John Glassford

John Glassford ( – 27 August 1783) was a Scottish merchant and planter. One of the most prominent Tobacco Lords of Scotland, Glassford owned tobacco-producing slave plantations in the British North American colonies of Virginia and Maryland, for which he has become controversial in the 21st century. Background and early life Glassford was born in Paisley, the third son of James Glassford, a merchant and burgess in Paisley. Glassford went on to marry first a merchant's daughter, then a baronet's, then an earl's. His immense wealth allowed for the construction or purchase of a number of major properties in and around Glasgow; Whitehill, Shawfield and Dougalston, from which he took his title, are the most notable. He appeared to pride himself on home improvements, especially on the Dougalston estate, where he enacted an extensive programme of planting and building, and even the creation of an artificial lake, Dougalston Loch. The Glassford Family Portrait, commissioned from artist Archibald McLauchlan in 1766 – and currently exhibited in Glasgow's People's Palace – shows Glassford with members of his family in their city home the Shawfield Mansion. This house stood on what is now Glassford Street in Glasgow, named in his honour.<ref name=strath>Curiosities of Glasgow citizenship: JOHN GLASSFORD [ebook chapter] / George Stewart, 1881</ref> Glassford sired fourteen children in all, though only eight survived to adulthood. The portrait also features the faint outline of a Black servant, which serves to highlight Glassford's involvement in the slave trade. Tobacco trade From 1710 Glasgow became the focus of an economic boom which lasted nearly fifty years. This was the age of the Tobacco Lords, the nouveau riche of the mid eighteenth century.