General The Hon. James St Clair (1688 – 30 November 1762) was a Scottish soldier and Whig politician.

Background

St Clair was the second son of

Henry St Clair, 10th Lord Sinclair Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portuga ...

and his wife Grizel Cockburn, daughter of Sir James Cockburn, 1st Baronet. As a child he received a commission into the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Foot.

Military career

St Clair became an ensign of 6th Regiment of Foot in 1694, however was set on halfpay in 1713. In the next year, he was admitted to the

3rd Foot Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

and was promoted to captain in 1714. He served as 2nd major of his regiment from 1722 and as 1st major from 1725, having been advanced to the rank of brevet colonel two years before. In 1734, St Clair was appointed to the command of the 22nd Regiment of Foot and three years later he was transferred to the colonelship of the

Royal Regiment of Foot The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

(later renamed as 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot), which he held until his death. He rose to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in 1739 and already after another two years to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. St Clair became lieutenant-general in charge of the British forces in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

in June 1745 and in the following year, he was sent with six thousand men to attack

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Because of delays, he sailed instead to capture the Breton port of Lorient. He destroyed the French fortifications near

Quiberon Quiberon (; , ) is a commune in the French department of Morbihan, administrative region of Brittany, western France. It is situated on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon. It ...

and then returned to England. In 1761, St Clair was finally advanced to the rank of full general.

Political career

St Clair entered the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

in 1722, sitting for Dysart Burghs until 1734. Two years later, he was elected for

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

, which constituency he represented until 1747, when he was again returned for Dysart. He held the latter seat until 1754 and became then

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 of ...

for

Fife 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 ...

until 1762. St Clair travelled as envoy to the courts of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1748 and later acted as

governor of Cork The Governor of Cork was a military officer who commanded the garrison at Cork in Ireland. The office became a sinecure and in 1833 was abolished from the next vacancy. List of governors of Cork Governors *1644: Major Muschamp *1651: Colonel R ...

Personal life

Rosslyn Castle, by Julius Caesar Ibbetson

In 1735, St Clair bought

Rosslyn Castle Roslin Castle (sometimes spelt Rosslyn) is a partially ruined castle near the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located around 9 miles south of Edinburgh, on the north bank of the North Esk, only a few hundred metres from the fa ...

, which was later inherited by the male heirs of his sisters. On the death of his older brother John St Clair in 1750, he succeeded

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

Lord Sinclair Lord Sinclair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. According to James Balfour Paul's ''The Scots Peerage'', volume VII published in 1910, the first person to be styled Lord Sinclair was William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney and 1st Earl of Cai ...

, but never assumed the title, preferring to retain his seat in the Commons. Around 1745, he married Janet Dalrymple, the youngest daughter of

Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, of Hailes (1665 – 3 December 1721) was a Scottish advocate and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1698 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons from 1707 to 1721. He served as Lord Advo ...

and widow of

Sir John Baird, 2nd Baronet Sir John Baird, 2nd Baronet, of Newbyth (13 October 1686 – 30 September 1745) of Newbyth, Haddington, was a Scottish politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1722. Life Baird was the eldest son of Sir William Baird who was th ...

. Their marriage was childless. St Clair died in Dysart in 1766 and was survived by his wife for four years. With his death the

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

ship became dormant until 1782, when it reverted to Charles St Clair, a first cousin of James Sinclair, 7th Lord Sinclair.

Legacy

St. Clair, Minnesota is named after St. Clair.

References

External links

The History of Parliament: ST. CLAIR, Hon. James (1688-1762), of Sinclair, Fife and Balblair, Sutherland

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Clair, James 1688 births 1762 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Cheshire Regiment officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Royal Scots officers Whig (British political party) MPs Politics of Fife Politics of Highland (council area) 18th-century Scottish people