John David Leslie-Melville, 12th Earl of Leven (5 April 1886 – 11 June 1913) (known as Lord Balgonie from 1889 to 1906) was a Scottish soldier and banker who served as a

Representative peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right ...

Early life

Leslie-Melville was born on 5 April 1886. He was the eldest son of Ronald Leslie-Melville, 11th Earl of Leven and the former Emma Selina Portman (1863–1941). His siblings were Hon. Archibald Alexander Leslie-Melville, Capt. Hon. David William Leslie-Melville, Lt.-Col. Hon. Ian Leslie-Melville, and Lady Constance Betty Leslie-Melville. His father was a very wealthy landowner and resided at Holyrood Palace when he was Lord High Commissioner of Scotland. His paternal grandparents were John Thornton Leslie-Melville, 9th Earl of Leven and the former Sophia Thornton (a daughter of abolitionist Henry Thornton MP). His maternal grandfather was Henry Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman. He was educated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, where he used to hunt with the Bicester Hounds.

Career

Lord Leven was a Lieutenant in the

Lovat Scouts The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment of the British Army. They were the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit and in 1916 formally became the Britis ...

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. He served as a

Representative Peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right ...

for Scotland from 1910 until his death in June 1913. He was also a member of the London banking firm of

Frederick Huth & Co Frederick Huth & Company was a British bank established in 1809, which became part of British Overseas Bank in 1936. History In 1809, Frederick Huth (1777-1864), a lutheran German-born British merchant, established the London merchant bank "Freder ...

. Upon his father's death on 21 August 1906, he succeeded as the Viscount of Kirkaldie, the Lord Raith, Monymaill and Balwearie, the

Earl of Melville Earl of Melville is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1690 for the Scottish soldier and statesman George Melville, 4th Lord Melville. He was made Lord Raith, Monymaill and Balwearie and Viscount of Kirkcaldy at the same tim ...

, the

Earl of Leven Earl of Leven (pronounced "''Lee''-ven") is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641 for Alexander Leslie. He was succeeded by his grandson Alexander, who was in turn followed by his daughters Margaret and Catherine (who are u ...

, the Lord Melville of Monymaill, the Lord Balgonie. Lord Leven was required to pay death duties of $1,250,000 on the estate, which exceeded $6,500,000. Reportedly, the "depletion of the estate so impressed the successor to it that he insured his life for the benefit of the estate."

Personal life

Lord Leven died, unmarried, on 11 June 1913, "caused by injuries sustained in the hunting field", which was later determined to be "an accidental death". His funeral was held in Scotland, and his titles passed to his younger brother,

Archibald Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop o ...

.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 2, page 2314. The death duties of over $600,000 were met by the insurance taken out upon his succession to the title. A year later, his brother, a Lieutenant in the Second Dragoons,

Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The regiment's history began in 167 ...

, was wounded during the "cavalry fight in Waterloo". Lord Leven was left behind when his regiment retreated and later escaped from a German prison disguised as a refugee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leven, John Leslie-Melville, 12th Earl of 1886 births 1913 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Earls of Leven Scottish representative peers Lovat Scouts officers