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James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn

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General The Right Honourable
The Earl of Rosslyn
GCB PC
The Earl of Rosslyn by James Sayers, 1788.
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office
10 June 1829 – 15 November 1830
Monarchs
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Wellington
Preceded byThe Lord Ellenborough
Succeeded byThe Lord Durham
Lord President of the Council
In office
15 December 1834 – 8 April 1835
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime MinisterSir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded byThe Marquess of Lansdowne
Succeeded byThe Marquess of Lansdowne
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
2 January 1805 – 18 January 1837
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 1st Earl of Rosslyn
Succeeded byThe 3rd Earl of Rosslyn
Personal details
Born(1762-02-06)6 February 1762
Died18 January 1837(1837-01-18) (aged 74)
NationalityBritish
Political party
Spouse
Harriet Bouverie
​
​
(m. 1790; died 1810)​

James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, GCB, PC (6 February 1762 – 18 January 1837), known as Sir James Erskine, Bt, between 1765 and 1789 and as Sir James St Clair-Erskine, Bt, between 1789 and 1805, was a Scottish soldier, politician, slave holder, and Acting Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, on behalf of King George IV.

Background and education

Portrait of James Sinclair-Erskine, later 2nd Earl of Rosslyn (1762–1837), his brother John and his sister Henrietta Maria, painted by Nathaniel (I) Hone.

Erskine was the son of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Erskine, 5th Baronet, and Janet, daughter of Peter Wedderburn (a Lord of Session under the judicial title of Lord Chesterhall) and sister of Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn. Lord Rosslyn's earldom had been created with special remainder to his nephew, Erskine. Erskine succeeded as sixth baronet in 1765, at the age of three, on the death of his father.[1] He was educated at Edinburgh High School and Eton, and was commissioned in the 21st Light Dragoons in 1778.

Military career

Erskine was assistant Adjutant-General in Ireland in 1782. In 1793, he became Adjutant-General, in which capacity he served at the Siege of Toulon and Corsica. In 1795, he was promoted to colonel and appointed Aide-de-Camp to King George III. He became a major-general in 1798, lieutenant-general in 1805, and general in 1814. In 1806, he was a member of the special mission to Lisbon, which resulted in Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) being sent to the Peninsular. He also saw action in Denmark[2]

Slave holder

Rosslyn was associated with "Antigua no. 79 T71/877 claim by Bethell Walrond", he owned 233 slaves in Antigua and received a £3,626 payment at the time (worth £434,664 in 2024[3]).[4]

Political career

Erskine was a member of the House of Commons for the English pocket boroughs of Castle Rising between 1782 and 1784[5] and Morpeth between 1784 and 1796.[6] Initially a Whig, an adherent of Edmund Burke and an active supporter of Charles James Fox against William Pitt the Younger in the debates over the East India Company, he was one of the managers of the Impeachment of Warren Hastings. In 1789, on inheriting the Rosslyn and Dysart estates from his cousin James Paterson St Clair, he adopted the name St Clair before his own surname.[citation needed] In 1796, he was elected for the Dysart Burghs in Fife,[7] a constituency traditionally under the St Clair influence.[citation needed]

In January 1805, he succeeded his uncle as Earl of Rosslyn according to the special remainder,[1] being by this time considered a Tory,[citation needed] and, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, continued his political career in the House of Lords. He was a member of the cabinet as Lord Privy Seal from 1829 to 1830[8] under the Duke of Wellington's and Lord President of the Council under Sir Robert Peel from 1834 to 1835.[9] In 1829, he was sworn of the Privy Council.[8]

Family

Lord Rosslyn married Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon. Edward Bouverie, in 1790. She died in August 1810. Rosslyn remained a widower until his death in January 1837, aged 74. He was succeeded by his son, James.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c thepeerage.com James Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn
  2. ^ Von Pivka, Otto; Roffe, Michael (2013). The King's German Legion. Osprey Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4728-0169-2.
  3. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  4. ^ "James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn". University College London. Retrieved on 15 September 2021.
  5. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Carmarthen East and Dinefwr to Chesterton". Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Mitcham to Motherwell South". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Dumbarton to Dysart Burghs". Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ a b "No. 18584". The London Gazette. 12 June 1829. p. 1085.
  9. ^ "No. 19221". The London Gazette. 16 December 1834. p. 2266.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rosslyn, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 752–753.
  • Military service
  • Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
  • Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)
  • Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Castle Rising
1782–1784
With: Robert Mackreth 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Morpeth
1784–1796
With: Peter Delmé 1784–89
Francis Gregg 1790–95
Viscount Morpeth 1795–96 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Dysart Burghs
1796–1801 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
 Member of Parliament for Dysart Burghs
1801–1805 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Privy Seal
1829–1830 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord President of the Council
1834–1835 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Fife
1828–1837 		Succeeded by
Masonic offices
Preceded by Acting Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Scotland
1810–1812 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Earl of Rosslyn
1805–1837 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by Baronet
(of Alva)
1765–1837 		Succeeded by
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