James Paull

Who was James Paull?

James Paull became a conspicuous MP towards the end of his life. Having migrated to India and become a Free Merchant at Lucknow, he became quite wealthy and returned to England. Although born in Perth, he stood for Parliament for an Isle of Wight Constituency and was elected almost immediately. From his Indian experience he began to denounce the Wellesley's Indian Administration and tried to get him impeached. He had considerable support in Parliament for this but as individual MP's began to see their own interests at risk, they abandoned him. In the November 1805 election he challenged Sheriden for his seat in Westminster but lost despite his great popularity. However in 1807 he fought a duel with one of his leading supporters, Sir Francis Burdett, and both were injured, which didn't help Paull's performance at hustings and he subsequently lost his seat in the 1807 election - in fact to Sir Francis Burtdett. He began to attend the Union Club where he lost considerable amounts of money gambling. Some idea of his personality can be gained from the political publications he wrote in the last few years of his life.Despite seeming quite at ease with his existence, one eveneing he informed his servants one evening that he felt unwell, he retired to bed and shortly commited suicide.