Johnstone, John

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Dates 1774-1780
Location London
Vocation Merchant; politician
Place of Birth Westerkirk
Marriage Elizabeth Carolina Keene
Issue
Place of birth Source E. Rothschild, The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth-Century History (Pinceton, 2011)

1734-1795. Joined East India Company (1750), and lived in India for 15 years. Fluent in Persian and Bengali. Quarreled with Lord Clive. Returned to Scotland (1766), settling in Alva. Stood unsuccessfully as MP for Haselmere (1768) and Dumfriesshire (1790), but sat for Dysart Burghs (1774-1780), during which time he opposed slave trade.