Archibald Napier, 1st Lord Napier, the 9th

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

Napier of

Merchiston Merchiston ( ) is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Location Merchiston Avenue is southwest of the West End of Edinburgh's principal street, Princes Street. Other areas near Merchiston inc ...

(c. 1576 – November 1645), was a Scottish politician and judge. In 1627 he was created Lord Napier of Merchiston and Baronet of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Biography

Archibald Napier was the son of

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston ( ; Latinisation of names, Latinized as Ioannes Neper; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8 ...

and Elizabeth Stirling. Adam de Colone01

In 1619, he married Margaret Graham, who was a daughter of

John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose (1573–1626) was a Scottish nobleman, Earl of Montrose from 1608 to the 1620s. He was for a time Lord President of the Privy Council of Scotland. He was a Catholic, as the English ambassador William Asheby no ...

and Lady Margaret Ruthven, and sister of

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman, poet, soldier and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. Montrose initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequ ...

. They had four children: * John Napier, who died young. * Archibald Napier, who succeeded his father as Lord Napier. * Margaret Napier, who married Sir George

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

of Keir. * Lilias Napier, who died unmarried.

Offices and honors

Throughout his political career, he held many offices. Among these were: * Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. Napier accompanied him to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1603 to be crowned at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. *

Treasurer-depute of Scotland The Treasurer-depute was a senior post in the pre-Act of Union 1707, Union government of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. It was the equivalent of the English post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Originally a deputy to the Treasurer of Scotland, ...

from 1622 to 1631. *

Lord of Session The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

in 1623. In addition, he was one of the Bearers of the Canopy in the State Procession of 1633. He was raised to

Baronet of Nova Scotia This is a list of baronetcies in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. These were first created in 1624, and were replaced by the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1707. This page lists baronetcies, whether extant, extinct, dormant (D), unproven (U), ...

on 2 May 1627 and was knighted by King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

with the title Lord Napier of Merchiston on 5 May 1627.

Royalist

In 1640 he supported King Charles I against the

Covenanter Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son C ...

s with his son, Archibald, the Master of Napier. Napier's son escaped, but Lord Napier and the rest of his family were imprisoned in

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

and fined £10,000. They were transferred to

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

but Lord Napier's son Archibald managed to organise their escape. Both Lord Napier and his son joined the Marquess of Montrose (Lord Napier's brother-in-law) and fought with him at the

Battle of Philiphaugh The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13 September 1645 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquis of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Leslie, ...

, though Lord Napier was over 70 years of age. Montrose and his followers lost at Philiphaugh and Montrose escaped to the Highlands with Lord Napier and his son. Lord Napier died at Fincastle, in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, in November 1645. He wrote ''Memoirs of Archibald, First Lord Napier: Written by Himself'' as a defence against accusations of financial impropriety which were later judged to be false. The memoirs were later published in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1793 by Francis, the 8th Lord Napier.

References

External links

a painting of his wife, with some remarks by him
, - Archibald 1570s births 1645 deaths Nobility from Edinburgh Treasurers-depute Senators of the College of Justice Lairds Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1625 Peers of Scotland created by Charles I Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1630 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1639–1641 Lords of Parliament (pre-1707) Lords Napier {{Lord-of-Parliament-stub