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JOHN CAMPBELL, SEN
JOHN CAMPBELL, SEN. - This gentleman, along with numerous descendants and kinsfolks, were leading representatives of the great West India interests in Glasgow - an extensive and lucrative business which followed on the breaking up of the Virginia trade. The firm enjoyed a high degree of prosperity in the palmy days of the trade in sugar and rum. Its members having the same Christian names were so numerous that it was found convenient to confer on each a distinctive appellation, which was generally derived from some peculiarity in appearance or habits - such as "Black Mungo" and "White Mungo," "Sandy Doune" and "Business Sandy," "Dignity," &c. All these gentlemen took much interest in the affairs of the city, and Mungo Nuter Campbell was elected Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1824 and 1825. Latterly, through causes which are well understood, the West India trade fell into a languishing condition. In 1866 the last representative of the numerous partners in the firm, "White Mungo," died, and the once prosperous house of John Campbell, sen., & Co., ceased to exist. Alexander, the eldest son of John Campbell, sen., the founder of the firm, was a distinguished officer in the army. He died in 1849.
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