James Somervell

James Somervell (1845–1924) was Conservative MP for Ayr Burghs. He won a by-election in 1890,[1] but he lost his seat to William Birkmyre, the Liberal candidate, in the 1892 general election.[1] He had earlier contested the 1885 general election for the Conservatives, but lost to the Scottish Liberal Party candidate Archibald Corbett.[6]

James Somervell
Sketch of James Somervell published in The Graphic after his 1890 by-election win
Member of Parliament
for Ayr Burghs
In office
25 March 1890[1] – 28 June 1892[1]
Preceded byJohn Sinclair
Succeeded byWilliam Birkmyre
Majority130[1]
Personal details
Born1845[2]
Died1924[2]
Political partyConservative
SpouseKathleen Emilie Maclaine[3]
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Military service
Branch/service British Army
RankCaptain[4][5]

Somervell inherited Sorn Castle and its estate from his father Graham Somervell (born Graham Russell) in 1881, but sold it to the McIntyre family in 1907.[2][7]

Somervell studied at Harrow School and University of Oxford and was called to the bar in 1870.[8] In 1884 he set up the company Sorn Dairy Supply which sold dairy products from the estate in Sorn through a number of premises in Glasgow.[9] The Glasgow International Exhibition (1901) included a working model dairy farm run by Somervell.[10]

Somervell married Kathleen Emilie Maclaine in 1892 and they had four children (one died at a very young age), but after his wife discovered he was having an affair with the children's former nurse that produced a child, she sought a divorce that was granted in 1900.[3][11]

In 1904 Somervell stood trial in the High Court in Edinburgh on a charge of assaulting and firing a gun at the accountant Francis More who administered the Sorn Castle estate. More claimed that Somervell threatened to shoot him and the gun went off during a subsequent struggle, while Somervell claimed that More "rushed" him after noticing the gun in his pocket and it was then discharged during the struggle. Somervell was acquitted by the jury.[12]

References
  1. "Mr James Somervell". TheyWorkForYou.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  2. J. T. Ward (1967–69). "Ayrshire Landed Estates in the Nineteenth Century" (PDF). Ayrshire Collection VIII.
  3. "Somervell Divorce Case - Divorce Granted". Aberdeen Weekly Journal and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland. 25 July 1900.
  4. A H Millar (1885). Historical and descriptive accounts of the Castles and mansions of Ayrshire.
  5. W S Cooper (1881). A history of the Ayrshire yeomanry cavalry.
  6. The Constitutional Year Book. Conservative Central Office. 1904.
  7. "The History of Sorn Castle". Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  8. "Mr James Somervell, M.P.". The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper. 12 April 1890.
  9. Rivers of the North: Their Cities and their Commerce. 1894.
  10. "Sorn Dairy Supply". AyrshireHistory.com.
  11. "The Amours of Somervell of Sorn". Auckland Star. 1 September 1900.
  12. "The Charge Against Mr James Somervell". The Times. 28 September 1904.
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