Richard Alexander Oswald

Richard Alexander Oswald (17 February 1771 – 19 June 1841) was a Scottish Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1832 to 1835.

Life

Oswald was the son of George Oswald, a merchant of Scotstoun, Rector of Glasgow University and the grand nephew of Richard Oswald of Auchincruive.[1][2]

At the 1832 general election Oswald was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayrshire. He held the seat until 1835.[3]

Oswald died at the age of 70.

Family
Louisa Johnston, portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn

Oswald married twice. His first wife was Louisa or Lucy Johnstone; the poet Robert Burns composed his verses, "O wat ye wha's in yon town?" to her. She died of consumption at Lisbon.[4] Oswald then married in 1817 Lady Lilias Montgomerie, daughter of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, who was widow of Robert Dundas MacQue(e)n.[5][6]

Oswald and Louisa had a son, Richard Oswald. He married Lady Mary Kennedy, daughter of Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa, and died in 1833.[1][7] The family estates passed to a cousin, James Oswald, in 1841.[4]

Thomas Spencer Lindsey married in 1818 Oswald's daughter Margaret Hester.[8] Margaret Hester Oswald was described in an obituary as "the only daughter of the late Richard Alexander Oswald, Esq. of Auchencruive"[9][10] Oswald's will shows that a beneficiary was a granddaughter Margaret Nina Lindsey.[11]

References
  1. Smith, John Guthrie; John Oswald Mitchell (1878). "Old country houses of old Glasgow gentry: LXXXVII. Scotstoun [ebook chapter]". The Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry. Glasgow: James MacLehose & Sons. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  2. Ayrshire History
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
  4. The History of Glasgow Volume 3 – Chapter XXIX – A Typical Glasgow Family
  5. Burke’s Peerage Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1284 cited on The Peerage
  6. "Summary of Individual, Lady Lilias Oswald ???? – 10th Sep 1845, Legacies of British Slave-ownership". Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  7. Courthope, William (1839). Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: With Additions to the Present Time and a New Set of Coats of Arms from Drawings by Harvey. J. G. & F. Rivington. p. 65. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. "Lindsey, Thomas Spencer (LNDY808TS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  9. Death Announcement Margaret Hester Lindsey nee Oswald , The Times, Thursday, 22 November 1855; pg. 1; Issue 22218; col A in on-line database (subscription required) accessed 26 November 2011
  10. Smith, John Guthrie & Mitchell, John Oswald "The Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry" (James MacLehose & Sons, Glasgow, 1878)
  11. Will of Richard Alexander Oswald, "Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (1384–1858)" in National Archives on-line database (purchase required) purchased 22 November 2011
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
William Blair		 Member of Parliament for Ayrshire
1832 – 1835		 Succeeded by
John Dunlop
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