James Ewing of Strathleven MP FRSE LLD (1775–1853) was Lord Provost of Glasgow (1832–1833), and MP for Glasgow (1832–1835), a plantation owner, slave-holder and West Indies merchant.

After matriculating at Old College (now the University of Glasgow) at the age of eleven, he studied Latin, Greek and philosophy.

[4][5] Ewing was instrumental in the 1807 establishment of the pro-slavery lobbying group the Glasgow West India Association.

[1] Ewing was twice elected Dean of Guild of the Merchants' House, was Lord Provost of Glasgow (1831–1833), and was elected MP for Glasgow in 1832, which led to his denouncement in the Reformer's Gazette as an "absolute proprietor of numerous 'gangs' … of Slaves in the Colonies".

Ewing lived in Crawford mansion on Queen Street in Glasgow for many years.

Jane was the daughter of James Crawford of Broadfield, Renfrew, who was also a Scottish merchant.

[11] The ONDB regards Ewing as "among the most financially successful of the city's élite nineteenth-century sugar/slavery aristocracy".