Alexander Speirs

Alexander Speirs was one of the leading tobacco lords in the 18th century Glasgow.

Born in a family of an Edinburgh merchant, Speirs began his career in Virginia where he owned a plantation and married his first wife. Before he became a partner in Buchanan Murdoch & Co in 1745, he was involved in several shipments from Virginia.

Speirs returned to Glasgow by the early 1750s and in the next 20 years he amassed a large fortune. He had a prominent role in the establishment of the Glasgow Arms Bank in 1763, and was a partner in other ventured in the Glasgow area including the Wester Sugar House, Smithfield Ironworks and Pollokshaws Printfield. He also had business contacts with the Jacobite smugglers and slave traders in the Isle of Man. Through his second marriage to Mary Buchanan in 1755 he obtained the material and social support of the powerful Buchanan family.

In 1767 he bought the Elderslie estate in Renfrewshire that was in ownership of the direct descendent of William Wallace. In 1773 and 1774 he shipped 6,000 hogsheads of tobacco, and the profits realized in trade he invested in purchase of property in Renfrewshire and Stirlingshire. His descendant still owns his estates in Renfrewshire.

Through hard work and business achievements he amassed a fortune estimated around £153,000 or £133 million in today’s money. Speirs died before the American War of Independence ended, and his wealth, which was largely intact passed to his heirs.