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 (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 General in May 1866.^[5] In 1864 he was appointed a Colonel of the 7th 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 married Frances Wemyss (16 September 1794 – 30 September 1858), daughter of Lieutenant-General William Wemyss, of Wemyss Castle, Fife, in 1826. They had two sons and one daughter. Lord Rosslyn died in June 1866, aged 64, and was succeeded in the earldom by his only surviving son, Robert.

References

1. The London Gazette: no. 17911. p. 541. 5 April 1823.
2. The London Gazette: no. 18428. p. 3. 1 January 1828.
3. The London Gazette: no. 21564. p. 1932. 22 June 1854.
4. The London Gazette: no. 22344. p. 79. 10 January 1860.
5. The London Gazette: no. 23113. p. 2814. 8 May 1866.
6. The London Gazette: no. 22929. p. 167. 13 January 1865.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
9. The London Gazette: no. 20019. p. 2315. 17 September 1841.
10. The London Gazette: no. 20017. p. 2273. 10 September 1841.
11. The London Gazette: no. 20626. p. 2754. 28 July 1846.
12. The London Gazette: no. 21298. p. 698. 5 March 1852.
13. The London Gazette: no. 21398. p. 1. 4 January 1852.
14. The London Gazette: no. 18469. p. 918. 13 May 1828.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Rosslyn