James Ewing

James Ewing was born on 7th December, 1775, 5th child of Walter Ewing Maclae 3rd of Cathkin & his wife Margaret Fisher. He was named after his maternal grandfather, the Rev James Fisher. After some years of education at the High School of Glasgow, James Ewing went to the University of Glasgow in 1787 at the age of 12, where he read classics, literature and philosophy. It had been expected that James Ewing would become a lawyer, and be called to the Bar, however this was not to be.

James Ewing became an agent in Glasgow for the imports from the sugar plantations in Jamaica and built the business from scratch under the name James Ewing & Co and the business grew at an unexpectedly fast rate. James had originally worked with his father, Walter Ewing Maclae, a well known Arbitrator and experienced accountant. So James was given good training in accountancy and his father’s business was eventually merged into James Ewing & Co.

In 1809 James Dennistoun of Golfhill, with support from James Ewing, founded the Glasgow Bank. In June 1815, at the age of 40, James Ewing and Archibald Smith of Jordonhill established the first ‘Provident’ or ‘Savings’ Bank in Glasgow. It was set up to support and encourage the ‘lower orders’ of hard labouring and industrious families of the community where deposits of one shilling and above could be made, thus encouraging the habit of ‘ saving’, which became such a characteristic of the Scottish population right up to the second world war. Archibald Smith was the first Governor, and James Ewing was Deputy-Governor. The bank spread to many towns and villages in the west of Scotland.

He was elected Dean of Guild of the Merchants House in 1816 and again in 1831, he was Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1832 to 1833 and for the same period he was the city's Member of Parliament.