Sir Charles Dalrymple Fergusson, 5th Baronet
Sir Charles Dalrymple Fergusson, 5th Baronet of Kilkerran FRSE was a Scottish lawyer and landowner in Scotland and Jamaica.
Life
He was born at Fort George in Inverness-shire on 26 August 1800.He was the eldest son of Sir James Fergusson, 4th Baronet, fourth baronet, and his wife Jean Dalrymple, daughter of Sir David Dalrymple, baronet. He was educated at Harrow, and became an advocate in 1822, practising at the Scottish bar until his father's death. He was a member of the Speculative Society, and at its meetings read two essays, one on the Origin and Progress of Criminal Jurisprudence, and the other on the History of Painting.
Between August 1824 and November 1825, he temporarily suspended his legal career to complete a grand tour of Northern Europe, Italy and Switzerland, financed in part by his aunt, Miss Christian Dalrymple. Whilst on this tour, he maintained a series of detailed journals containing accounts of his travels; some of these journals have survived, including one at the National Library of Scotland. As well as allowing an unguarded insight into his thoughts and character, these highlight his fascination with the Arts, architecture, religion, and with the people and cultures he encountered.
Fergusson was an active promoter of almost every scheme of usefulness throughout Scotland.
The county of Ayr, in which his seat was, was especially indebted to his active aid in its agricultural, charitable, and religious institutions. He was the originator of the Ayrshire Educational Association, and, at his own expense, built many schools and churches in Scotland.
He and his father received compensation in 1836 for the 198 enslaved people emancipated in 1834–1838 on the estate in Jamaica that they co-owned with Sir David Hunter-Blair, 3rd Baronet. His great-great-great grandson, Alex Renton, writes that there is no record of Sir Charles building any churches or schools in Jamaica.
He was returned to the general assembly of the church of Scotland, as a lay representative for Ayr. He did much towards extending the usefulness and efficiency of the church, and in the sittings of its legislative body his counsels had great weight. A decided conservative in his political principles, both in church and state, Fergusson was yet strongly averse to the strife and turmoil of political life, and was remarkably tolerant in his sentiments. Although repeatedly urged by his friends, he could never be induced to seek election for his native county. To the last he was an able and zealous supporter of the cause of protection. Himself a colonial proprietor, he severely condemned the free trade legislation of Sir Robert Peel, which he believed must have an injurious effect upon the British colonies.
In 1829, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposer was Norwich Duff.
In 1837, Fergusson succeeded to the estates of his grandfather, Lord Hailes, in East and Mid Lothian, and in 1838 to those of his father in Ayrshire, on which he constantly lived. He inherited Newhailes, and the Lordship and Barony of Hailes in 1839, on the death of his aunt, Miss Christian Dalrymple.
He died at Inveresk 18 March 1849. The grave lies in the extreme north-west corner of the first Victorian extension, west of the original churchyard.
Family
Fergusson married Helen, daughter of the David Boyle, lord-justice-general of Scotland, by whom he had nine children:- Elizabeth Fergusson
- Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, 6th Baronet
- Helen Anne Fergusson
- David Boyle Fergusson
- Sir Charles Dalrymple, 1st Baronet
- Mary Dalrymple-Fergusson – married to Walter Severn and mother of Sir Claud Severn, Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong
- John Adam Dalrymple-Fergusson
- Henrietta Duncan Dalrymple-Fergusson
- Eleanor Charlotte Dalrymple-Fergusson – married Rev David Robertson, son of Hercules Robertson, Lord Benholme