George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville
Mary II | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | The Lord Carmichael |
| Succeeded by | The Duke of Queensberry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1636 |
| Died | 20 May 1707 (aged 71) |
| Spouse | Catherine Leslie-Melville |
| Children |
|
| Parents |
|
George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville (1636 – 20 May 1707) was a Scottish peer and politician who was active during the reign of
Mary II. In 1643, he succeeded his father as Lord Melville
.
Career
After the
Duke of Monmouth in his suppression of the Covenanters in 1679 had tried to persuade the insurgents
(Whig extremists) to lay down their arms peacefully.
Exile
The turning point in his career came in 1683 when Melville and his son
David Leslie-Melville, the Earl of Leven, were accused of complicity in the Rye House Plot. a Whig conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II and his brother the Duke of York (the future James VII).[1]
To escape arrest Melville, together with his son, fled to the Netherlands where they joined the band of British Protestant exiles at the court of Prince William of Orange. Here Melville became one of the chief Scots supporters of William of Orange
.
Return
After the "
Lord Raith, Monymaill and Balwearie (all in the Peerage of Scotland
).
Although Melville's appointment as
President of the Privy Council of Scotland at an annual salary of £1,000 sterling. He was however deprived of his offices when Anne became queen in 1702.[1]
In fiction
It is possible that details of Melville and his son's lives were used by
Sir Walter Scott in this novel Old Mortality
to lend authentic sounding biographical detail to the hero Henry Morton.
In the novel Morton – like Melville a moderate Whig who desires peace and religious tolerance whilst supporting the
Anglican Royalists
.
Later Morton is forced to flee to the Netherlands where (living under his mother's name of Melville) he becomes one of William of Orange's supporters, before returning to Britain in the wake of the Glorious Revolution.
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2019) |
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 508.
- An Historical Account of Melville House, John Gifford
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