Tobacco Lords

The Tobacco Lords (or “Virginia Dons”) were Glasgow merchants who in the 18th Century made enormous fortunes by trading in tobacco from Great Britain's American Colonies. Many of them became sufficiently wealthy that they adopted the lifestyle of aristocrats, lavishing vast sums on great houses and splendid churches. Many would suffer severe losses during and after the American Revolution.

Read more about Tobacco Lords:  History, American Revolution, Legacy, Notable Tobacco Lords, See Also, References

Famous quotes containing the words tobacco and/or lords:

    There is held to be no surer test of civilisation than the increase per head of the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Yet alcohol and tobacco are recognisable poisons, so that their consumption has only to be carried far enough to destroy civilisation altogether.
    Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)

    I don’t choose to say much upon this head,
    I’m a plain man, and in a single station,
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    Inform us truly, have they not hen-peck’d you all?
    George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)