Re: Barons of Rosslyn

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

>The barons of Loughboro, Surrey England by royal license - 1733 assumed the
>name St. Clair.  They had been for some time - Barons of Rosslyn! How did
>the politician Wedderburn get to be the Baron?

Where does this 1733 date come from?

Burke's online:

 http://www.burkes-peerage.net/

says 1789:

 SIR JAMES ST. CLAIR-ERSKINE, 6th Bt, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, KG, CB,
 a Gen Offr, Col of the 9th Regt of Dragoons, s  to the estates at
 Dysart, Rosslyn, and elsewhere of the St Clair family, and assumed the
 additional name of ST. CLAIR, by Roy Licence 9 June 1789; b 1762; m 1790,
 Henrietta Elizabeth (d 8 Aug 1810), est dau of Hon Edward Bouverie s
 of 1st Viscount Folkestone (see BURKE's PEERAGE & BARONETAGE 1999 edn,
 RADNOR, E), and had issue,

>  They had been for some time - Barons of Rosslyn!

What is the source for this information?
The above passage from Burke's only says that James 2nd Earl was successor
to the St. Clair estates at Dysart, Rosslyn, and elsewhere, but not
when he succeeded to them, unless it is saying that he succeeded and
assumed the name at the same time.

>Nothing supports Sara.  The one connection is the mother seven generations
>ago of the second Earl that makes the connection distant to be kind. It
>doesn't matter who your ancestors were; it matters who the descendant
>remembers or imagines they were.
>
>The mysterious Sara, on Roslin Castle's wall  was  best described by Pablo
>Picasso "Everything you can imagine is real."

I don't know about Sara, but there is a closer connection than 7 generations.

James 2nd Earl Rosslyn's uncle Alexander Wedderburn the 1st Earl never took
the name St. Clair.  Burke's says of the 1st Earl:

 ``On the 31st of Oct 1795, he obtained a new patent, creating him
 BARON LOUGHBOROUGH, of Loughborough, Surrey , with remainder,
 in default of male issue, to his nephew, Sir James St Clair Erskine,
 6th Bt, and after him, to John Erskine, the bro of Sir James, and
 21 Apr. 1801, he was advanced to the dignity of EARL OF ROSSLYN,
 Co Midlothian, with the same remainder.''

The Rosslyn Family Tree:

 http://sinclair.quarterman.org/pictures/rosslyn/familyXtree.html

says James 2nd Earl obtained the Rosslyn estate from James Patterson
who died in 1789 and whose mother Grizel was daughter of Henry 10th
Lord St. Clair.  Before that, the Rosslyn estate had been in the hands
of James St. Clair who obtained Rosslyn in 1735 and died in 1762;
he was a son of Henry 10th Lord St. Clair.

In other words, James St. Clair-Erskine obtained Rosslyn in 1789
from his first cousin once removed James Patterson, who got it from
his uncle James St. Clair in 1762, who obtained it somehow in 1735.

Burke's agrees with this succession of the Rosslyn estate.  Referring
to two daughters of Henry 10th Lord St. Clair, it says:
 
 ``1a GRIZEL, who became eventually heiress of line of the Earls of Orkney
 and Lords Sinclair. She m John Paterson, of Restonhall, Co Edinburgh,
 est s of the last Archbishop of Glasgow, and had with a dau MARGARET, a
 s, JAMES PATERSON, Col in the Army, who, on the deaths without issue of
 his uncles, John, Master of Sinclair, and Hon General James St Clair, s
 to the Sinclair estates of Dysart, Co Fife, and Rosslyn, Co Edinburgh. He
 was the undoubted heir of line of the Earls of Orkney and Lords Sinclair,
 and became St Clair of Sinclair and Dysart. He d unm 1789, and was s in
 the representation of the Sinclairs, Earls of Orkney and Lords Sinclair,
 by the descendant and heir of his only sis, Margaret, who m 1744, John
 Thomson of Charleton, Co Fife. The dau of this marriage, Grizel Maria
 Thomson, heiress of Charleton; m Col John Anstruther, 2nd s of Sir
 Philip Anstruther of Balcaskie, 2ndBt., (see that title) by Catherne
 Hay, dau of Ld Alexander Hay, s of 1st Marquess of Tweeddale (see that
 title), by Lady Jean Scott, dau of Walter, Earl of Buccleuch. The s of
 this marriage, JOHN ANSTRUTHER, assumed the additional name of THOMSON
 on inheriting his mother's estate of Charleton. He was reprentative of
 the Earls of Orkney and Lords Sinclair. He m  Clementina only dau of Rt
 Hon William Adam of Blair Adam. Baron of Exchequer, Ld Ch Commr of the
 Jury Court in Scotland, Ld Lt Co Kinross, by Hon Eleanor Elphinstone,
 dau of 10th Ld Elphinstone, and had issue (see ANSTRUTHER, Bt).

 ``2a Catherine, wife of Sir John Erskine of Alva, Bt and mother of Sir Henry
 Erskine, Bt, who, by his wife Janet Wedderburn, sis to the Ld Chancellor,
 Ld Loughborough, Earl of Rosslyn, had issue, Sir James Erskine, Bt, who
 s his maternal uncle as 2nd Earl of Rosslyn (see that title), and s by
 a special destination to the estates of Dysart and Rosslyn on the death
 of his f's cousin, Col St Clair, of Sinclair and Dysart. He thereupon
 assumed the additional surname of ST. CLAIR. From him descend the Earls
 of Rosslyn.''

So how did James St. Clair son of Henry 10th Lord Sinclair obtain Rosslyn?
According to Burke's, he did *not* inherit it from his father:

``Henry, 10th Ld Sinclair; d 1723, and was s in the Sinclair estates
 by his est s,

 ``JOHN SINCLAIR, Master of Sinclair, who, having been engaged in the
 Rebellion 1715, was attainted, and never assumed the title of Ld Sinclair;
 m 1st, Lady Margaret Stewart, widow of 5th Earl of Southesk, and dau of
 5th Earl of Galloway (see that title); and 2nd, Amelia, dau of Ld George
 Murray, and sis of 3rd Duke of Atholl (see that title). He dsp 1750,
 when his bro,
 
 ``JAMES SINCLAIR, s to the representation of the family. He was a Gen in
 the Army, and a distinguished diplomatist. He or his bro, the Master of
 Sinclair, 1735, purchased the ancient ancestral Castle of Rosslyn from the
 last heir of that cadet branch, and added it to the family estates. He
 m Janet (d 1766), widow of Sir John Baird of Newbyth, 2nd Bt, and yst
 dau of Hon Sir David Dalrymple of Hailes, 1st Bt (see BURKE's Extinct &
 Dormant Baronetcies) and dsp 30 Nov 1762, when the estates went to his
 nephew and heir, Col James Paterson St Clair, and the attainder came to
 an end by the extinction of the estate-tail to which the attainted Master
 of Sinclair belonged, and the succession of a member of the house of
 Herdmanston who did not share in the descent from the Sinclairs of Roslin.''

That ``last heir of that cadet branch'' was, according to the Rosslyn Family
Tree, Sir William St. Clair, the Last Roslin.

Note that Alexander Wedderburn 1st Earl of Rosslyn was given that title
*after* his nephew James inherited the estate of Rosslyn and took the
St. Clair name.

So it appears likely to me that the famous lawyer Alexander Wedderburn
received several titles, including Lord Loughborough and Earl of Rosslyn,
and positions, including Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, as rewards
in his fast-climbing career in law and politics, and that part of the
deal was that he had to pass the inherited titles to his nephew, who
had St. Clair blood and possession of the estate of Rosslyn.  I could
easily be wrong.

>Best
>Sinclair

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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