Francis Sempill (1708 – 1748), styled 2nd Lord Sempill from 1737, was a Jacobite of Scottish descent who became a leading agent for

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from ...

in Paris. Sempill was the son of

Robert Sempill Robert Sempill (the elder) (c. 1530–1595), in all probability a cadet of illegitimate birth of the noble house of Sempill or Semple, was a Scottish ballad-writer and satirist. Very little is known of Sempill's life. He was probably a soldi ...

and Elizabeth Abercromby. In 1712 his father had been created

Lord Sempill of Dykehead Lord Sempill of Dykehead was a title of the Jacobite peerage in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created on 11 May 1712 by James Francis Edward Stuart for Robert Sempill, a grandson of Hugh Sempill, 5th Lord Sempill. James issued a "declaration of ...

in the Jacobite peerage and Sempill would use this title after his father's death in 1737. He was born at the exiled Stuart court at

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the ''département'' of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the ''musée d'Archéologie nationale'' (Nati ...

and educated at the

Scots College, Douai The Scottish College or Scots College at Douai was a seminary founded in Douai, France, for the training of Scottish Roman Catholic exiles for the priesthood. It was modelled on the similar English College there, founded for the same purpose. I ...

. From 1730, Sempill became one of the most prominent and active Jacobite agents in France, and acted as the unofficial Stuart ambassador to

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

at Versailles after the Stuarts were forced to leave France for Rome due to the Anglo-French Alliance. Reflecting the confused nature of Jacobite politics at the time, Sempill worked alongside, and sometimes against, Daniel O'Brien and George Kelly who had also been commissioned to represent Stuart interests in France. In the five years before the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...

, Sempill was responsible for greatly exaggerating Jacobite strength in order to gain French support, something which resulted in him earning enmity from both Jacobites and the French. After the death of

Cardinal Fleury Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, Sempill carried a message to Louis XV from several prominent from English

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

requesting support for a restoration of the Stuart line. The French foreign minister,

Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou (, 30 April 1689 – 7 May 1749, Paris) was a French politician. He was marquis of Combrande, baron de Châtillon-sur-Indre, seigneur de Chaillou. Biography From a family of magistrates, he was in turn made avocat ...

, replied that considerable proof of English support for Jacobitism would be required before France could act. Sempill conveyed inflated and inaccurate confidence in the strength of the cause and a Franco-Jacobite invasion of Britain was planned towards the end of 1743.Correspondence of the family of MacGregor or Drummond of Balhaldie
National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 10 November 2022. Such was Sempill's conviction that

Prince Charles Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

travelled to Paris, where he stayed at Sempill's house on the

rue de l'Estrapade The Rue de l’Estrapade is a street in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, situated at the border between the quartier du Val-de-Grâce and the quartier de la Sorbonne. It follows the line of the Wall of Philip II Augustus and is named after the 'e ...

. The planned French expedition was, however, abandoned in the summer of 1744, by which time Prince Charles had lost trust in Sempill and publicly mocked him as "Lord Simple". Sempill was excluded from Prince Charles's plans for a new rising, but he subsequently worked to persuade Louis XV to mount an invasion during the 1745 rising. His efforts were embarrassed by the failure of England to rise in support of the rising and ended with Jacobite defeat at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

. By this stage, Sempill had also lost the confidence of James Francis Edward Stuart. He had married Lady Mary Caryll, widow of Hon. John Caryll and daughter of

Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth, KT, PC (S) ( bapt. 8 December 1661 – January 1701) was a Scottish peer and Jacobite supporter, known as Lord Mackenzie of Kintail from birth until 1678. Life Mackenzie was the eldest son of Kenne ...

. Sempill died in 1748, isolated from the Jacobite court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sempill, Francis 1708 births 1748 deaths 18th-century Scottish people Lords of Parliament in the Jacobite peerage Scottish expatriates in France Scottish Jacobites

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...