Lieutenant-General Patrick Campbell ( – 18 February 1751), of South Hall, Argyll, also known as Peter Campbell, was a British Army officer, and Scottish Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1722 and 1741.

Early life

Campbell was the second son of Duncan Campbell of Whitestone, Kintyre in Argyll. His mother Barbara was a daughter of Hector McAlester of Loup, Argyll. He was probably educated at Glasgow in 1690. He was an officer in Dutch service from about 1704 to 1708 and became

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 4th (Scots) Horse Guards in 1711, 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 colone ...

in 1712. He was appointed gentleman of the buttery in 1721 and retained the post for the rest of his life.

Career

Campbell's family were supporters of the 2nd Duke of Argyll, who arranged his unopposed return at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Buteshire The County of Bute ( gd, Siorrachd Bhòid), also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The county comprises a number of islands in the Firth of Clyde, between the counties of Argyll and Ayrshire, the p ...

. The seat, whose patron was the county's hereditary sheriff the Earl of Bute, was an alternating constituency with

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

. Buteshire was not represented in the following Parliament, and Campbell filled a vacancy in the Elgin Burghs at a by election on 16 March 1728. The Elgin Burghs were dominated by the

Earls of Kintore Earl of Kintore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1677 for Sir John Keith, third son of William Keith, 6th Hereditary Earl Marischal of Scotland (see Earl Marischal for earlier history of the family) and Chief of Clan K ...

and the

Earls of Findlater Earl of Seafield is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater, James Ogilvy, who in 1711 succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Findlater. The earldoms of Findlater and Seafield continued to b ...

. Their rival candidates had contested the 1722 result with an election petition which took two years to resolve in favour of John Campbell (1st cousin of the Duke of Argyll, supported by Findlater) over the Jacobite candidate William Fraser. By 1727, the 3rd Earl of Kintore was keen to regain some of the privileges which had been stripped from his father after the latter's support for the

1715 Jacobite rising The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire, lo ...

, and sought to win favour with the Duke of Argyll. He therefore supported Argyll's preferred candidate William Steuart, who was returned unopposed at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

. However, Steuart was also returned for the

Ayr Burghs Ayr Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliamen ...

, for which he chose to sit, resulting in the by-election in March 1728 when Campbell was returned unopposed. Campbell was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth in 1733 and held the post for life. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

, he was again returned unopposed for Buteshire. He was promoted 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 1735 and major-general in 1739. He followed the Duke of Argyll's Whig politics and voted with the Government until Argyll went into opposition in 1739. Campbell then voted against the Spanish convention. Buteshire was not represented in the next Parliament and he was unable to find a seat at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. In 1743, he was promoted 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 ...

. He was again unable to obtain a seat at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

, by which time, the 2nd Duke had been succeeded by his rival brother Lord Ilay as 3rd Duke of Argyll.

Death and legacy

Campbell died unmarried on 18 February 1751.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Patrick Year of birth uncertain 1684 births 1751 deaths People from Kintyre British Army lieutenant generals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 18th-century Scottish people 17th-century Scottish people