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108. Lord (11) John ERSKINE Earl of Mar (6th) [image] "Bobbing John" (Charles , John , John , John , John , John , Robert , Alexander , Thomas , Robert , Thomas , Robert , William , John , John de , John , Henry de ) was born in 1675. He died in May 1732 in Aix-la-Chapelle.
16th Ld Garioch, de jure 23rd Earl of Mar, ancient earldom (Burke's)
Secretary of State (1706) under Queen Anne
Keeper of the Signet
Representative Peer (1707-1713);
KT, PC
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Inherited an estate burdened with debts, making good the finances.
Eventually, supporting the Stuart cause, raised insurrection (1715) and failed;
estates and titles were forfeited by Act of Parliament.
What remained of the Mar estates was entailed 6 jan 1739, on his son, Thomas, Lord Erskine, and his heirs, with remainder (Alloa property) to his daughter Lady Frances Erskine and heirs whomsoever.
Most of the estates were purchased by brother Lord Grange and David Erskine, of Dun.
John lived the remainder of his life in exile.
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Sir John appears to have been deformed and was called the "crooked backed count". According to a contemporary he had an insinuating and courteous deportment and his conduct in regard to affairs showed him to be a man of good sense, but bad morals always making his politics subservient to his personal interests. He was quiet a rake as a youth and had several affairs with lady friends. Having a child out of wedlock was not frowned upon then as it was in the time of Queen Victoria and was especially common among the nobility. It is not improbable that John had an illegitimate child at Newcastle, Monmouthshire given the above and given the fact that Newcastle was a gathering place for Jacobite sympathizers.
John did have some good points. He had a great interest in gardening and architecture and laid out the gardens at Alloa. It is said that during his exile he proposed plans for the improvement of Scottish architecture and for reconstructing Edinburgh which have since been carried out. He also proposed a canal between the Forth and Clyde which was also completed.
John was a MP beginning in 1696 and had a charter to the Earldom of Mar from the Crown 10 Mar. 1698/9. In Sept. 1705 he was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland under King William as a reward for getting the treaty through the Scottish Parliament. He became a member of the Commission for the Union of the Kingdoms in Mar. 1706 and took charge of carrying the Act of Union through. In Jan. 1703/4 he was in London and reported that the project of the Union was progressing although slowly. His story of the last Parliament in Scotland is told in his letters to Sir David Nairn and others in London between Oct. 1706 and Mar. 1707.
John was one of the sixteen Representative Peers chosen for Scotland by the Parliament of 1707. He was continually re-elected during the reign of Queen Anne and continued in the office of Secretary of State for Scotland and was also a member of the Privy Council in 1708. He was afterwards appointed to the command of a regiment of foot and invested with the order of the Thistle on 10 Aug. 1706. Upon the death of the Duke of Queensbury in 1713 he was again appointed Secretary of State for Scotland.
Because of his involvement in bringing about the Union John was very unpopular in Scotland, but tried to regain the favour of his countrymen by attending a meeting with the Duke of Argyle, Cockburn, Ormiston and Lockhart of Carnwath which presented to Queen Anne in 1712 a resolution to move for a repeal of the Union with England.
Everything changed upon the accession of George I to the throne. In a letter to the King he pledged his loyalty. He also composed a letter addressed to himself and supposedly from some of the heads of the Jacobite clans stating that as they had always been ready to follow his directions in serving Queen Anne they were equally ready to concur with him in serving His Majesty. A loyal address of the clans to the King was drawn up by Sir John's brother Lord Grange which John intended to present to King George on his arrival at Greenwich, but the King was well aware that in order to ingratiate himself with Queen Anne he had procured from the same people a letter of very opposite character only a few years before. Sir John was accordingly unnoticed by the King and was dismissed from office, deprived of his ancestral job as Governor of Stirling Castle and lost his political clout. The versatility of "Bobbin' John's" politics was probably due to circumstances in which he was placed. He was a Jacobite from principle, but as the fortunes of his family had been taken away in the Civil War by their alliance with the Stuarts and upon entering public life he found the cause of the exiled family at a low ebb, he sought to retrieve his family's losses and gratify his ambitions by attaching himself to the existing government. The loss of £5,000 per year, his office and the insult he had received from the King was the last straw. At this point he openly became a Jacobite and rallied the Scottish nobility and raised an army to support the landing of "the Old Pretender" at Peterhead. In May 1715 a rumour was spread among the Scottish Jacobites that the "Chevalier de St. George" would decend upon Britain to recover his crown and they began arming themselves. The government sent troops to the Highlands where a party of Highlanders were dispersed near Inverlochy. Information was received that the Chevalier intended to land in North Britain and a reward of £100,000 was offered for his apprehension. On the eve of Sir John's departure from England to place himself at the head of the army in Scotland he appeared at court in the presence of King George I 1 Aug. 1715 with all the complaisance of a courtier and with that affability of demeanor for which he was famous. He then disguised himself as a woman and left Gravesend the following day on a collier bound for Newcastle. Opon arrival there he boarded another ship for the Firth of Forth and landed at Elie near the mouth of the Firth. He finally reached Kildrummy in the Braes of Mar on the 18th. The next day he summoned a meeting of the neighboring noblemen and gentlemen to a grand hunting match at Aboyne on the 27th and an unanimous resolution was made to take up arms with John regretting his share in "that cursed Union" and promising a revolt in England and help from France and Sweden. According to arrangements at a subsequent meeting on 3 Sept. he on the 6th set up the standard of the Pretender at Castletown of Braemar and assumed the title of Lieutenant- General of His Majesty's forces in Scotland. The Chevalier was proclaimed King James VIII at Aberdeen and other towns and Sir John marched to Dunkeld and then to Perth where he established his head quarters. With an army of 12,000 men he resolved to attack Stirling and left Perth 10 Nov, but encountered the Royal Army under the Duke of Argyle at Sheriffmuir near Dunblane on 13 Nov. and was defeated and forced to retreat to Perth. The unfortunate and ill advised James arrived at Peterhead from France 22 Dec. 1715 and Sir John (now the Duke of Mar) met him at Fetteresso and went with him to Scone where he issued several proclamations including one for his coronation on 23 Jan. They soon moved to Perth where it was decided to abandon the enterprise. The Old Pretender, Sir John, Lord Drummond and others left Montrose 4 Feb. in a French ship which had been kept off the coast and landed at Waldam near Gravelines 11 Feb. 1715/6. James tried to get aid for his followers while in Paris, but having failed he and Sir John went to Avignon as the guest of Pope Clement XI.
Unfortunately for the Scots the English did not share their enthusiasm for the idea and the "fifteen" and the "forty-five" failed because of lack of support south of the Tweed. The revolt of 1715 in England was the last effort of feudalism and Romanism in the Northern Counties and received the "coup de grace" from the consequences of the revolt. Although the Jacobites had quite a formidable force the Whigs were ready for them as they expected a revolt as a result of George I's accession. The Whigs also had John Campbell, Duke of Argyle who was an excellent general. All the Scots had was Sir John who was neither statesman nor general and "James III" who arrived too late and had not the personality to rouse the people as did his son. Fortunately for George I France wanted England's friendship so did not assist James "III" and the other allies of Jacobitism (Sweden and Spain) fell by the wayside.
All of Sir John's lands and titles were forfeited by Attainment 19 Jan. 1715/6. However, some of the Erskines remained in Scotland and bought up much of the old Erskine estates and eventually they got the title back also, but the various Mar peerage cases resulted in two Earldoms of Mar being created.
On 10 Nov. 1717 Sir John was again created Earl of Mar and on 13 Dec. 1722 he was made Duke of Mar, these titles being conferred upon him by the exiled King James III. John served the exiled Stuarts for many years. John and King James remained in Avignon until Feb. 1717 when they moved to Urbino. James was married to Maria Clementina Sobieska at Montefiascone in Sept. 1719 and they settled down in the Palazzo Muti in Rome which was a gift from the Pope. They also had a house in Albano, the Palazzo Savelli. In 1721 Sir John left Rome and after a short residence in Geneva where he was subjected to a brief confinement at the insistence of the British government he took up residence at Paris as minister for James III at the French court. While in Geneva he applied for and received a loan from the Earl of Stair, the British ambassador in Paris and soon afterwards accepted a pension of £2,000 and his countess and daughter £1,500 per year income out of the produce of his estate. Sir John fell out of favour with King James when he negotiated with the British Government for a pardon which was refused and he was not allowed to return to Scotland. He was also accused by Bishop Atterbury of having betrayed the secrets of the exiled government to the English and in 1724 he was dismissed from his post as minister at Paris and finally broke with the Stuarts in 1725. In 1729 Sir John left Paris because of his bad health and moved to Aix-la-Chapelle where he died in 1732.
Bobbing John married (1) Lady Margaret HAY on 6 Apr 1703 in Twickenham. Margaret died on 25 Apr 1707.
daughter of Thomas, 7th Earl of Kinnoull
Bobbing John and Margaret had the following children:
Bobbing John also married (2) Lady Frances PIERREPONT on 20 Jul 1714 in Acton (Middlesex). Frances died on 4 Mar 1761 in Marylebone.
3rd daughter of Evelyn, 1st Duke of Kingston
declared a lunatic, Mar. 1730
Bobbing John and Frances had the following children:
+ 128 F iii Lady Frances ERSKINE died on 20 Jun 1776.
109. James ERSKINE Lord Grange [image] (Charles , John , John , John , John , John , Robert , Alexander , Thomas , Robert , Thomas , Robert , William , John , John de , John , Henry de ) was born in 1679. He died on 24 Jan 1754.
Became member of the Faculty of Advocates, then became in 1750 Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, with title Lord Grange.
He married Rachel (daughter of John CHIESLY of Dairy), drunkard and imbecile. He banished her to the Outer Hebrides, then on Skye, organizing a funeral in Edimburgh with an empty coffin!
a Lord of Session
Had four sons (the two elder sons died young) and four daughters with Rachel Chiesly
James married Rachel CHIESLY. Rachel died in Jun 1749.
Daughter of Chiesly of Dalry who in 1689 shot Lord President Lockhart in the Old Bank Close.
Jealous, she attempted to murder her husband; was later put in confinement, then sent to Heskier on the Monach Isles where she spent two years before being dumped on St Kilda where she spent seven years before being reprieved to Skye, where she died demented in 1745 (?).
James and Rachel had the following children:
129 M i Charles ERSKINE died on 1 Dec 1776.
d.s.p.+ 130 M ii James ERSKINE died on 27 Feb 1785. 131 F iii Mary ERSKINE died in 1772. 132 M iv John ERSKINE.
Dean of Cork
116. David ERSKINE (Anne ERSKINE , Alexander , Alexander , Thomas , Alexander , John , Robert , Alexander , Thomas , Robert , Thomas , Robert , William , John , John de , John , Henry de ) died on 7 Oct 1769.
Lyon Depute,
being yr. br. to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Barts., all of whom d. unm., was s. of Sir Alexander Erskine
They had the following children:
+ 133 M i Sir Charles ERSKINE Bt of Cambo (6) was born in 1730 and died on 6 Mar 1790. 134 M ii Lord Thomas ERSKINE Earl of Kellie (9) was born in 1745. He died on 7 Feb 1828 in Cambo House, Co. Fife.
Thomas Erskine of Cambo
British Consul at Gothenburg in Sweden 1775; Knight Com. of the Order of Gustavus Vasa of Sweden, having Royal lic., 8 July 1808, to wear the ensigns thereof;
Lord Lieut. co. Fife, 1824-28;
Rep. Peer 1804-6, and 1807-28. An anti-Catholic Tory.
He d. 6 Feb. 1828, aged 82, at Cambo House, Co. Fife. Will pr. May 1828.
Viscount Fenton, Baron Dirleton and Premier Viscount of Scotland
Succeeded his nephew, Charles Erskine who died unmarried, 9 november 1799.
dsp, was succeeded by his brother.Thomas married Anne GORDON in 1771 in Gothenburg. Anne died on 20 Mar 1829 in Cambo House, Co. Fife.
dau. of Adam Gordon, of Ardoch135 M iii Lord Methven ERSKINE Earl of Kellie (10) was born in 1750. He died on 3 Dec 1829 in Airdrie.
EARL OF KELLIE [1619] VISCOUNT FENTOUN [1606 and 1619] and BARON ERSKINE OF DIRLETOWNE [1604], and LORD DIRLETOUN [1619], also a Baronet [1666], all in the kingdom of Scotland.
He was b. about 1750; was sometime a successful merchant of Bengal, in India, but afterwards of Airdrie, Co. Fife. He m., 10 July 1787, at Edinburgh, Johanna (a sister of Anne Gordon, his brother's wife, Countess of Kellie), dau. of Adam Gordon, of Ardoch, who probably surv. him.
He d. at Airdrie afsd., when the Baronetcy became extinct, while the Barony of Dirletoun, the Barony of Erskine of Dirletowne, the Viscountcy of Fentoun, and the Earldom of Kellie devolved on the collateral heir male of the grantee.
dspMethven married Johanna GORDON.
dau. of Adam Gordon, of Ardoch
118. Colin ERSKINE (Anne ERSKINE , Alexander , Alexander , Thomas , Alexander , John , Robert , Alexander , Thomas , Robert , Thomas , Robert , William , John , John de , John , Henry de ).
painter
Colin married Agatha GIGLI. Agatha was born in 1711. She died on 28 Sep 1786.
They had the following children:
119. Lord Alexander ERSKINE Earl of Kellie (5) (Alexander , Alexander , Alexander , Thomas , Alexander , John , Robert , Alexander , Thomas , Robert , Thomas , Robert , William , John , John de , John , Henry de ) died on 3 Apr 1756 in Kellie.
only s. and h., styled VISCOUNT FENTOUN till 1710.
Supporting the House of Stuart, he favoured the Jacobite Rising of 1745, led a small band from Fife to join Prince Charles Edward, was made Col. in the Jacobite army, fought at Preston, Falkirk and Culloden.
Being included in the Act of Attainder of 1746, he surrendered himself a prisoner 11 July 1746, was imprisoned 3 years in Edinburgh Castle till 11 Oct. 1749, when, there being no indictment against him, he was released.
He m., 1stly, in 1726, Louisa Moray.
He m., 2ndly, Oct. 1731, Janet, dau. of Archibald Pitcairn, M.D., a well-known Jacobite physician and poet.
He d. at Kellie, 3 Apr. 1756.
His widow d. at Drumsheugh, 7 June 1775.
Alexander married (1) Louisa MORAY in 1726.
Louisa, dau. of William Moray, of Abercairny, co. Perth.
She d. at Kellie, 11 Nov. 1729. Fun. entry at Lyon office.
Alexander also married (2) Janet PITCAIRN in Oct 1731. Janet died on 7 Jun 1775 in Drumsheugh.
dau. of Archibald Pitcairn, M.D., a well-known Jacobite physician, poet and satirist.
Alexander and Janet had the following children:
137 M i Lord Thomas Alexander ERSKINE Earl of Kellie (6) [image] was born on 1 Sep 1732. He died on 9 Oct 1781 in Brussels.
s. and h., by 2nd wife; styLed Viscount Fentoun 1756.
In 1769 he sold all his estates except the mansion house of Kellie and 100 acres.
Grand Master of Freemasons 1763-65.
notable violonist and composer
directed the St Cecilia concerts in Edinburgh.
He d. unm., at Brussels, 9 Oct. 1781, in his 50th year. Will pr. Dec. 1781.138 M ii Lord Archibald ERSKINE Earl of Kellie (7) was born on 22 Apr 1736 in Kellie. He died on 8 May 1797 in Kellie.
An officer in the Army, becoming finally, 1782, Lieut. Col. of the 104th Foot;
Rep. Peer 1790-96.
Was the last Earl to live at Kellie where he died unmarried 8 May 1797, aged 61.
Title devolved on his cousin Charles Erskine of Cambo.139 F iii Lady Elizabeth ERSKINE died in 1794. 140 F iv Lady Anne ERSKINE. 141 M v Andrew ERSKINE died in 1793.