James Bruce

James Bruce (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.

Youth

James Bruce was born at the family seat of Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, and educated at Harrow School and Edinburgh University, and began to study for the bar, but his marriage to the daughter of a wine importer and merchant resulted in him entering that business instead. His wife died in October 1754, within nine months of marriage, and Bruce thereafter travelled in Portugal and Spain as part of the wine trade. The examination of oriental manuscripts at the Escorial in Spain led him to the study of Arabic and Ge'ez and determined his future career. In 1758 his father's death placed him in possession of the estate of Kinnaird.

To North Africa

James Bruce (1769–1798)

James Bruce (1769–1798) was a Member of Parliament for Marlborough in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1796 until 1797.

The youngest of the five sons of Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin, and of Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine (1739–1810), Bruce was a brother of the collector Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, known for bringing the Elgin Marbles from Athens. He entered Westminster School in 1778 and was at Christ Church, Oxford, from 1786 to 1790, when he became a member of Lincoln's Inn.

For a year he was a Member of Parliament for Marlborough, taking a seat previously held by his uncle General Thomas Bruce, before resigning by "taking the Chiltern Hundreds". He left parliament to accept a post as a précis writer at the Foreign Office at a salary of £300 a year.

On 10 July 1798, aged only twenty-nine, he was drowned while crossing the River Don at Barnby Dun in Yorkshire, when his horse was swept away by the stream. He was remembered as amiable and virtuous.

James Bruce (disambiguation)

James Bruce (1730–1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer.

James Bruce may also refer to:

See also

James Bruce (bishop)

James Bruce (La: Jacobus de Brois) (died 1447) was a 15th-century cleric who was bishop of Dunkeld, Chancellor of Scotland, and bishop of Glasgow. He was the son of one Robert Bruce, a middling landowner in Clackmannanshire. He was rector of Kilmany (Fife), and Archdeacon of Dunkeld. In 1441, on the death of Alexander de Lawedre, bishop-elect of Dunkeld, James Bruce was elected as bishop. He was consecrated at Dunfermline on 4 February 1442. He celebrated his first festive mass on the feast of St. Adomnán, i.e. 23 September. His rule in Dunkeld came to an end when, on 3 February 1447, he was translated to the bishopric of Glasgow. His time as bishop of Glasgow was, however, short. He died in Edinburgh in 1447, probably at the end of the summer. He was buried in St Mary's chapel, Dunfermline.

References

James Bruce (Chief Justice)

James Bruce (1691–1749) was the Chief Justice of Barbados and the son of Alexander Bruce of Gartlet. Through the paternal line James Bruce was a direct descendant of Thomas Bruce 1st Baron of Clackmannan.

Background and ancestry

Sir James Bruce was born in 1691 in Clackmannan to Alexander and Margaret Bruce Earl of Gartlet. Sir James's grandfather, Robert Bruce, was the esquire of Kennet. James Bruce was also an collateral relative of Robert the Bruce through his paternal great grandfather, Archibald Bruce Lord Balfour of Burleigh and husband to Margaret Bruce. Margaret Bruce was the only daughter of Robert Bruce of Wester Kennet, and she continued his lineage through Archibald. Sir James was a descendant of De Brus through an illegitimate daughter of Robert II.

Death

James Bruce died on 19 September 1749 and was buried at All Hallows Staining in London, England; his wife Keturah, who died in 1775, was also buried at All Hallows.

References

Sources

James Bruce (cricketer)

James Bruce (born Hammersmith, 17 December 1979) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler.

James bowled a six-wicket maiden as a school boy at Farleigh School and was in the 1st XI at Eton for several years before representing Durham UCCE and playing minor county cricket for Cumberland. His exceptional control and cricket brain attracted Hampshire to sign him in 2002. Since joining Bruce spent successive winters in Australia with the Balmain Tigers in Sydney 2002-2003 and with South Perth C.C. from 2003-2005. Having had limited opportunities thus far to shine, he played in four first-class matches in the year 2005. He was in the Hampshire squad which won the C&G Trophy, and which finished runners-up in Division One of the Frizell County Championship. Enthused with the new responsibility of taking the new ball for Hampshire in 2006, Bruce performed brilliantly in the early stages of the season, taking a career best 5-43 against champions Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl in June 2006. He impressed further with a destructive opening spell of 7-2-14-3 against the touring West Indies 'A' side in August 2006. Hampshire awarded him his county cap at the end of the 2006 season and he was also mentioned as Cricinfo's 'Rising Star' for his county.