Sir Henry Erskine, 5th Baronet (23 Dec 1710 – 7 August 1765) was a Scottish soldier and politician. He was a younger son of

Sir John Erskine, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, M.P. of Alva, Clackmannanshire, and Catherine Sinclair, was probably educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

to study law in 1728. However, instead of a legal career he joined the Army and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1765. He succeeded to the baronetcy and family estate when his elder brother Charles was killed in action at the

Battle of Lauffeld The Battle of Lauffeld, variously known as Lafelt, Laffeld, Lawfeld, Lawfeldt, Maastricht, or Val, took place on 2 July 1747, between Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht. Part of the War of the Austrian Succession, a Fr ...

in 1747. Erskine then served as

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 ...

(MP) for Ayr Burghs 1749–1754 and for Anstruther Easter Burghs 1754–1765. He died in 1765. He had married Janet, the daughter of

Peter Wedderburn, Lord Chesterhall The Hon Peter Wedderburn, Lord Chesterhall (c. 1700–11 August 1756) was an 18th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. Life He was born in Glassford (possibly at Glassford Castle) in Lanarkshire around 170 ...

, and with her had two sons and a daughter. He was succeeded by his eldest son

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 ...

, who later became the 2nd Earl of Rosslyn.

References

* * * 1710s births 1765 deaths Members of Lincoln's Inn Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 67th Regiment of Foot officers King's Own Scottish Borderers officers Royal Scots officers

Henry 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 Portugal, ...

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