The HonourableDouglas James William Kinnaird (26 February 1788 – 12 March 1830) was an Englishbanker,politician, friend ofLord Byron andamateurcricketer. He was a Managing Partner in the banking firm of Ransom & Co.[1] He also briefly served as Member of Parliament forBishop's Castle from 1819 to 1820.[2]
Kinnaird was the fifth son ofGeorge Kinnaird, 7th Lord Kinnaird and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the banker Griffin Ransom; and younger brother ofCharles Kinnaird, 8th Lord Kinnaird (1780–1826). He was educated first atEton College, and then atGöttingen, where he acquired a knowledge of German and French. He was admitted toLincoln's Inn in 1807. He went toTrinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. in 1811.[3][4]
In 1813 Kinnaird travelled with his friendJohn Cam Hobhouse on the continent, and was present at thebattle of Culm. In the autumn of 1814 he travelled home from Paris withWilliam Jerdan After his return to England he took an active share in the business of Ransom & Morland's bank, and on the dissolution of the partnership with Sir Francis Bernard Morland in 1819, assumed the chief management of the new firm.[3]
In 1815 Kinnaird became, with Byron,Samuel Whitbread,Peter Moore, and others, a member of the sub-committee for directing the affairs ofDrury Lane Theatre. In 1817 he visited Byron atVenice. He was a close friend of Byron, who called him "my trusty and trustworthy trustee and banker, and crown and sheet anchor"[5] He was consulted by Byron on his business negotiations with John Murray, and with Hobhouse insisted on the destruction of the Byron memoirs, after Byron's death.[3]
It was at Kinnaird's request that Byron wrote theHebrew Melodies and theMonody on the Death of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan, spoken at Drury Lane Theatre. Jerdan related thatSamuel Taylor Coleridge, when his tragedyRemorse was under consideration by the Drury Lane authorities, was invited to read it to Kinnaird; after two acts, Kinnaird remarked that he had "listened to enough of your nonsense", and invited attention to a two-act piece of his own.[3]
At thegeneral election in the summer of 1818 Kinnaird was nominated a candidate for thecity of Westminster in the reform interest, but finding the contest hopeless withdrew after the third day's polling, and canvassed actively on behalf ofFrancis Burdett. Kinnaird refused to be nominated again on the death ofSir Samuel Romilly, the senior member, in November 1818, and seconded his friend Hobhouse, who was defeated after a vigorous contest by George Lamb in March 1819. At a by-election in July 1819 Kinnaird was returned to the House of Commons for the borough of Bishop's Castle,Shropshire, and in his maiden speech on 30 November 1819 supportedLord Althorp's motion for a select committee on the state of the country. Kinnaird also took part in the debate on Hobhouse's anonymous pamphlet on 10 December, and contended that "any conclusion might be drawn from it" rather than that it was meant as an excitement to rebellion.[3]
At the general election in March 1820 Kinnaird was included in the double return for Bishops Castle, but in the following June was declared 'not duly elected' by the select committee appointed to try the petition. He made no further attempt to enter parliament, but frequently took part in the discussions atIndia House. He was a member of the "Rota", a radical dinner club, to which Bickersteth, Burdett, and Hobhouse also belonged, and was famous for his "mob dinners", with thirty or forty guests.[3]
Kinnaird died unmarried inPall Mall East, London, after a long illness, on 12 March 1830, aged 42.[3]
His works were:[3]
Kinnaird made 19 known appearances in important matches from 1808 to 1822.He was mainly associated withMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and he also played forSurrey andMiddlesex.[6]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Kinnaird, Douglas James William".Dictionary of National Biography. London:Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
