James Buchanan, 1st Baron Woolavington
Encyclopedia
James Buchanan, 1st Baron Woolavington, GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

, JP
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 (16 August 1849 – 9 August 1935), known as Sir James Buchanan, Bt, between 1920 and 1922, was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 businessman, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

 and racehorse owner/breeder.

Background

Buchanan was born in Brockville, Ontario
Brockville, Ontario
Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, the son of Alexander Buchanan and Catherine (née McLean), Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 immigrants, but his parents returned to the United Kingdom shortly after he was born and he was brought up in Larne
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...

.

Business career

Buchanan joined a Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 shipping firm as an office boy when he was fourteen or fifteen, and was later promoted to be a clerk. In 1868 he joined his brother in the grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

 business until 1879, when he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 as an agent for a company in the whisky
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...

 trade. He realised that there was an untapped market in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 for bottled Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...

 and set about producing his own, the Buchanan Blend
Buchanan's
Buchanan's is a brand of Scotch whisky owned by Diageo and produced in Scotland.-History:James Buchanan, born in Canada but son of Scottish immigrants, returned to the United Kingdom shortly after he was born and he was brought up in Larne. He joined a Glasgow shipping firm as an office boy when he...

, which is still available today. He went into business on his own in 1884.

Buchanan was created a Baronet, of Lavington in the County of Sussex, in the 1920 New Year Honours, for "public and local services" and was raised to the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 in the 1922 New Year Honours as Baron Woolavington, of Lavington in the County of Sussex, for being a "generous supporter of many public and charitable objects". However, it is said that he paid £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

50,000 for his peerage, and that he signed the cheque "Woolavington" and dated it 2 January – the day after the title was to be gazetted – so that the payment would bounce
Non-sufficient funds
Non-sufficient funds is a term used in the banking industry to indicate that a demand for payment cannot be honored because insufficient funds are available in the account on which the instrument was drawn. In simplified terms, a cheque has been presented for clearance, but the amount written on...

 if he did not receive the honour he had been promised. In 1931 he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

 (GCVO).

Thoroughbred racing

For more than two decades Lord Woolavington was a significant owner/breeder in the sport of Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 who twice won the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 and St. Leger Stakes
St. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...

. Among his best known runners were Epsom Lad, Hurry On
Hurry On
Hurry On was an outstanding, undefeated British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire that revived the Matchem sire line. For a trainer who conditioned as many top winners as the Englishman Fred Darling, the observation that Hurry On was the best horse he ever trained is high praise indeed.-Breeding:He...

, who became the foundation sire for his stud
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...

, Captain Cuttle
Captain Cuttle
Captain Cuttle was a British Thoroughbred racehorse an sire. He ran only six times in a career which was restricted by chronic injury problems. He was the outstanding British colt of his generation, winning the Epsom Derby and the St. James's Palace Stakes in 1922...

, Coronach
Coronach (horse)
Coronach was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was a champion two-year-old who went on to complete a then unique treble by winning the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes and the St Leger as a three-year-old in 1926, a year in which he also won the St. James's Palace Stakes...

, Press Gang, and Coventry Stakes
Coventry Stakes
The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

 winner Manitoba
Manitoba (horse)
Manitoba was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse that was a race winner in England before he was exported to Australia where he was a leading sire.-Breeding:...

 who went on to become the leading sire in Australia
Leading sire in Australia
The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in Australia for each season since 1883–84. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season.----- References :* -See also:...

in 1944 and 1945.

Personal life

Lord Woolavington had just one daughter, the Honourable Catherine Buchanan, so the peerage became extinct on his death in August 1935, aged 85.
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