>Hmmmm:
>Verrrrry interesting.
>
>I do know that the present Earl's full name is Peter St. Clair Erskine
According to Burke's, it's hyphenated: Sir Peter St.Clair-Erskine.
>(plus a few other Christian names which are not really relevant here) and
>the scenario you note here would not put Erskine in the family name the way
>it is.
The discrepency isn't about Erskine; it's about St. Clair.
Your source said Peter Wedderburn's wife and ancestor of the
St.Clair-Erskines was a St. Clair; Burke's says she was Janet Ogilvy.
It was Peter's daughter Janet Wedderburn who married Henry Erskine,
Henry Erskine 5th Baronet of Alva. Burke's agrees that their son
James St. Clair-Erskine was the 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, just as you said,
and it lists that line back several generations earlier.
In that Erskine line, the 3rd Baronet of Alva married a Sinclair.
Maybe that's where the St. Clair connection came in.
>What does Burke's say with respect to the name of James 2nd Earl?
``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,''
> Also,
>what would have been the connection that made Alexander become the 1st Earl
>of Rosslyn if both Peter Wedderburn and his wife had no connection to
>Rosslyn and the St. Clairs?
Good question.
> It looks like, at least according to Burkes,
>that the Wedderburns arrived deus ex machina and took over the title. It
>does feel like a scenario with holes but Burke's is Burke's.
Well, Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn, was apparently a very
important personage, rising all the way up to Chancellor. Here's an
excerpt from Burke's about him:
``In 1793, his Lordship was apptd first commr. for keeping
the Great Seal, and 27 Jan 1793, constituted LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF GREAT
BRITAIN. 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. His Lordship was b at Edinburgh 13 Feb 1733; m 1st,
31 Dec 1767, Betty Anne (d 15 Feb 1781), dau and heiress of John Dawson,
of Morley, Co York. He m 2nd, 12 Sept 1782, Charlotte (d 1826), dau of
1st Viscount Courtenay (see BURKE's PEERAGE & BARONETAGE 1999 edn DEVON,
E) and by her had a s (d in infancy). His Lordship dsps 3 Jan 1805, when
the original Barony of Loughborough of Leicester became extinct, while
that of Lougborough of Surrey, and the Earldom of Rosslyn, devolved,
according to the limitation of the patent, upon his nephew, Sir James
St Clair Erskine, 6th Bt (see below).''
It's interesting that the future 2nd Earl had already taken the additional
name of St. Clair in 1789 *before* his uncle Alexander Wedderburn became
the 1st Earl of Rosslyn.
Apparently there was some sort of family connection to St. Clair and
Rosslyn, but I can't puzzle out what it was from Burke's.
>I will make some more enquires
Thanks.
>rory
John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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