James Ross, 4th
Lord Ross of Halkhead (died 2 April 1581) was a Scottish nobleman and an adherent to the cause of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legit ...
.
Origins
Ross was the second, but oldest surviving son of
Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross, who died in February 1555/6. The Rosses of
Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in
Renfrewshire, were a
Lowland family, not apparently related to the
Earls of Ross or the
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
family of
Ross of
Balnagown.
[ Sir James Balfour Paul, '' The Scots Peerage'', Volume VII]
Career
Having promised on 5 September 1565 to faithfully serve
Queen Mary and
Lord Darnley against the rebellious lords, Lord Ross was ordered on 10 October 1565 to accompany the vanguard of the Queen's army in pursuit of the rebels. The conflict is known as the
Chaseabout Raid. Mary and
David Rizzio were frequent visitors to Ross's estate at
Melville near
Dalkeith, though there were later suggestions by
Lord Ruthven that Rizzio and Ross fell out when Ross refused to give Rizzio the lordship of Melville.
[
On 19 April 1567, Ross was one of the 22 lords who signed the Ainslie Tavern Bond to indicate their agreement to the marriage between Bothwell and the Queen. On 8 May 1568, he signed a bond for defence of the Queen at Hamilton. He took part in the Battle of Langside on 13 May 1568, but was captured by the Regent Moray. Ten years later, in 1578, he appeared in a list of nobles still adhering to the Queen.][
As a ]Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, he was excommunicated on 20 June 1573, alongside his brother-in-law, Lord Sempill.[
He died on 2 April 1581.
]
Family
Ross married Jean, daughter of Robert Sempill, 3rd Lord Sempill (a descendant of Robert II of Scotland, Robert III of Scotland) and also Sir John Ross, 1st Lord of Ross of Halkhead ) who died 28 February 1593. By her, he had issue:
* Robert Ross, 5th Lord Ross
* William Ross, 10th Lord Ross
* Elizabeth, who married (contract 20 November 1582) Allan Lockhart, one of the Lockharts of Cleghorn. This couple were ancestors of Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
,[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dantrogers/pafg1895.htm and linked pages] 42nd President of the U.S.A., and astronaut Paul Lockhart, a direct descendent of Captain James Lockhart (grandson of Allan Lockhart) who sailed to Jamestown in 1677 as a member of the Royal Colonial Army, and remained in the American colonies.
* Jean, who married first Sir James Sandilands of Calder and secondly (contract 29 July 1580) Henry Stewart of Craigiehall
* Dorothy, who married Alexander Cunningham of Aiket
* Alison, or Alice, or Helen, who married Sir John Melville of Carnbee
* Grisel, who married (contract 18 March 1589/90) Sir Archibald Stirling of Keir and died on 3 October 1618.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, James
1581 deaths
Nobility from Renfrewshire
16th-century Scottish people
Year of birth unknown
4