Hercules Ross

Hercules Ross was a Scottish merchant who made a fortune in Jamaica, being known as an intimate friend of Horatio Nelson, the most famous admiral of the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1761 at the age of 16 Ross travelled to Jamaica, where he established himself eventually as a successful trader, privateer ship-owner and naval prize agent. During the next twenty years he was able to amass a considerable personal fortune through his business affairs. In a meantime he also founded a family with his mistress of slave origin. In 1782, already a wealthy man, Ross decided to return to his homeland. He purchased an estate at Rossie, near Montrose and there he built a large house, known as Rossie Castle and married a daughter of John Parish, an influential banker with business interests in Hamburg. As a prominent businessman, Ross was elected an Honorary Burgess of Glasgow.

Ross was also known as ardent advocate of abolitionism considering the slavery contradict to “the laws of God and nature”. Therefore he was admitted as honorary and corresponding member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.