Sir Alexander Erskine of Cambo, 2nd Baronet (16631729) of Cambo, Fife was a Scottish baronet and

Lord Lyon, King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new gran ...

Life

Erskine was the son of Sir Charles Erskine of Cambo, 1st Bt. and Penelope Barclay. He was born in the same year that his father had been created Lord Lyon, the principal

Officer of Arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or Sovereign state, state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate coat of arms, armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremo ...

in the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a la ...

. By an act of the

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

on 12 June 1672 he was created joint Lyon with his father and in this capacity helped his father establish the Lyon Register.Balfour Paul, vol v, p 90 He inherited the baronetcy and the

Cambo Estate Cambo Estate lies close to the village of Kingsbarns in north-east Fife, Scotland. It is within the East Neuk, south-east of St Andrews. At the heart of the estate lies the 19th-century Cambo House, the home of Sir Peter Erskine, Bt and Lady Ca ...

in Fife on his father's death in 1677. He was crowned officially as sole Lord Lyon at Holyrood Palace on 27 July 1681 by the then

Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland The Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland was the monarch of Scotland's's personal representative to the Parliament of Scotland. From the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603, a Lord High Commissio ...

, the Duke of Albany and York. In 1711 Erskine was joint

Keeper of the Signet The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenance and care of the public records of Scotland. Tod ...

with his cousin, John Erskine, Earl of Mar, and from 1710 until 1713 was Member of Parliament for

Fifeshire Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i.e ...

During the 1715 Jacobite uprising, Erskine was briefly imprisoned at

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

prior to the Battle of Sheriffmuir, however he was soon released and retained his offices until his death in 1729.

Marriage and issue

Erskine of Cambo married his cousin Anne, daughter to

Alexander Erskine, 3rd Earl of Kellie Alexander Erskine, 3rd Earl of Kellie (c. 1615–1677) was a Scottish soldier and peer. Biography Alexander Erskine inherited the title after the death of his brother Thomas in 1643. The earl was a staunch Royalist, fighting as Colonel of Foot ...

, and had issue: *Charles Erskine (born 1682-died in infancy) *Penelope Erskine (1682-1768) *Alexander Erskine (b. 1686-d. c.1715) *Sir Charles Erskine of Cambo, 3rd Bt. (1687-1753) *Sir John Erskine of Cambo, 4th Bt. (1690-1754) *Anna Erskine (b.1692) *Sir William Erskine of Cambo, 5th Bt. (1695-1781) *Sir David Erskine (b. c.1695-1769) *Sophia Erskine (1698-1735) *Thomas Erskine (1699-1783) *Colin Erskine, father to

Charles Erskine (cardinal) Charles Erskine (13 February 1739 - 20 March 1811) was an Italian-Scottish papal diplomat and cardinal. Life He was the son of Mr. Colin Erskine, youngest son to Alexander Erskine of Cambo and maternal grandson of Alexander Erskine, 3rd Earl o ...

Arms

References

Sources

* Balfour Paul, Sir James, ''The Scots Peerage'', IX vols. Edinburgh, 1904.
John H. Stevenson, ''Heraldry in Scotland'' (1914), vol ii, p 445-446. For those Lyons up to 1890
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erskine of Cambo, Alexander 1663 births 1729 deaths People from Fife Lord Lyon Kings of Arms

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1710–1713