James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, (6 February 1762 – 18 January 1837), known as Sir James Erskine, Bt, between 1765 and 1789 and as Sir James St Clair-Erskine, Bt, between 1789 and 1805, was a Scottish soldier, politician, slave holder, and Acting

Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland This is a list of Grand Master Masons of the Grand Lodge of Scotland: # 1736–1737: William St Clair of Roslin # 1737–1738: George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie # 1738–1739: John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore (G.M. of England; 1740) # 1739 ...

, on behalf of

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten ye ...

Background and education

Erskine was the son of Lieutenant-General

Sir Henry Erskine, 5th Baronet Sir Henry Erskine, 5th Baronet (23 Dec 1710 – 7 August 1765) was a Scottish soldier and politician. He was a younger son of Sir John Erskine, 3rd Baronet, M.P. of Alva, Clackmannanshire, and Catherine Sinclair, was probably educated at Eton ...

, and Janet, daughter of Peter Wedderburn (a

Lord of Session The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

under the judicial title of Lord Chesterhall) and sister of

Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn, PC, KC (3 February 1733 – 2 January 1805) was a Scottish lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1761 and 1780 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Loughborough. He se ...

. Lord Rosslyn's earldom had been created with

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the ...

to his nephew, Erskine. Erskine succeeded as sixth baronet in 1765, at the age of three, on the death of his father.thepeerage.com James Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn
/ref> He was educated at

Edinburgh High School The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

and

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, and was commissioned in the

21st Light Dragoons The 21st Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was raised on 5 April 1760, as the 21st Light Dragoons (Royal Foresters) by John, Marquis of Granby, and Lord Robert Manners-Sutton. This first regiment was however disbanded ...

in 1778.

Military career

Erskine was assistant

Adjutant-General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1782. In 1793, he became Adjutant-General, in which capacity he served at the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-S ...

and Corsica. In 1795, he was promoted to colonel and appointed Aide-de-Camp to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He became a major-general in 1798, lieutenant-general in 1805, and

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in 1814. In 1806, he was a member of the special mission to Lisbon, which resulted in

Sir Arthur Wellesley Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...

(later the Duke of Wellington) being sent to the

Peninsular A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

. He also saw action in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Slave holder

Rosslyn was associated with "Antigua no. 79 T71/877 claim by Bethell Walrond", he owned 233 slaves in Antigua and received a £3,626 payment at the time (worth £ in ).

Political career

Erskine was a member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

for the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pocket boroughs of

Castle Rising Castle Rising is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some north-east of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich. The River Babingley skirts the north of the village separating C ...

between 1782 and 1784 and

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

between 1784 and 1796. Initially a Whig, an adherent of

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...

and an active supporter of

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

against

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

in the debates over the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

, he was one of the managers of the

Impeachment of Warren Hastings The impeachment of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Bengal, was attempted between 1787 and 1795 in the Parliament of Great Britain. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta, particularly relating to mismanageme ...

. In 1789, on inheriting the Rosslyn and Dysart estates from his cousin James Paterson St Clair, he adopted the name St Clair before his own surname. In 1796, he was elected for the Dysart Burghs in Fife, a constituency traditionally under the St Clair influence. In January 1805, he succeeded his uncle as Earl of Rosslyn according to the special remainder, being by this time considered a

Tory 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. The ...

, and, after the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, continued his political career in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. He was a member of the cabinet as Lord Privy Seal from 1829 to 1830 under the Duke of Wellington's and Lord President of the Council under

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

from 1834 to 1835. In 1829, he was sworn of the Privy Council.

Family

Lord Rosslyn married Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon. Edward Bouverie, in 1790. She died in August 1810. Rosslyn remained a widower until his death in January 1837, aged 74. He was succeeded by his son,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

References

*
Military service
*Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

* ''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' (1930) * Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790'' (London: HMSO, 1964)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosslyn, James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn 1762 births, Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Lord Presidents of the Council Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Saint Clair-Erskine, James Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800

Saint Clair-Erskine, James Saint Clair-Erskine, James Saint Clair-Erskine, James Saint Clair-Erskine, James Rosslyn, E2 Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars 14th King's Hussars officers 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers 12th Royal Lancers officers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Portugal Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 Scottish slave owners People educated at Eton College