James Baillie

James Baillie (1737 – 7 September 1793) was a British merchant, planter and politician who represented Horsham in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1792 to 1793.

Life Baillie was the second son of Hugh Baillie, of Dochfour, south of Inverness, by his wife Emilia, daughter of Alexander Fraser, 11th of Relig, Reelig or Rulick, Kirkhill, Inverness.

James Baillie's younger brother was Evan Baillie, of Dochfour, of Parliament, the West Indies and Bristol.

Baillie arrived in St. Christopher's (Saint Kitts) in 1755, and soon bought the Hermitage plantation in Grenada, undertook around 20 years of work, and in 1775 (?) returned to Great Britain and London. In 1772 James Baillie wrote: "[through] 1755–71 I was employed in the line of planting and commerce in the islands of St Christopher and Grenada [and Demerary]... and [in 1772] our house sold Negroes here to the amount of £120,000 sterling..." At the time of the 1833 compensation claims Baillie's heirs were awarded c. £73,700 compensation for their c. 1,821 slaves in Grenada, Guyana and St. Lucia.

He was M.P. for Horsham, in Sussex, from 1792 for only 18 months. There he had seemed to have been beaten at the poll, and so before a petition gave him the seat, he had been appointed British agent to Grenada. It is unclear whether he took up that post or where he died. He had his speech published. and Francois "Dominique" Joseph Loridan, Valet de Chambre to M. Alexander Baillie of Naples, Tuscany (23 April 1780 – 16 April 1853).

In November 2008 Highland News (13 November 2008) reported that local MSP David Stewart had raised the issue of Inverness Museum and Art Gallery's loan request of the Baillie family by Gainsborough at the Scottish Parliament's Question Time. He was supported by the then tourism minister Jim Mather, as well as Highland Council convener Sandy Park, Inverness Provost Jimmy Gray and Highland councillor and historian David Alston. Stewart said: "The painting is controversial because the Baillie family were involved in the slave trade. Following the emancipation of slaves in 1834 they received the equivalent of 5.5 million, which they reinvested in their estates in the Highlands and Islands... and was used to develop the Highlands through establishments like Inverness Royal Academy and the Royal Northern Infirmary. This was the only Highlander that to my knowledge was painted by Gainsborough. However, history should be seen warts and all, it's important that people know what it is. The Baillies played a big part in the development of the Highlands. It's a bit like the Highland Clearances, they are an appalling part of Highland history but people should know about it. Schools could make the painting a research project. If we got the painting on loan this would provide a huge boost to tourism in the Highlands and Islands and attract inward investment. It would be like when Caley Thistle signed Marius Niculae."

A version of this portrait which just shows Colina and Colin-Campbell by Gainsborough Dupont, it measures 36.5 x 28 inches, and has been in the Collections of Donaldson (Sir George Hunter Donaldson, Kt. (1845–1925)), Durand-Ruel and Gustavia A. Tapscott, of Richmond, Virginia, a Pomeranian breeder, who had become in 1880, Mrs Charles H. Senff. As a widow she lived at East 79th Street and Knollwood, Long Island, and died 18 November 1927. Charles H. Senff (died 1911, aged 74), of Madison Avenue and 41st street, New York, The Beeches, Whitestone, Long Island, and Curles Neck Farm (5500 acres, with 3000 acres under plantation, and 100 permanent workers. In addition there they were champion breeders of Red Polled Cattle in the USA), was a director of the American Sugar Refining Company, and associate and cousin of Henry Osborne Havemeyer. Charles Henry Senff was the son of Dr. Henry Senff by Susannah Havemeyer, daughter of Frederick C. Havemeyer of the sugar refinery company Havemeyers & Elder, which controlled most of the international sugar market, and evolved into the American Sugar Refining Company. Mr. Senff had a renowned and valuable collection of paintings, which included a Frans Hals portrait and some Corot bathing nymphs. In 1912 the collection was valued at $822,300.

Personal life He married, on 26 April 1772, Colina or Colin Campbell (1753-) one of the two surviving daughters (and co-heiresses) of Colin Roy Campbell, of Glenure (c1708-1752). They had at least one son, and at least two daughters, who married and had issue.

Present day Michael Baillie, 3rd Baron Burton was the representative of the family of Baillie of Dochfour until his death in 2013.