James Key Caird - Biography

Biography

James Caird was born in Dundee, and was the son of Edward Caird (1806–1889) who had founded the firm of Caird (Dundee) Ltd in 1832. The business was originally based in a 12 loom shed at Ashtown Works. The elder Caird was one of the first textile manufacturers to weave cloth composed of jute warp and weft. As the use of jute became increasingly popular, the Caird business expanded and thrived.

In 1870 James Caird succeeded his father as head of Caird (Dundee) Ltd. Under his leadership Ashton Works was re-built, expanded and equipped with the latest machinery. In 1905 the firm also took over Craigie Works, which had formerly supplied Caird with much of his yarn. Eventually the two works employed 2,000 hands. The Dundee Advertiser reported that Caird was a good employer who ran an efficient business which was also "a model of comfort for the workers".

James Caird made a substantial fortune from his business interests and reinvested much of it in his home city. Most notably, he gifted both the Caird Hall, which dominates City Square, and Caird Park in the north of the city. The Marryat Hall, gifted by his sister Mrs Emma Grace Marryat, links to Caird Hall. In total, between 1895 and 1914 James Caird gave £240,940 in donations to various good causes institutions and organisations in Dundee and elsewhere. In 1902 Caird offered £18,500 to the directors of the Dundee Royal Infirmary so they could erect a hospital for the treatment of cancer. He also provided £1,000 a year for five years to fund research "into the nature of this mysterious disease." The resulting facility opened in 1906 and admitted its first patients in January 1907.

Caird was noted for his interest in providing financial aid for scientific research. In 1913, he presented the Royal Society with a cheque for £5,000, which was to be used to fund physical research. Caird also offered University College, Dundee expansive plans for a Physics laboratory, but this offer was rejected by the College Council in 1905.

Caird funded Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition of 1914 to 1916 on the Endurance, and Shackleton's open boat the James Caird, in which six of the Endurance's crew made the epic open boat voyage of 800 nautical miles (1,500 km) from Elephant Island to South Georgia, was named in appreciation of Caird's contribution.

Caird held an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews.

Caird died at his Perthshire estate, Belmont Castle near Meigle, which he had purchased after the death of its previous owner Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death.