John Stroyan
Born1856 (1856)
Died5 December 1941(1941-12-05) (aged 84–85)
Lanrick Castle, Doune
Occupation(s)Businessman, politician
SpouseEdith Dean
ChildrenJohn Robert Stroyan (b 1890)
Ronald Strathearn Stroyan (b 1890)
ParentJohn Stroyan

John Stroyan (1856 – 5 December 1941) 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,[1] a Galloway gentleman-farmer.[2]

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.[2] He was "known to be a lecher and a financial swindler, attracting investments to useless mining propositions".[3]

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.[4]

He won the election, after which he was consulted by Joseph Chamberlain on reconstruction measures after the Boer War.[2] At the following general election, in 1906 he lost the seat to David Charles Erskine in a Liberal landslide.[3]

He died, aged 85, on 5 December 1941, at his home, Lanrick Castle, in Doune,[5] previously the property of the Liberal MP, Sir Robert Jardine.[6] He left an estate of over £200,000.[7][8]

Family

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,[2] who with her father, John Robert Stroyan, won the inaugural "Family Foursomes" contest over the Old Course at Burhill Golf 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

  1. ↑ Walter H. Wills, Stroyan" in The Anglo-African Who's Who and Biographical Sketchbook, 1907
  2. 1 2 3 4 "London Topics – Virile Pioneer", Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4432, 5 September 1939, page 4
  3. 1 2 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
  4. ↑ "Sir Donald Currie's Successor". Mainly About People. Vol. 50, no. 2. 27 May 1899. p. 5. Retrieved 19 September 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.
  5. ↑ "Death of Former Perthshire M.P.". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 6 December 1941. p. 5. Retrieved 19 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ Groome, Francis H., ed. (1885). "Lanrick Castle". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Thomas C. Jack.
  7. ↑ "Former Perthshire M.P.'S Estate". Dundee Courier. 29 April 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 19 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Recent Wills". Liverpool Daily Post. 30 May 1942. p. 2. Retrieved 19 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Mother and son duo crowned champions of Burhill Golf Club's 75th Family Foursomes", Golf Today, 11 September 2012
  10. ↑ "Record field of Women Golfers tee Off in national Tournament", Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Texas), 21 August 1939
  11. ↑ "Girl Challenger for U.S. Golf Title", The Straits Times, 11 August 1939, Page 18
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