PRINGLE, James (1726-1809), of Stichill, Roxburgh.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1 Jan. 1761 - Mar. 1779

Family and Education

bap. 6 Nov. 1726, 1st surv. s. of Sir Robert Pringle, 3rd Bt., by Catherine, da. of James Pringle of Torwoodlee, Selkirk.  m. 11 Sept. 1767, Elizabeth, da. of Norman MacLeod of MacLeod, 3s. 6da.  suc. fa. as 4th Bt. 14 Dec. 1779.

Offices Held

2nd Lt. 21 Ft. 1744, lt. 1747; capt. 59 Ft. 1755, maj. 1759; lt.-col. army 1762; lt.-col. 59 Ft. 1765; ret. 1770.

Master of the King’s works in Scotland 1774.

Biography

The Pringles of Stichill were an ancient Scottish family who possessed considerable property in the counties of Roxburgh and Berwick. James Pringle served in Flanders during the war of the Austrian succession and at Minden in 1759. In 1761 he was returned unopposed for Berwickshire, with the support both of the Marchmont interest and of the anti-Marchmont group. In Parliament he was a silent and undistinguished Member. He supported the Bute and Grenville Administrations, voted against the Rockinghams over the repeal of the Stamp Act, 22 Feb. 1766, and henceforth supported each successive Administration. When he voted for making Grenville’s Election Act permanent, 25 Feb. 1774, North marked him among those ‘who generally vote with and are friends’. He was returned apparently unopposed in 1768 and 1774. In 1779 he vacated his seat in favour of Lord Marchmont’s son-in-law, Sir John Paterson.

A few months later Pringle succeeded his father, and henceforth devoted his time to the management of his estates, playing little part in politics. In April 1778 he accepted a lieutenant-colonel’s commission in the Duke of Buccleuch’s Fencibles, and in 1797 (at the age of 70) served with the Roxburgh yeomanry. William Adam, in his Political State of Scotland, compiled in 1788, described Pringle as ‘a very independent man ... attached to the Duke of Buccleuch’.

He died 7 Apr. 1809.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Edith Lady Haden-Guest

Notes