Alexander Erskine, 3rd Earl of Kellie (c. 1615–1677) was a Scottish soldier and peer.
Biography
Alexander Erskine inherited the title after the death of his brother Thomas in 1643.
The earl was a staunch
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
, fighting as Colonel of Foot for Fife and Kinross and in 1648 was involved in an attempt to rescue the King. He was then sent to the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
to fight for
Charles II and was eventually captured at the
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...
in 1651, after which he spent many years of imprisonment. His estates were confiscated by the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
under the provisions of
Cromwell's Act of Grace
Cromwell's Act of Grace, or more formally the Act of Pardon and Grace to the People of Scotland, was an Act of the Parliament of England that declared that the people of Scotland (with certain exceptions) were pardoned for any crimes they migh ...
.
After the
restoration of the monarchy in 1660 he was appointed governor of the fort and town of Ayr, lieutenant-colonel of the guards and in 1661 he became a member of the
Privy Council. In 1666 he was an investigator in the case of
Margaret Guthrie, an accused witch from
Carnbee.
Family
Alexander Erskine was the son of Alexander Erskine (died 1633) and Anne Seton. He inherited the title after the death of his brother Thomas in 1643. Alexander Erskine, as the 3rd Earl of Kellie, first married in 1661 in Holland to Anna Kilpatrick, daughter of future Lt. Gen. John Kilpatrick (d. 1681), before Kilpatrick's appointment in 1670 as Governor of
Bois-le-Duc, colloquially known as Den Bosch (loosely translated as the Bush), then Sergeant-Major-General of the army in 1672.
Portrait of Lieutenant-General John Kirkpatrick, d. 1681. Governor of Bois-le-Duc
Oil on canvas. National Galleries of Scotland. Accessed 8 September 2024.
The Earl of Kellie married secondly in 1665 to Mary Dalzeil (also spelt Dalzell), daughter of Sir John Dalzeil and Agnes Nisbet.[Mary Dalzell in the Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950]
Accessed via ancestry.com paid subscription site on 9 September 2024. By his first wife he had a daughter Ann, who married Sir Alexander Erskine of Cambo, 2nd Baronet and had issue. By his second wife he had a son Charles (bap. 13 April 1669 Carnbee, Fife, Scotland)
Notes
References
*
Erskine clan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellie, Alexander Erskine, 3rd Earl Of
1677 deaths
Nobility from Fife
3
Alexander
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
Year of birth uncertain