Lord Dundas
Thomas Dundas of Kerse, first Baron Dundas of Aske (1741–1820)
1741 born in Edinburgh on 16 February son of Sir Lawrence Dundas of Kerse
c1793 Walker Alkali Works set up on the Tyne - the original partners were Dundas and Dundonald, Messrs. Aubany and John Surtees, and John and William Losh.
1794 Rewarded for his support of the Pitt administration with a peerage - Baron Dundas of Aske.
From 1793 to 1813 he was the effective commander of the Yorkshire militia,
From 1794 was lord lieutenant and vice-admiral of Orkney and Shetland.
He was an enthusiastic agricultural improver - he spent his income from rents on draining and enclosing land, experimenting with new crops and breeds, using bone and gypsum manures, and building water- or horse-powered threshing mills.
The family's alum works at Loftus were enlarged and he ran a successful alkali works at Dalmuir, Dunbartonshire.
As governor of the Forth and Clyde Navigation Co (1786–1816), he presided over the canal's completion and the creation of Grangemouth and Port Dundas. He also persuaded the company to test the first practical steam-tug, the Charlotte Dundas.
1820 Died at Aske Hall, near Richmond
See Also
Sources of Information
- Dundas family, ODNB