Early history James Finlay was born in Killearn Stirlingshire in 1727. He started work in the textile trade until he had enough money to become a merchant and manufacturer. In 1769 he was made a "Burgess and Gild Brother" in Glasgow enabling him to build up a modest business. When James died in 1790, the assets of the firm were £11, 785. It was James ’ younger son, Kirkman Finlay, that took the firm into manufacturing and made it a major force in the Scottish cotton industry.Brogan, C  , James Finlay & Company 1750-1950 ( 1951 ), Glasgow Kirkman was born in 1773 and took over the firm at the age of 17 on the death of his father. It was he who was responsible for the early growth of James Finlay & Co. broadening the merchanting and turning the firm into one of the leading Scottish cotton manufacturers. The increase in Finlay’s trade required more capital and in 1792 Kirkman widened the basis of the firm by what Brogan described as entering into partnership with the Glasgow merchants Leitch and Smith, and Stirling, Gordon, These two firms were among the larger Glasgow West India merchants,Scotsman 1 February 2017 and Devine noted that Leitch and Smith and Stirling, Gordon & Co held about fifty per cent of the capital stock of James Finlay & Co.T. M. Devine,  An Eighteenth-Century Business élite: Glasgow-West India Merchants, c. 1750-1815  , The Scottish Historical Review , Vol. 57, No. 163, April 1978, Edinburgh University Press. These new relationships helped Finlay expand its export of cotton manufactures to Europe. Kirkman campaigned actively against the monopoly of the East India Company and in 1813 legislation ended the Company’s monopoly of the India trade. In 1816, James Finlay & Co  sent out a shipment of goods and was the first merchant house in Scotland to open up direct connection with India, opening up a branch in Bombay. By the time of Kirkman’s death in 1842, James Finlay & Co. was a leading Scottish manufacturer, trading with America, and across Europe and Asia. A measure of his rise to prominence were his public offices. As early as 1813 he was elected Lord Provost of Glasgow; he also became a Governor of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, President of the Chamber of Commerce and a Member of Parliament.
Early history James Finlay was born in Killearn Stirlingshire in 1727. He started work in the textile trade until he had enough money to become a merchant and manufacturer. In 1769 he was made a "Burgess and Gild Brother" in Glasgow enabling him to build up a modest business. When James died in 1790, the assets of the firm were £11, 785. It was James 's younger son, Kirkman Finlay, that took the firm into manufacturing and made it a major force in the Scottish cotton industry.Brogan, C . , James Finlay & Company 1750-1950 . Glasgow, 1951 Kirkman was born in 1773 and took over the firm at the age of 17 on the death of his father. It was he who was responsible for the early growth of James Finlay & Co. broadening the merchanting and turning the firm into one of the leading Scottish cotton manufacturers. The increase in Finlay’s trade required more capital and in 1792 Kirkman widened the basis of the firm by what Brogan described as entering into partnership with the Glasgow merchants Leitch and Smith, and Stirling, Gordon, These two firms were among the larger Glasgow West India merchants,Scotsman 1 February 2017 and Devine noted that Leitch and Smith and Stirling, Gordon & Co held about fifty per cent of the capital stock of James Finlay & Co.T. M. Devine, " An Eighteenth-Century Business élite: Glasgow-West India Merchants, c. 1750-1815 " , The Scottish Historical Review ; Vol. 57, No. 163, April 1978, Edinburgh University Press. These new relationships helped Finlay expand its export of cotton manufactures to Europe. Kirkman campaigned actively against the monopoly of the East India Company and in 1813 legislation ended the Company’s monopoly of the India trade. In 1816, James Finlay & Co . sent out a shipment of goods and was the first merchant house in Scotland to open up direct connection with India, opening up a branch in Bombay. By the time of Kirkman’s death in 1842, James Finlay & Co. was a leading Scottish manufacturer, trading with America, and across Europe and Asia. A measure of his rise to prominence were his public offices. As early as 1813 he was elected Lord Provost of Glasgow; he also became a Governor of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, President of the Chamber of Commerce and a Member of Parliament.
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