James Somervell
James Somervell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs | |
| In office 25 March 1890[1] – 28 June 1892[1] | |
| Preceded by | John Sinclair |
| Succeeded by | William Birkmyre |
| Majority | 130[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1845[2] |
| Died | 1924[2] |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Kathleen Emilie Maclaine[3] |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  British Army |
| Rank | Captain[4][5] |
James Somervell (1845–1924) was Conservative MP for Ayr Burghs. He won a by-election in 1890,[1] but he lost his seat to William Birkmyre, the Liberal candidate, in the 1892 general election.[1] He had earlier contested the 1885 general election for the Conservatives, but lost to the Scottish Liberal Party candidate Archibald Corbett.[6]
Somervell inherited Sorn Castle and its estate from his father Graham Somervell (born Graham Russell) in 1881, but sold it to the McIntyre family in 1907.[2][7]
Somervell studied at Harrow School and University of Oxford and was called to the bar in 1870.[8] In 1884 he set up the company Sorn Dairy Supply which sold dairy products from the estate in Sorn through a number of premises in Glasgow.[9] The Glasgow International Exhibition (1901) included a working model dairy farm run by Somervell.[10]
Somervell married Kathleen Emilie Maclaine in 1892 and they had four children (one died at a very young age), but after his wife discovered he was having an affair with the children's former nurse that produced a child, she sought a divorce that was granted in 1900.[3][11]
In 1904 Somervell stood trial in the High Court in Edinburgh on a charge of assaulting and firing a gun at the accountant Francis More who administered the Sorn Castle estate. More claimed that Somervell threatened to shoot him and the gun went off during a subsequent struggle, while Somervell claimed that More "rushed" him after noticing the gun in his pocket and it was then discharged during the struggle. Somervell was acquitted by the jury.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Mr James Somervell". TheyWorkForYou.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ a b c J. T. Ward (1967–69). "Ayrshire Landed Estates in the Nineteenth Century" (PDF). Ayrshire Collection VIII.
- ^ a b "Somervell Divorce Case - Divorce Granted". Aberdeen Weekly Journal and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland. 25 July 1900.
- ^ A H Millar (1885). Historical and descriptive accounts of the Castles and mansions of Ayrshire.
- ^ W S Cooper (1881). A history of the Ayrshire yeomanry cavalry.
- ^ The Constitutional Year Book. Conservative Central Office. 1904.
- ^ "The History of Sorn Castle". Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ "Mr James Somervell, M.P.". The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper. 12 April 1890.
- ^ Rivers of the North: Their Cities and their Commerce. 1894.
- ^ "Sorn Dairy Supply". AyrshireHistory.com.
- ^ "The Amours of Somervell of Sorn". Auckland Star. 1 September 1900.
- ^ "The Charge Against Mr James Somervell". The Times. 28 September 1904.