Merchant and politician. Born in Leith, the son of a corn merchant, Gladstone based himself in Liverpool (England) and made a fortune as a merchant, trading in corn with the USA and cotton with Brazil. He acquired large sugar plantations in Jamaica and British Guyana and was Chairman of the West India Association. He used slaves on these estates and when the slave-trade was banned in the British Empire (1833) he was active in obtaining compensation for slave owners.
Gladstone bought Fasque Estate (near Fettercairn) in 1831. He was created a baronet in 1846 and was briefly a Member of Parliament for Liverpool.
Gladstone died at Fasque and lies buried in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church there. His fourth son was the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98).
