James Milliken II

Son of James Milliken I (q.v.), and great grandfather of Sir William Milliken Napier (q.v.). Rector of Glasgow University 1759-1761.

1. Born in Nevis in 1710. Schooled in London, under the guardianship of Lady Frances Stapleton (his father James Milliken I was attorney for Stapleton's Nevis plantation 1722-9). Attended Eton in 1726 but was expelled. Sailed for St Kitts in 1729, on his father's return to Scotland. Assumed control of the family business on his father's death in 1741. Both his sons died while on Grand Tours and his estate succeeded to his daughter Jean, who married William Napier. Monkey Hill plantation, St Kitts, remains in the Napier family today.

2. James Milliken, the second of Milliken, is described by Semple as a gentleman "who had a dignity of mind and an easy obliging manner." He added considerably to the [Milliken] estate [in Renfrewshire] and made many improvements upon it. He married Jane, daughter of Alexander M'Dowall of Garthland, and had two sons, who died without issue, and two daughters, the eldest of whom, Jane, married William Napier of Culcreuch. James Milliken died in 1776, and was succeeded by his grandson, Colonel Robert John Napier. Colonel Napier's son and heir, William, was in 1817 served heir male general of Archibald, third Baron Napier, and succeeded to the Baronetcy held by him. On Sir William's death, in 1852, the estate of Milliken devolved upon his son, the present Baronet.

3. A portrait thought to be of James Milliken II's son James Milligan by Jean-Etienne Liotard ['The Blue Man'] painted c. 1762 shortly before the sitter's death was rediscovered c. 2004 and sent to auction that year.

http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH1146&type=P [accessed 10/05/2016]. This site attributes a partnership in the South sugar-house in Glasgow to James Milliken II, but the original source appears to be Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry LXXIII, Milliken House, where the partnership is attributed to 'Major James Milliken', i.e. James Milliken I.

1. Stuart M. Nisbet, 'A Sufficient Stock of Negroes', Renfrewshire Local History Forum Journal (RLHF), Vol.14 (2008), available for download at rlhf.info/wp-content/uploads/14.6-Negroes-Nisbet.pdf; Stapleton Mss., John Rylands University Library, Manchester, Major Jas Milliken St Kitts to Lady Stapleton, London (24/03/1726); National Library of Scotland, letters of Col. Wm. McDowall of Castle Semple, letter from Wm McDowall, London, to Major Jas. Milliken, St. Kitts, 9th April 1726 (18/06/1726).

2. Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry LXXIII, Milliken House.

3. http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/the-blue-man-the-portrait-of-james-milliken-by-jean-etienne-liotard-c-1762 [accessed 10/05/2016]; http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/gallery-to-bid-for-master-s-lost-work-1-1043922 [accessed 10/05/2016].

We are grateful to Stuart M. Nisbet for his assistance with compiling this entry.