyer, member of parliament, proprietor and then director of the East India Company, partner in several cotton spinning enterprises, and director of the British Fisheries Society. He combined his interest in improving his own estates - and encouraging others to do likewise with theirs - with being one of an active group of businessmen who strove to develop trade and industry throughout Scotland. He established the Dundee Bank, actively supported road development in both Highlands and Lowlands, established many of the first lighthouses around the Scottish coasts, and introduced cold storage methods into the British fishing industry. He vigorously promoted the Scottish textile industries, both through parliamentary legislation and, more directly, by playing a major role in the introduction of cotton spinning into Scotland. His patriotic zeal on behalf of Scotland both in the political and the commercial spheres caused Dempster deservedly to become one of die most popular Scotsmen of his generation, a fact that has become clouded by his later obscurity. Nor was his popularity based purely on his achievements; Dempster had an attractive and disarming personality, remarked on by almost all who came into contact with him. This study attempts to provide as well-rounded a biography of George Dempster as is possible given the prescribed limitation of length. The diversity of his interests and the enthusiasm with which he pursued them are emphasised and every effort has been made through reference to primary sources to give a true portrait of Dempster the man while accurately recording his aims and achievements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:712213 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Lang, Andrew Munro |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/21348 |
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