David Melville, later Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven and ''de jure'' 2nd Earl of Melville (5 May 16606 June 1728) was a Scottish aristocrat, politician, and soldier. The third son of George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville and his second wife Catherine, he shared the Whig political and the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

religious sympathies of his father. In 1681, with the death of the rival claimant,

John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes John Leslie (27 July 1681), son of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes, was the 7th Earl of Rothes and 1st Duke of Rothes. According to tradition, he was a descendant of Princess Beatrix, sister of King Malcolm III of Scotland. His family had int ...

, he was permitted to enter into the Earldom of Leven. In 1683, Leven and his father were suspected of complicity in the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the r ...

, a Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and his brother

James, Duke of York James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

. To escape arrest they fled 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 ...

where they joined the band of British Protestant exiles at the court of Prince William of Orange. Here Leven was used by William to obtain the support of German princes for his invasion of England in 1688, Leven himself having raised a regiment for that invasion, in the course of which he received the surrender of the town of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in south

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

shire. He became a Privy Councillor of Scotland in 1689, and fought at the

Battle of Killiecrankie The Battle of Killiecrankie, also known as the Battle of Rinrory, took place on 27 July 1689 during the Jacobite rising of 1689, 1689 Scottish Jacobite rising. An outnumbered Jacobitism, Jacobite force under Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, Sir Ewen Ca ...

that year. He also served as Keeper of Edinburgh Castle between 1689 and 1702, and again between 1704 and 1712. Leven was also a Commissioner for the Pacification of the Highlands from 1689. Leven served as

Governor of the Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Parliament of Scotland in 1695 to devel ...

between 1697 and 1728, and in 1702 was promoted to brigadier-general, followed by major-general in 1704. He became Master of the Scottish Ordnance in 1705, and Commander-in-Chief, Scotland in 1706. Also in 1706 he was elected one of the

representative peers In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those Peerage, peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the ...

to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

after the Acts of Union in 1707 abolished the

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He became a

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was normall ...

in 1707. He became a Commissioner for the Union in 1707 and was one of the original Representative Peers for Scotland from 1707 until 1710. He was dismissed from all offices in 1712. He succeeded his father as

Earl of Melville Earl of Melville is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1690 for the Scottish soldier and statesman George Melville, 4th Lord Melville. He was made Lord Raith, Monymaill and Balwearie and Viscount of Kirkcaldy at the same tim ...

on 20 May 1707, but did not use the title.

References

External links

Leven's Regiment plaque, Edinburgh Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leven, David Melville, 3rd Earl of 1660 births 1728 deaths Nobility from Fife Earls of Leven Governors of the Bank of Scotland Scottish generals Scottish soldiers Whig (British political party) politicians Scottish Presbyterians Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of Scotland Scottish representative peers People of the Rye House Plot 17th-century Scottish peers Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1689