General James Alexander St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn PC, DL (15 February 1802 – 16 June 1866), styled Lord Loughborough from 1805 to 1837, was a Scottish soldier and

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. Th ...

politician. A General 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 Gurk ...

, he also held political office as

Master of the Buckhounds The Master of the Buckhounds (or Master of the Hounds) was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. The role was to oversee a hunting pack; a ...

between 1841 and 1846 and again in 1852 and as

Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for ...

in 1859.

Early life

Rosslyn was the son of

James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn 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, sla ...

, by his wife Harriet Elizabeth Bouverie, daughter of the

Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (ma ...

Edward Bouverie (the second son of

Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (bapt. 14 October 1694 – 17 February 1761) was an English politician, known as Sir Jacob Bouverie, 3rd Baronet from 1737 to 1747. Early life Lord Folkestone was born Jacob des Bouverie and baptised on 14 ...

Career

Rosslyn entered the

in 1819. He purchased a captaincy in the

9th Light Dragoons The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...

in 1823 and a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

cy in 1828. He was promoted 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 ...

in 1854, to

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1859 and to full General on 20 April 1866. In 1864 he was appointed Regimental Colonel of the

7th Queen's Own Hussars The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...

after the death of General Sir

William Tuyll General Sir William Tuyll (died 26 December 1864) was a British army officer. Career Tuyll served as aide-de-camp to Lord Uxbridge during the Peninsular War, and the Walcheren Campaign in 1809. He became lieutenant-colonel on half-pay of the 25 ...

. Lord Rosslyn also commanded the Auxiliary Cavalry Regiment, The Fife Mounted Rifle Volunteers from 1860 until his death in 1866.

Political career

Rosslyn was returned to Parliament for Dysart Burghs, in

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 ...

, in 1830, a seat he held until 1831, and then represented

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

from 1831 to 1832. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1837. In 1841 he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and appointed

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 ...

, which he remained until the government fell in 1846. He held the same office from February to December 1852 under

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

, and was briefly

under Derby from March to June 1859. Lord Rosslyn was also a Deputy Lieutenant for

Personal life

In 1826, James married Frances Wemyss (1794–1858), daughter of Lt.-Gen.

William Wemyss General William Wemyss of Wemyss (9 April 1760 – 4 February 1822) was a Scottish soldier in the British Army and Member of Parliament. Early life He was the son of the Hon. James Wemyss, third son of the 5th Earl of Wemyss, and his wife ...

, of Wemyss Castle,

. Together, they were the parents of two sons and a daughter, including: * Hon. James Alexander George St Clair-Erskine (1830–1851), ''styled'' Lord Loughborough, a Lieut. who died unmarried. * Francis ''Robert'' St Clair-Erskine, 4th Earl of Rosslyn, who married Blanche Adeliza FitzRoy, great-granddaughter of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton and widow of Col. Hon. Charles Henry Maynard. * Lady Harriet ''Elizabeth'' St Clair-Erskine (d. 1867), who married Prince Georg Münster, Hereditary Marshal of Hanover and Hanoverian Ambassador to London (d. 1902) in 1865. Lady Rosslyn died on 30 September 1858 and Lord Rosslyn died, several years later, in June 1866, aged 64. He was succeeded in the earldom by his only surviving son,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosslyn, James Saint Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of 1802 births 1866 deaths Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Rosslyn, E3 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Great Grimsby Masters of the Buckhounds

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 (disambiguat ...