Archibald Napier, 1st Lord Napier, the 9th

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

Napier of

Merchiston Merchiston ( ) is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Location Merchiston Avenue is 1.3 miles Southwest of the West End of Edinburgh's principal street, Princes Street. Other areas near Merchi ...

(c. 1576 – November 1645), was a Scottish politician and judge. In 1627 he was created

Lord Napier Lord Napier, of Merchistoun, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for Sir Archibald Napier, 1st Baronet. Earlier that year, he already held the Napier Baronetcy, of Merchistoun in the County of Midlothian, created in ...

of Merchiston and Baronet of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Biography

Archibald Napier was the son of

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioan ...

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. They had four children: * John Napier, who died young. *

Archibald Napier Archibald Napier may refer to: * Sir Archibald Napier (landowner) (1534–1608), Scottish landowner and official, master of the Scottish mint and Laird of Merchiston * Archibald Napier, 1st Lord Napier (c. 1576–1645) * Archibald Napier, 2nd Lord ...

, who succeeded his father as Lord Napier. * Margaret Napier, who married Sir George

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

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 and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1603 to be crowned at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. *

Treasurer-depute of Scotland The Treasurer-depute was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland. It was the equivalent of the English post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Originally a deputy to the Treasurer, the Treasurer-depute emerged as a separate Crown ap ...

from 1622 to 1631. *

Lord of Session The senators of the College of Justice 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 of Session); ...

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 England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

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

Royalist

In 1640 he supported King Charles I against the Covenanters 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 and fined £10,000. They were transferred to

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) 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 ...

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, 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 ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in 1793 by Francis, the 8th Lord Napier.

References

External links

a painting of his wife, with some remarks by him
, -

Archibald Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop of ...

1570s births 1645 deaths 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