John Stroyan (politician)
Scottish politician
For the Bishop of Warwick, see John Stroyan.
John Stroyan
5 December 1941(1941-12-05) (aged 84–85)
Lanrick Castle, Doune
Businessman, politician
Edith Dean
John Robert Stroyan (b 1890)
Ronald Strathearn Stroyan (b 1890)
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.
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 language 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]
Stroyan married Edith Dean in 1889. They had two sons, John Robert Stroyan (b 1890) and Ronald Strathearn Stroyan (b 1890). 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.[8] She was British girls' champion,[9] and held the Dutch title for two years before competing in the US women's championships at Noroton, Connecticut, in 1939[10]
^ a b "DEATH OF FORMER PERTHSHIRE M.P.", Dundee Evening Telegraph, 6 December 1941
^ Walter H. Wills, "John Stroyan" in The Anglo-African Who's Who and Biographical Sketchbook, 1907
^ a b c d "LONDON TOPICS – VIRILE PIONEER", Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4432, 5 September 1939, page 4
^ a b John M. MacKenzie, Nigel R. Dalziel, The Scots in South Africa: Ethnicity, identity, gender and race, 1772–1914, p243, Manchester University Press, 2007, ISBN 9780719076084
^ Mainly About People, p 483, 27 May 1899, vol 50 no.2
^ Groome, Francis H. (ed) (1885). "Lanrick Castle". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Thomas C. Jack. CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
^ "FORMER PERTHSHIRE M.P.'S ESTATE", Dundee Courier, 29 April 1942
- "RECENT WILLS", Liverpool Daily Post, 30 May 1942
^ "Mother and son duo crowned champions of Burhill Golf Club's 75th Family Foursomes", Golf Today, 11 September 2012
^ "Record field of Women Golfers tee Off in national Tournament", Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Texas), 21 August 1939
^ "GIRL CHALLENGER FOR U.S. GOLF TITLE", The Straits Times, 11 August 1939, Page 18
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Stroyan
Sir Donald Currie Member of Parliament for West Perthshire
David Charles Erskine
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Randlords
19th-century South African businesspeople
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