Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet

Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet, JP, DL (16 January 1805 – 26 July 1886) was a British China merchant, Liberal Member of Parliament, and railway entrepreneur.

The son of John Matheson Esq of Ardross and Attadale, Ross-shire, the family's ancestral seat, Alexander left home at an early age to trade in the Far East.

The estate comprised lands on the left bank of Loch Ness purchased in 1850s: and the ruins of Eilean Donan Castle, later sold by the second baronet.

Historian A Clark speculated that the "poppies adorning" the gatehouse at Ardross were proof of involvement in the opium trade.

[5] He supported William Ewart Gladstone's remarkable Midlothian campaign, but remained critical of Munro-Ferguson's utterances on Home Rule for Scotland.

[7][8] When the Napier Commission arrived in 1883-4 for an extensive tour of the affected areas in the Highlands, they were met by Matheson at the Kyle of Lochalsh.

Sir Kenneth James, 2nd Baronet of Lochalsh (1854–1920), and Mary Isabella (1855–1933) Thirdly he married Eleanor Irving, daughter of Spencer Perceval Esq., of Portman Square, London and Anna Eliza Macleod on 17 April 1860.