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 Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

soldier and Tory politician. A General in the British Army, he also held political office as Master of the Buckhounds between 1841 and 1846 and again in 1852 and as Under-Secretary of State for War in 1859.

Early life

Rosslyn was the son of James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, by his wife Harriet Elizabeth Bouverie, daughter of the Hon. Edward Bouverie (the second son of Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone).

Career

Rosslyn entered the British Army 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-colonelcy in 1828. He was promoted to Major-General 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 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 Master of the Buckhounds under Sir Robert Peel, which he remained until the government fell in 1846. He held the same office from February to December 1852 under Lord Derby, and was briefly Under-Secretary of State for War 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.

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 ...