Thomas Erskine, 9th Earl of Kellie (about 1746 – 6 February 1828) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

merchant, landowner and politician who for many years lived in the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

port city of

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. He returned to Scotland in 1799 when he inherited an

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

from his nephew Charles Erskine, 8th Earl Kellie, and thus, became the 9th

Earl of Kellie The title Earl of Kellie or Kelly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1619 for Sir Thomas Erskine, who was Captain of the Guard and Groom of the Stool for James VI. It is named after Barony of Kellie in Fife, Scotland. Since 1875, ...

Biography

Erskine was born in Scotland to an

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

family that had become comparatively impoverished because of confiscations due to their support for the Stuart pretenders. He was probably born at

Cambo House Cambo Estate lies close to the village of Kingsbarns in north-east Fife, Scotland. It is within the East Neuk, south-east of St Andrews. At the heart of the estate lies the 19th-century Cambo House, the home of Sir Peter Erskine, Bt and Lady ...

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 ...

, one of the forfeited properties.

Gothenburg

At a young age, he was sent to Gothenburg to learn a trade. He was employed in 1759 in the office of George Carnegie, a Jacobite exile who had established himself as a merchant there. After a few years, he transferred to the firm of the iron-exporting

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

brothers John and Benjamin Hall, and became a partner in the firm in 1767. In his 30 years as a partner, he managed to amass a large fortune. In addition to retaining his partnership in the firm of the Hall brothers, Erskine pursued business under his own name, later partnering with David Mitchell from Montrose, who took over Thomas Erskine & Co. as sole owner after Erskine's departure for Scotland. In 1775 Erskine was appointed British

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

for Gothenburg,

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histo ...

, and the other port cities on the West Coast of Sweden. As such, he wrote regular reports to the British government, including reports on the Swedish

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

trade with France during the revolutionary wars. This position also enhanced his social position in Gothenburg. He was one of the 20 (at the time unmarried and for the largest part British-born) founding members of the

Royal Bachelors' Club The Royal Bachelors' Club is a gentlemen's club founded in 1769 in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 1787, the club got royal appropriation and exists still today. It was founded by Scottish expats who had settled in the city, including Thomas Erskine, 9th E ...

, an English-type

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

established in 1769 mainly in order to circumvent a ban on the playing of

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

at public establishments.

Return to Scotland

Erskine bought back Cambo House in 1790. He spent the winter of 1793–94 in Scotland, but returned to Gothenburg, where he remained as consul and continued his business until 1799. In that year he inherited the Earldom of Kellie from his nephew Charles Erskine. His definite departure for Scotland was troubled by a conflict with the Gothenburg City Council, which demanded that he pay a sixth of his fortune before leaving Sweden. As Earl of Kellie, Erskine was elected a representative Scottish peer in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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in 1804, was re-elected in 1807, and remained such until his death. In 1824, he succeeded the

Earl of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

Lord Lieutenant of Fife This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Fife. *Colin Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Balcarres 1688 – ? *John Leslie, 10th Earl of Rothes 1746 – ? *George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford 17 March 1794 – 1807 * ...

Marriage and family

In 1771 Thomas Erskine wed Anne Gordon, a daughter of Captain Adam Gordon of Ardoch. The marriage was childless, but Erskine's daughter born out of wedlock, Harriet (born in 1763), married Johan Henrik Engelhart, professor of medicine at

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. Four of Harriet's children were raised in their grandfather's house in Scotland. While the earldom was inherited by Erskine's brother Methven, a new Erskine Baronetcy was granted in 1820 to the 9th Earl's grandson, David Engelhart, who changed his name to Erskine and on whom Thomas Erskine entailed the estate of Cambo. David's sister, Harriet Engelhart, married a first cousin, another David Erskine (a grand nephew of the 9th

and the natural son of Sir David Erskine) who settled as a merchant in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

.Hildebrand (1953a), p. 479

Notes

References

*Gilchrist, Marianne McLeod (2004):
Erskine, Thomas, ninth earl of Kellie (1745/6–1828)
, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 24 July 2010. *Hildebrand, Bengt (1953a): "Erskine", ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', Vol. 14, pp. 476–480. *Hildebrand, Bengt (1953b): "Erskine, Thomas", ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', Vol. 14, pp. 480–484. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kellie, Thomas Erskine, 9th Earl Of Kellie 1740s births 1828 deaths Nobility from Fife Lord-lieutenants of Fife Scottish representative peers Scottish expatriates in Sweden

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

18th-century Scottish landowners 19th-century Scottish people 9 Freemasonry in Sweden 18th-century Scottish merchants