Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet, of Newington and Fountainhall (1595 – 2 April 1692) was a notable

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and Treasurer of the

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, who was raised to a Nova Scotia baronetcy in 1688.

Antecedents

Lauder was born at Melville Mill and baptised 17 August 1595 at

Lasswade Lasswade is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, south of Edinburgh city centre, contiguous with Bonnyrigg and between Dalkeith to the east and Loanhead to the west. Melville Castle lies to the north ...

church, the son of Andrew Lauder of Melville Mill, Lasswade (d. June 1658) and his first wife, Janet (d. April 1617), daughter of David Ramsay of

Polton Polton is a village located in Lasswade parish, Midlothian, Scotland, anciently a superiority of the Ramsay family, cadets of Dalhousie. In 1618 David Ramsay of Polton was in possession. (See: ''Analecta Scotica'', Edinburgh, 1834). Notable res ...

and Hillhead. His son, Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, recorded his ancestry in his ''Holograph Notes''. He gives the 1st baronet's father as Andrew Lauder, and his father as William Lauder, a "second brother of

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Lauder of that Ilk", sons of Richard Lauder, younger, of that Ilk (k. June 1567). As John Lauder of Newington he matriculated Arms with the

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officer of State, Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scotland, Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

c. 1672 as descended of a second son of Lauder of that Ilk.

Merchant career and estates

Lauder, mentioned in his mother's Testament, became a highly successful merchant-burgess in Edinburgh, being admitted as a Burgess on 23 November 1636. He served as Treasurer of the

in 1652, and as

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from 1657 to 1661. He purchased (before 1672) the estate of

Newington, Edinburgh Newington is a neighbourhood of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. Developed from the early 19th century, it is an affluent, predominantly residential area. Located between south of Edinburgh city centre, Newington is bounded to the east by St Leo ...

, and subsequently (10 June 1681) the lands of Woodhead and Templehall, which along with others in Edinburghshire and Haddingtonshire, were erected by Crown charter into the feudal barony of Fountainhall on 13 August 1681. He later purchased the lands of Idingtoun (now Edington) near

Chirnside Chirnside is a hillside village in Berwickshire, Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and east of Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns. Church The parish church at Chirnside dates from the 12th century. It was substantially rebuilt in 1878 and ...

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, from his third father-in-law, George Ramsay of Idingtoun.

Marriages

Lauder married three times: (1) 20 November 1639, at Edinburgh, Margaret (1618–1643) daughter of James Speirs by his wife Catherine née Curie; (2) 17 July 1643 at Edinburgh, Isabel (27 July 1628 – 2 February 1669), daughter of Alexander Ellis of Mortonhall and Stanhopmilnes by his wife Elisabeth, daughter of Nicol Edward, Dean of Guild in Edinburgh; (3) 15 February 1670, Margaret, daughter of George Ramsay of Idingtoun (of the Dalhousie family), by his wife Margaret Seton. After Lauder's death his widow married William Cunninghame, younger of Brounhill, sometime Provost of

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

Baronetcy

On 17 July 1688, he was created a baronet, of Fountainhall,

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in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia, with special remainder to the eldest surviving male heir of his ''third'' marriage. This

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was successfully contested and "reduced" (cancelled) on 19 February 1692 having been replaced on 25 January 1690 with a new

Letters Patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

altering the succession to include his eldest surviving son from any marriage. He died on 2 April 1692, in his 97th year and was interred in the Lauder vault within

Greyfriars Kirk Greyfriars Kirk () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard. Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edinburgh, f ...

.Brown, James, ''Monumental Inscriptions in Greyfriars Churchyard'', Edinburgh, 1864, pp. 301 – 302, gives the burial vault within the church of the family of Lauder of Lauder, and all who are contained therein. He had, in all, twenty-four children by his three wives and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest surviving son (of his second marriage) Sir John Lauder, 2nd Baronet, later Lord Fountainhall.

References

*''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage'', London, 8th edition, 1845, and 32nd edition, 1870, under 'Lauder'. *''The Grange of St.Giles'', by J. Stewart Smith, Edinburgh, 1898. *''Journals of Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, 1665–1676'', edited by Donald Crawford, Scottish History Society publication, Edinburgh, 1900, where Sir John gives his ancestry. *''The Complete Baronetage'', by G. E. Cokayne, Exeter, 1904, under 'Lauder', pp. 360–363. (Cokayne is erroneous in his remarks in the genealogical preamble. He cites as his authority a funeral escutcheon he viewed which he states in the footnote on p. 360 as being that of the 1st baronet. It is, in fact, the escutcheon of the 2nd baronet, John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, the Lyon Office not holding one for the 1st baronet). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lauder, Sir John, 1st Baronet 1595 births 1692 deaths Nobility from Midlothian 17th-century Scottish businesspeople Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Burgesses in Scotland