John Lamont (sugar planter)

John Lamont (3 February 1782 - 20 November 1850) from Inverchaolain, by Toward in Cowal, emigrated from Scotland in 1801 to Trinidad where he served his apprenticeship as an overseer and manager on a sugar plantation. He purchased his own estates, and became a wealthy sugar planter. From 1828 he made annual visits back to Scotland, and bought Benmore Estate in 1849 for his nephew James Lamont, but died in 1850 before planned construction of the new Benmore House was completed. The house is now an outdoor education centre in Benmore Botanic Garden.