Lawrence Dundas, 1st Earl of Zetland

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Lawrence Dundas, 1st Earl of Zetland (10 April 1766 – 19 February 1839) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1790 to 1820 when he was raised to the peerage.

Early life

Dundas was the son of Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas and was born in Westminster on 10 April 1766. He was educated at Harrow and was admitted at Trinity College, Cambridge. He married Harriet Hale, one of the twenty-one children of General John Hale and his wife Mary Chaloner, by whom he had three sons and four daughters.

Political career

Dundas was elected Whig Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire in 1790. Twelve years later he exchanged this seat for that of York, and in 1808 returned to Westminster as representative for his old Richmond seat. In 1811 he was again elected MP for York, and became Lord Mayor of the city that same year, having been an alderman since 1808. He was Lord Mayor a second time in 1821.

In 1820 Dundas succeeded his father as second Baron Dundas and as a baronet. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland in 1831, and in 1838, on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Victoria, he was created Earl of Zetland (i.e. Shetland) for having provided financial assistance to the new Queen's parents, the Duke & Duchess of Kent, in the years preceding her accession.

According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Zetland was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.43 billion in 2020) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Zetland was associated with "T71/880 Grenada claim no. 604 (Dougalston Estate)" and "T71/881 Dominica claim no. 576A & B (Castle Bruce)", he owned 351 slaves in Grenada and Dominica and received a £8,135 payment at the time (worth £778 thousand in 2020).

Later life and legacy

Dundas's wife died in 1834. He died suddenly on 19 February 1839 at his home of Aske Hall, Yorkshire. He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland.

He is buried in the family vault at Trinity Church in central Falkirk.