Adam Drummond (31 January 1713-17 June 1786), of Lennoch and Megginch in
PerthshirePerthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, was a Scottish merchant, banker and
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
.
Drummond was the eldest son of John Drummond, a Member of Parliament related to the banking family that owned
Drummonds BankDrummonds is an English private banking house founded in 1717 by goldsmith Andrew Drummond . The bank was owned by the Drummond family until January 1924, when it was taken over by The Royal Bank of Scotland...
. He was educated at Leyden University, and after briefly studying law joined the army in 1739, being commissioned as lieutenant in the
47th Regiment of FootThe 47th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1741 in Scotland, the regiment saw service over a period of 140 years, before it was amalgamated with another regiment to become The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881...
in 1741 and promoted to Captain in 1745.
Adam Drummond (31 January 1713-17 June 1786), of Lennoch and Megginch in
PerthshirePerthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, was a Scottish merchant, banker and
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
.
Drummond was the eldest son of John Drummond, a Member of Parliament related to the banking family that owned
Drummonds BankDrummonds is an English private banking house founded in 1717 by goldsmith Andrew Drummond . The bank was owned by the Drummond family until January 1924, when it was taken over by The Royal Bank of Scotland...
. He was educated at Leyden University, and after briefly studying law joined the army in 1739, being commissioned as lieutenant in the
47th Regiment of FootThe 47th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1741 in Scotland, the regiment saw service over a period of 140 years, before it was amalgamated with another regiment to become The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881...
in 1741 and promoted to Captain in 1745. In this capacity he served against the Jacobite Rebellion at the
Battle of PrestonpansThe Battle of Prestonpans was the first significant conflict in the second Jacobite Rising. The battle took place at 4am on 21 September 1745. The Jacobite army loyal to James Francis Edward Stuart and led by his son Charles Edward Stuart defeated the army loyal to the Hanoverian George II led by...
, where he was captured. He later served in North America, but was put on
half-payIn the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th century, half-pay referred to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service, usually 50% of usual pay. The latter usually occurred during periods of peacetime, when fewer commands were available. The term is first...
in 1753 and retired from the army in 1756 and set up as a merchant.
On 4 February, 1755, Drummond married Catherine Ashe, widow of William Ashe, MP and daughter of
the 4th Duke of BoltonHarry Powlett, 4th Duke of Bolton PC was a British nobleman and Whig politician, the second son of Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton and Frances Ramsden. He was known until 1754 as Lord Harry Powlett....
. The Bolton family controlled a number of pocket boroughs, and at the
next general election (in 1761)The British general election, 1761 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707...
Drummond entered Parliament as member for
LymingtonLymington was a parliamentary borough in Hampshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1584 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.-1584-1640:* 1604-1611: Thomas Marshal...
. Although the
Duke of BoltonCharles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton, KCB, PC was a British soldier, nobleman and Whig politician. He was the eldest son of Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of Bolton and Catherine Parry....
went into opposition after the election, Drummond supported the government, and in 1764 was rewarded when in partnership with
Sir Samuel FludyerSir Samuel Fludyer, 1st Baronet , of Lee Place in Kent, was an English merchant and banker who served as a Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London....
he was awarded the lucrative contract for victualling the British troops in North America. Later the same year, Drummond, Fludyer and Anthony Bacon secured a 30-year lease of all the coal on
Cape Breton IslandCape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the French word "Breton", referring to Brittany.Cape Breton Island is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada...
and in 1767 he acquired a large land grant in St John's Island (now
Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
). Further profitable contracts followed and, unlike his partner Fludyer, Drummond was able to retain or renew them as governments changed by remaining loyal to whichever administration was in power and helped by the influence of his noble brother-in-law.
Drummond was a partner in the Bank of Ayr, which crashed disastrously in 1772, but his fortune survived. In 1775
Thomas CouttsThomas Coutts was an Anglo-Scottish banker who was the founder of the banking house of Coutts & Co.He was the fourth son of John Coutts , who carried on business in Edinburgh as a corn factor and negotiator of bills of exchange, and who in 1742 was elected lord provost of the city...
took him into partnership, despite misgivings at his having been involved in the Ayr Bank collapse, but eventually had second thoughts and asked him to resign the partnership in 1780.
He died in 1786. His heir was his nephew, John Drummond, who also succeeded him as MP for
ShaftesburyShaftesbury was a parliamentary constituency in Dorset. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1295 until 1832 and one member until the constituency was abolished in 1885....
.