James Charles Stuart Strange (8 August 1753 – 6 October 1840) was a British officer of the East India Company, one of the first maritime fur traders, a banker, and a Member of Parliament.
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Background and education
James Charles Stuart Strange was born on 8 August 1753 in London, England, United Kingdom. His parents were Robert Strange and Isabella Lumisden.
His father, Robert Strange, was a former Jacobite from Orkney and had fought in the Jacobite rising of 1745, under Charles Edward Stuart, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and the "Young Pretender". Robert Strange named his son James Charles Stuart Strange after Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was also James' godfather.
Robert and Isabella Strange moved to London in 1750. A few years later James Charles Stuart Strange was born. James attended the College of Navarre in Paris in 1770.
East India Company
In 1772 James Strange obtained a writership with the East India Company (EIC), in Madras, India. He gained this post through Sir Lawrence Dundas, a relative of Strange's maternal grandmother. Like many members of former Jacobite families, James Strange and his brother Thomas Strange made their way to India, arriving in 1773. James advanced rapidly in the EIC and in private trade. In 1778 he became a Factor of the EIC.
In 1780 Strange returned to England, having made a fortune. He was promoted to a Junior Merchant of the EIC in 1782. On 18 February 1785 Strange married Margaret Durham. The same year he returned to India with his new bride.
From late 1785 to early 1787 he undertook a voyage to the Pacific Northwest Coast, hoping to be the first to capitalize on the nascent maritime fur trade. Afterward he returned to India and continued his career with the EIC. He was promoted to Senior Merchant in 1790. In 1795 he was appointed Collector and Paymaster for the EIC in Tanjore, India. Later that year he retired from the East India Company and returned to England.
Later he rejoined the EIC and became Magistrate Collector in Puducherry (Pondichery), in 1806, then Judge of Court of Appeal, in 1807. From 1813 to 1815 he served the EIC as Postmaster General and a Senior Member of the Board of Trade. In 1816 he retired and returned to Great Britain. On the voyage home he stopped at Saint Helena where he won a game of piquet with the exiled Napoleon.
Voyage to the Pacific Northwest
In 1785 while returning to India after marrying Margaret Durham, Strange read newly published accounts of the third voyage of Captain Cook, including news of the large profits made by his crew in Guangzhou (Canton), China, selling sea otter furs they had obtained at Nootka Sound on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Captain James King, who had helped take over after the death of Cook, wrote of the possible profits to be made selling Northwest Coast furs in China.
Upon Strange's return to India and the East India Company (EIC) in later 1785, he discussed the idea of an expedition with David Scott, a prominent Mumbai (Bombay) merchant. Scott and his two partners, Tate and Adamson, obtained the support of the president and council of the East India Company in Bombay for an expedition of two ships from Mumbai (Bombay) to the Northwest Coast of America. Strange invested 10,000 pounds in the venture, which he borrowed from David Scott. Overall the cost of fitting out the expedition rose to the point where only a major success in fur trading could possibly pay back investments, let alone make a profit.
Two Bombay-built, copper-hulled snows were purchased. They were the Captain Cook of 350 tons, and the Experiment of 100 tons. The Captain Cook was commanded by Henry Laurie, and the Experiment by Henry Guise. Strange was supercargo and also in overall command of the voyage. As far as the EIC was concerned, Strange was a company servant in command of a company-sanctioned, private project that, it was hoped, would lead not only to the discovery of new channels of commerce but also forestall rival attempts.
Strange's instructions from the East India Company described two main purposes for the expedition. First, exploration for the benefit of navigation. This included instructions to return via Bering Strait, the Arctic Ocean as far as the North Pole, then Kamchatka, then China. Second, the establishment of a new channel of commerce from the Pacific Northwest Coast to China and India. Despite these instructions, the actual voyage was a commercial fur-trading venture no different from other early maritime fur trading expeditions to the Northwest Coast.
Strange's expedition left Bombay in December, 1785. Unable to acquire goods on the Malabar Coast for trade in Macau, Strange sailed directly for the Pacific Northwest. The Experiment was holed while still in the Indian Ocean, forcing a stop at Batavia (now Jakarta) for repairs, costing time and money.
Political career
In 1796 James Strange, a Whig, became a Member of Parliament (MP) as a guest of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, a silent supporter of William Pitt's administration. Strange's constituency was East Grinstead.
In 1802 Strange was elected as MP of Okehampton, having been recommended to the patron Henry Holland by James Strange's father-in-law Henry Dundas. Strange survived a challenge to his election by two wealthy London merchants. Strange was an inconspicuous MP, speaking only once, arguing against severity toward James Trotter, an election offender.
Banking
After retiring from the East India Company in 1795 Strange became a partner in the bank of Strange, Dashwood & Company, of New Bond Street, London. In 1803 Strange's bank failed, which left him impoverished and caused him to return to India, where his brother Sir Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange helped James acquire employment with the East India Company.
Personal life
James Strange's first marriage, in 1785, was to Margaret Durham, the daughter of James Durham of Largo, Fife, Scotland. Margaret's brother was Philip Charles Durham, later Admiral Sir Philip Charles Calderwood Henderson Durham of the Royal Navy. They had one daughter, Isabella Katherine Strange (1785–1847). Margaret died in 1791.
In 1798 Strange married Anne Dundas, the daughter of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, and widow of Henry Drummond, an English banker and politician. They had three daughters: Mary Anne Strange (c. 1806–1889), Louisa Strange (1810–1895), and Isabella Strange (1816–1879).
In 1816, after his second time in India working for the EIC, Strange retired to Scotland.
After a five-month illness, James Strange died on 7 October 1840 at Airth Castle, Airth, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Legacy
Several places in British Columbia were named for James Strange, including Strange Island, in Nootka Sound, and Strange Rock, near Cape Scott, Guise Bay, and Lowrie Bay. Other places are named for Strange's captains, Guise and Lowrie, and his ships, Captain Cook and Experiment. For example, near Cape Scott at the north end of Vancouver Island, Experiment Bight, and Guise Bay. And in Fitz Hugh Sound, Guise Point, and Experiment Point.
A fictional account of Strange, portrayed by Jonathan Pryce, appears in the television show Taboo on BBC One and FX.