James Wemyss (23 February 1726 – 10 May 1786) was a Scottish naval officer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1763 to 1784.

Early life

Wemyss was born on 23 February 1726. Wemyss was the third and youngest son of

James Wemyss, 5th Earl of Wemyss James Wemyss, 5th Earl of Wemyss (30 August 169921 March 1756), was the son of David Wemyss, 4th Earl of Wemyss. In Edinburgh Wemyss lived in Riddles Court off the Royal Mile which retains much of its 17th century interior.Grant's Old and New E ...

by his wife Janet Charteris. Wemyss was educated 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 ...

. His eldest brother, David, Lord Elcho, was attainted in 1746, and his other older brother,

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

, adopted the name Charteris as heir to their maternal grandfather Francis Charteris, a Scottish soldier and adventurer who earned a substantial sum of money through

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

and the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. Therefore, James was named heir to the Wemyss estates, including Wemyss Castle, by a new entail of 31 July 1750. The 5th Earl of Wemyss died in 1756.

Career

Wemyss served as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

from 1741, and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1745. However doubts were raised regarding his professional abilities as a sailor, and he was denied further promotion. After succeeding to the Wemyss estates, his brother

wrote to him urging him to quit the navy, establish himself at Wemyss Castle and marry. A final request for promotion was refused in January 1757, after which Wemyss resigned his naval commission and returned to his estate. In 1759, his friend, Richard Kempenfelt, wrote to him "The navy should not have neglected you, nor you it. Possessed of every quality to shine conspicuous, why should you shade yourself in peace when your country, when all Europe, is as in a blaze of arms?" Wemyss was elected Member of Parliament for

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

from 1763 to 1768 and for

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

from 1768 to 1784, when he was succeeded by his son.

Personal life

On 29 August 1757, James Wemyss was married to his half-cousin Lady Elizabeth Sutherland (d. 1803), the only daughter of William Sutherland, 17th Earl of Sutherland by his wife Lady Elizabeth Wemyss, daughter of David Wemyss, 4th Earl of Wemyss. Their children included: * Elizabeth Margaret Wemyss (d. 1800), who married MP Alexander Brodie, son of James Brodie,

Sheriff of Elgin The Sheriff of Elgin was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order in Elgin, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third o ...

. * William Wemyss (1760–1822), a soldier and MP who married Frances Erskine, daughter of

Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet (1728 – 19 March 1795) was a British Army commander and the 1st Baronet of the Erskine of Torrie creation. Background Erskine was the son of Colonel the Honourable William Erskine of Tor ...

. * James Wemyss (1778–1849), who married Caroline Charlotte Binfield, daughter of Reverend Henry Binfield. Wemyss died on 10 May 1786. His widow lived nearly another seventeen years until 24 January 1803.

Descendants

Elizabeth Margaret was the mother of Elizabeth Gordon, Duchess of Gordon. Through his son William, he was the grandfather of Frances Wemyss (1794–1858), who married

James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn General James Alexander St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn PC, DL (15 February 1802 – 16 June 1866), styled Lord Loughborough from 1805 to 1837, was a Scottish soldier and Tory politician. A General in the British Army, he also held poli ...

; Rear-Admiral James Erskine Wemyss (1789–1854); Lieutenant-General William Wemyss (1790–1852); and Clementina Wemyss (1805–1834), who married with

James Dewar Sir James Dewar ( ; 20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studie ...

, Chief Justice of The Supreme Court, Bombay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wemyss, James 1726 births 1786 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Younger sons of earls British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Royal Navy officers