Alexander Abercromby of Glassaugh, Fordyce, Banffshire (5 November 1678 – 23 December 1728) was a Scottish Army officer and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1706 to 1707 and as a Whig in the British House of Commons from 1707 to 1727. In 1699 he inherited

Tullibody House Tullibody ( gd, Tulach Bòide), is a town set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The town is south-west of Alva, north-west of Alloa and east-no ...

east of

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

from his cousin George Abercromby. He remodeled the house in 1710 and in 1719 additionally acquired the nearby

Menstrie Menstrie (Scottish Gaelic: ) is a village in the county of Clackmannanshire in Scotland. It is about east-northeast of Stirling and is one of a string of towns that, because of their location at the foothill base of the Ochil Hills, are collec ...

Castle. Abercromby was a book collector who had a significant private collection, and books bearing his bookplate can still be found in libraries today. Abercromby was the third, but eldest surviving son of Alexander Abercromby and his wife Katherine Dunbar, daughter of Sir Robert Dunbar, of Grangehill, Elgin. By 1703, he married Helen Meldrum, daughter of George Meldrum of Crombie, Marnoch, Banff, minister of Glass, Banff. From 1706 he was an officer in the

21st Foot The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

, the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He was ADC to the Duke of Marlborough in the Low Countries in 1711, and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, retiring on half-pay in 1721. Abercromby was Commissioner justiciary for the Highlands in 1701 and 1702. He was returned as

Shire Commissioner A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the pre-Union Scottish Parliament and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other ...

for Banffshire in 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 ...

in 1706 and after the Act of Union was one of the

Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked. The forty five men sent to London in 1707, to t ...

in 1707. He was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Banffshire in the British general elections of

1708 In the Swedish calendar it was a leap year starting on Wednesday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–June * January 1 – Charles XII of Sweden invades Russia, by crossing t ...

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin by ...

1713 Events January–March * January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take ref ...

1715 Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

and

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), a ...

. He did not stand in

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

. He was Lieutenant Governor of Fort William from 1726. Abercrombie died on 23 December 1728. He and his wife, Helen Meldrum, had two sons and four daughters, including

Patrick Abercromby Patrick Abercromby (1656) was a Scottish physician and antiquarian, noted for being physician to King James VII (II of England) and his fervent opposition to the Act of Union between Scotland and England. Early life Patrick Abercromby was ...

. His daughter Catherine was the great-grandmother of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

References

External links

1678 births 1728 deaths People from Banffshire Scottish politicians Royal Scots Fusiliers officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727

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 ...

Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 {{Scotland-GreatBritain-MP-stub