Sir John Johnstone, 1st Baronet (died 30 September 1711) was a

Scottish Army The Scots Army (Scots language, Scots: ''Scots Airmy'') was the army of the Kingdom of Scotland between the Restoration (Scotland), Restoration in 1660 and the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of 1707. A small standing army was established at ...

officer and politician. He was the oldest son of Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, Dumfriesshire, a member of the pre-

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

. His mother Margaret was the daughter of John Bannatyne of

Corehouse Corehouse is a country house and estate, located to the south of Lanark, Scotland. The estate is by the Corra Linn Falls on the River Clyde, and close to the World Heritage Site of New Lanark. The house was designed by Sir Edward Blore for G ...

in Lanarkshire. He was the older brother of William Johnstone MP. In 1700 Johnstone became a

Shire Commissioner A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the pre-Union Scottish Parliament and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other ...

for

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

in succession to his father and was made a baronet. He supported the Court party in the hope of advancing his army career, and as circumstances changed he moved between patrons, including the rivals Annandale and Queensberry. Backing the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...

after 1704, Johnstone consistently voted for the Union with England. In 1707, he became one of the 45

Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked. The forty five men sent to London in 1707, to t ...

. However, he did not make any impact at Westminster, and did not stand for

in the 1708 election. (His brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

took the seat). By 1711, Johnstone had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died in September that year after being seriously wounded at the Siege of Tournai, and since his two marriages had produced a daughter, Philadelphia, but no sons, his baronetcy and estates passed to his brother William.

References

17th-century births Year of birth unknown 1711 deaths Johnstone baronets Scottish soldiers Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 {{NovaScotia-baronet-stub