The Third Duke of Buccleuch and Adam Smith: Estate Management and Improvement in Enlightenment Scotland
Brian Bonnyman
Abstract
The third Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812) presided over the management of one of Britain’s largest landed estates during a period of profound social, political and economic change. Tutored by the philosopher Adam Smith, the Duke was also a leading patron of the Scottish Enlightenment, lauded by the Edinburgh literati as an exemplar of patriotic nobility and civic virtue, while his alliance with Henry Dundas would dominate Scottish politics for almost forty years. Combining the approaches of intellectual, economic and agrarian history, this book provides the first critical study of the life and c ... More
The third Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812) presided over the management of one of Britain’s largest landed estates during a period of profound social, political and economic change. Tutored by the philosopher Adam Smith, the Duke was also a leading patron of the Scottish Enlightenment, lauded by the Edinburgh literati as an exemplar of patriotic nobility and civic virtue, while his alliance with Henry Dundas would dominate Scottish politics for almost forty years. Combining the approaches of intellectual, economic and agrarian history, this book provides the first critical study of the life and career of the Duke, focusing in particular on his relationship with Adam Smith and the improvement of his vast Scottish estates. By examining the influence of the eighteenth century’s foremost philosopher of improvement upon the career of one of Britain’s largest landowners, this book provides an important case-study of the cultural, political and economic influences which helped shape Scotland’s distinctive agricultural revolution. The book also argues that under the stewardship of the Duke’s remarkable overseer of improvements, William Keir, ‘benevolent improvement’ became not only the overriding economic aim of land management strategy on the estate, but also the means by which the social, moral and political influence of the Duke would be strengthened and maintained.
Keywords:
Duke of Buccleuch,
Adam Smith,
Scottish Enlightenment,
Henry Dundas,
Scottish politics,
agricultural revolution,
improvement,
agrarian,
land management,
eighteenth century
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780748642007 |
| Published to Edinburgh Scholarship Online: May 2015 |
DOI:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748642007.001.0001 |
