John Stroyan (MP)

John Stroyan (1856 – 5 December 1941)^[1] was a Scottish industrialist and businessman. He was a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for West Perthshire from 1900 to 1906.

Biography

Stroyan was born in 1856, the eldest son of John Stroyan of Kirkchrist,^[2] a Galloway gentleman-farmer.^[3]

In South Africa, he became a merchant and was due to return to Scotland aged 32 having made a small fortune when he heard of the discovery of gold in the Rand. Staying on, he became associated with Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato and amassed a vast fortune.^[3] He was "known to be a lecher and a financial swindler, attracting investments to useless mining propositions".^[4]

After returning from Africa, he was selected to succeed Sir Donald Currie as candidate for West Perthshire at the 1900 general election. A report at the time described him thus: "Mr. John Stroyan is a sturdy, stalwart, rubicund Scotsman of about forty-five years of age. For about twenty years he was a merchant in South Africa, and was interested with the late Mr. Barnato in many of his most successful enterprises. He is a very rich man, but modest withal, and now that he has retired from business, he intends to devote himself to parliamentary life and the recreations of a country gentleman. He is an ardent sportsman, a good man after the hounds, a more than average shot, an expert fisherman, and no mean golf player. He has yet to make his mark as a public speaker but he has very decided opinions, and no lack of langauage wherewith to express them.^[5]

He won the election, after which he was consulted by Joseph Chamberlain on reconstruction measures after the Boer War.^[3] At the following general election, in 1906 he lost the seat to David Charles Erskine in a Liberal landslide.^[4]

He died,aged 85, on 5 December 1941, at his home, Lanrick Castle, in Doune,^[1] previously the property of the Liberal MP, Sir Robert Jardine.^[6] He left an estate of over £200,000.^[7]

Family

Stroyan married Edith Dean in 1889. They had twos sons, John Robert Stroyan (b 1890) and Ronald Strathearn Stroyan (b 1890).^[8] His granddaughter was Sheila Stroyan, a well-known golfer,^[3] who with her father, John Robert Stroyan, won the inaugural "Family Foursomes" contest over the Old Course at Burhill Gof Course.^[9] She was British girls' champion,^[10] and held the Dutch title for two years before competing in the US women's championships at Noroton, Connecticut, in 1939^[11]

References