East India Patronage and the British State

The Scottish Elite and Politics in the Eighteenth Century

George McGilvary

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9781845116613
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780857712288
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

The Act of Union in 1707 brought with it a new 'Great Britain'. How did the English bind the Scottish elites to the new British State, ensuring the stability of this new power in the face of possible Jacobite and international threat? From 1725 a patronage system existed in Britain enabling government ministries to use posts in the East India Company and its shipping to secure political majorities in Scotland and Westminster. Scots went to India as Company servants, ships' crews, soldiers and free-merchants, bringing back exceptional wealth to a land starved of money and providing for commercial and industrial advances throughout Great Britain. The importance of the system of patronage which enabled so many Scots to go to the East has not hitherto been recognised and cannot be overestimated. It bound the Scots with their English neighbours in business, political management and empire, with consequences going far beyond the eighteenth century.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Drummond: Early Life 1675–1742
• 2. Political and Electoral Realities 1707–74
• 3. Company and Patronage Infrastructure 1720–74
• 4. Drummond and Management 1720–42
• 5. Drummond Network 1720–42
• 6. Operating from Scotland 1742–61
• 7. Government: Supply and Demand 1742–61
• 8. Shipping Positions 1742–61
• 9. Elections and Watersheds 1761–66
• 10. Ministries: Company and Favours 1765–74
• 11. Shipping Bounty 1765–74
• 12. Patrons and Recipients 1760–74
• 13. Military Recruitment 1720–80
• 14. Capital Accumulation 1720–80
• 15. Summary and Conclusions
• Appendix
• Short Titles and Abbreviations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index