James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Rosslyn
PC, DL
Master of the Buckhounds
In office
10 September 1841  29 June 1846
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded by The Lord Kinnaird
Succeeded by The Earl Granville
In office
28 February 1852  17 December 1852
Monarch Victoria
Prime Minister The Earl of Derby
Preceded by The Earl of Bessborough
Succeeded by The Earl of Bessborough
Personal details
Born 15 February 1802
Died 16 June 1866 (1866-06-17) (aged 64)
Nationality British
Political party Tory
Spouse(s) Frances Wemyss
(1794–1858)

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 political office as Master of the Buckhounds between 1841 and 1846 and again in 1852 and as Under-Secretary of State for War in 1859.

Background

Rosslyn was the son of James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, by his wife Harriet Elizabeth Bouverie, daughter of the Honourable Edward Bouverie.

Military career

Rosslyn entered the British Army in 1819. He purchased a captaincy in the 9th Light Dragoons in 1823[1] and a lieutenant-colonelcy in 1828.[2] He was promoted to Major-General in 1854,[3] to Lieutenant-General in 1859[4] and to full General on 20 April 1866.[5]

In 1864 he was appointed Regimental Colonel of the 7th Queen's Own Hussars.[6] Lord Rosslyn also commanded the Auxiliary Cavalry Regiment, The Fife Mounted Rifle Volunteers from 1860 until his death in 1866.

Political career

Rosslyn was returned to Parliament for Dysart Burghs, in Fife, in 1830,[7] a seat he held until 1831, and then represented Grimsby from 1831 to 1832.[8] He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1837. In 1841 he was sworn of the Privy Council[9] and appointed Master of the Buckhounds under Sir Robert Peel,[10] which he remained until the government fell in 1846.[11] He held the same office from February[12] to December 1852[13] under Lord Derby, and was briefly Under-Secretary of State for War under Derby from March to June 1859.

Lord Rosslyn was also a Deputy Lieutenant for Fife.[14]

Family

Lord Rosslyn died in June 1866, aged 64. He had married Frances Wemyss (16 September 1794 – 30 September 1858), daughter of Lieutenant-General William Wemyss, of Wemyss Castle, Fife, in 1826 and they had two sons and a daughter. He was succeeded in the earldom by his only surviving son, Robert.

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Ronald Crauford Ferguson
Member of Parliament for Dysart Burghs
1830 1831
Succeeded by
Robert Ferguson
Preceded by
George Harris
John Shelley
Member of Parliament for Grimsby
1831 1832
With: Henry Fitzroy
Succeeded by
William Maxfield
Political offices
Preceded by
The Lord Kinnaird
Master of the Buckhounds
1841 1846
Succeeded by
The Earl Granville
Preceded by
The Earl of Bessborough
Master of the Buckhounds
FebruaryDecember 1852
Succeeded by
The Earl of Bessborough
Preceded by
The Viscount Hardinge
Under-Secretary of State for War
March–June 1859
Succeeded by
The Earl de Grey and Ripon
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
James St Clair-Erskine
Earl of Rosslyn
1837 1866
Succeeded by
Francis Robert St Clair-Erskine
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