Lord Frederick Campbell (1729–1816) by Henry Raeburn

Lord Frederick Campbell (20 June 1729 – 8 June 1816) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was lord clerk register of Scotland, 1768–1816;

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 ofte ...

(MP) for Glasgow Burghs (1761–1780) and for Argyllshire (1780–1799).

Biography

Frederick Campbell was the third son of

John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll General John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll KT PC (c. 1693 – 9 November 1770), was a British Army officer and Scottish Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1713 and 1761. From 1729 to 1761 he was known as John Campbell of ...

, and his wife, Mary, daughter of John, 2nd Lord Bellenden. Lord Frederick was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Head ...

(1743-6) and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

(1747) before entering

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

(1751) and being

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1754. Although his father had intended him for the parliamentary seat of Ayr Burghs, he instead succeeded his brother Lord Lorne to the seat of Glasgow Burghs in 1761. In 1765, being very intimate with Mr. Grenville, Lord Frederick was active in the arrangements for transferring the prerogatives and rights of the

Duke of Atholl Duke of Atholl, named for Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of h ...

in the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

(then a nest of smugglers), to the Crown, and in fixing the compensation to be given; but he felt and complained that the compensation was inadequate. In the same year (1765) Lord Frederick was for a few months

Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland The office of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, one of the Great Officers of State, first appears in the reign of David II. After the Act of Union 1707 its holder was normally a peer, like the Keeper of the Great Seal. The office has rem ...

but resigned in July following the dismissal of the Grenville administration and was succeeded in the office by Lord Breadalbane. Lord Frederick was sworn of the privy council 29 May 1765, made

Lord Clerk Register The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenance and care of the public records of Scotland. Tod ...

for Scotland in 1768, and confirmed in that office for life in 1777. In 1774 Lord Frederick had laid the foundation-stone for a register house at Edinburgh, and procured a permanent establishment for keeping the records, and received the thanks of the court of session. He was elected

Rector of Glasgow University The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...

for 1772–73. Lord Frederick sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a h ...

for

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number ...

from 1767 to 1768 and for

St Canice Cainnech of Aghaboe (515/16–600), also known as Saint Canice in Ireland, Saint Kenneth in Scotland, Saint Kenny and in Latin Sanctus Canicus, was an Irish abbot, monastic founder, priest and missionary during the early medieval period. Cainn ...

from 1768 and 1776. In 1778 he was appointed colonel of the Western regiment of Fencible Men ( Argyle Fencibles). In 1786 a member of the board of control for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and from 1787 to 1793 the joint

Vice-Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

under George, Viscount Townshend, the Lord-lieutenant. As a member of parliament he seems to have been reticent; but it was on his motion in 1796 that

Henry Addington Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, (30 May 175715 February 1844) was an English Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804. Addington is best known for obtaining the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, an ...

was elected speaker of the Great British Parliament. He was treasurer of the

in 1803. He died 8 June 1816 in Queen Street, Mayfair.

Family

Lord Frederick was married, 28 March 1769, to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...

, youngest daughter of Mr. Amos Meredith of Henbury, Cheshire, sister of

Sir William Meredith, 3rd Baronet Sir William Meredith, 3rd Baronet (c. 1725 – 2 January 1790), was a British landowner who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1780. A Rockingham Whig, he served as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1765 to 1766. Early life Meredith was the so ...

, and widow of the infamous

Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers (18 August 1720 – 5 May 1760) was an English nobleman, notable for being the last peer to be hanged, following his conviction for murdering his steward. Biography Shirley was the eldest son of Laurenc ...

. She was burnt to death in a fire at their house, Combe Bank, Kent, in 1807. They had two daughters, one of whom, Mary, married Captain Donald Campbell of Barbreck. In 1752

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

reported that Campbell was the love interest of society hostess Viscountess

Etheldreda Townshend Audrey Etheldreda Townshend born Audrey Etheldreda Harrison became Lady Lynn and later Etheldreda, Viscountess Townshend (1708 – 5 March 1788) was an English society hostess. Life She was born in 1708 and she was known as "Etheldreda". Her par ...

. Lord Frederick had inherited Combe Bank (or Coombe Bank), near Sevenoaks, Kent, on the death of his father in 1770. His daughter sold the estate to William Manning, MP after his death.

Legacy

A Canadian school was named after him.

Notes

References

* Endnotes **Hely Smith's ''MacCallum Mores''; **''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' lxxxvi. 572, lxxxvii. 214; **''The Scotch Compendium''; **''The House of Argyll'', Anon., Glasgow, 1871, p. 68; **Collins's ''Peerage'', iv. 102; ** ''Parliamentary History'', xxiv. 297, xxviii. {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Frederick, Lord 1729 births 1816 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Political office-holders in Scotland Rectors of the University of Glasgow Younger sons of dukes Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Chief Secretaries for Ireland