Fergushill - The Darien Affair

The Darien Affair

The Darien Company was an attempt by the Scots to set up a trading colony in America in the late 1690s, however the opposition from England and elsewhere was so great that the attempt failed with huge losses and great financial implications for the country and for individuals. Half of the whole circulating capital of Scotland was subscribed and mostly lost. In Cunninghame some examples of losses are John Craufurd of Fergushill (£1000), Hugh Stevenson of Mongtreenan (£1000), and Sir William Cunninghame of Cunninghamhead (£1000). In modern terms a thousand pounds loss in the 17th century must have been a devastating blow even to the finances of great landowning families.