author

James MacQueen

1778–1870

A restless Scottish writer on geography and empire, he moved from Caribbean plantation management into publishing, banking, and fierce public debate. His books and articles helped shape 19th-century arguments about Africa, trade, and colonial power.

2 Audiobooks

A General Plan for a Mail Communication by Steam, Between Great Britain and the Eastern and Western Parts of the World

A General Plan for a Mail Communication by Steam, Between Great Britain and the Eastern and Western Parts of the World

by James MacQueen

A geographical and commercial view of northern Central Africa : containing a particular account of the course and termination of the great River Niger in the Atlantic ocean

A geographical and commercial view of northern Central Africa : containing a particular account of the course and termination of the great River Niger in the Atlantic ocean

by James MacQueen

About the author

Born in Lanarkshire in 1778, James MacQueen spent part of his early career in Grenada, where he worked as a sugar plantation manager and traveled widely in the West Indies. After returning to Scotland, he became known as a geographer, statistician, newspaper proprietor, and businessman, and later helped found both the Colonial Bank and the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.

MacQueen wrote extensively about Africa, trade, and the British Empire, and he was regarded in his time as an authority on African geography. His work connected commercial ambition with grand imperial plans, especially ideas about transport, communication, and expansion.

He is also remembered for the darker side of that career: he was an outspoken defender of slavery and a pro-slavery political campaigner. That legacy makes him a complicated historical figure whose writings are valuable not only for what they describe, but also for what they reveal about the beliefs and power structures of the 19th-century British Empire.