John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose
John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose (1548 – 9 November 1608) was a Scottish peer and Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1599 to 1604. He was Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland, from 1605 to 1606.
Family background
He was the son of Robert Graham, Master of Graham, and
His maternal grandmother,
Career
A contemporary provided the following summary:
He is an Erle of small power, havinge but few gentlemen of his surname except the Larde of Fyntra situate in the Leuenax and dwellinge in the north. His revenues are not greate, yet being a man civil and gyven to quyet he hath matched with the houses of E[rskine].[1]
In July 1584 Montrose was at court at Falkland Palace and wrote to the lawyer Patrick Vaus of Barnbarroch asking him to help in the legal case of his friend Patrick Montcur of Montcur.[2]
The English politician
The Graham family had a feud with Sir John Sandilands, who was the legal tutor of Sandilands of Calder. John Sandilands fought with the Master of Montrose on two occasions. James VI made Sandilands and Montrose agree in November 1599.[4]
Montrose was made Chancellor of Scotland in 1599. Soon after when he was at Holyrood Palace speaking with Anne of Denmark in her chamber, they were interrupted by James Forman, an Edinburgh burgess, who complained about various policies and a tax on wine and criticised the comptroller David Murray and the king. Around the same time, the chancellor's clothes and some silver were stolen from his house and sold on.[5]
Anne of Denmark at Stirling
After
Montrose wrote to James VI again on 1 June, when Anne of Denmark was in Edinburgh with Prince Henry and
Marriage and children
Montrose married Jean Drummond, a daughter of David, Lord Drummond and Lilias Ruthven. Their children included:
- John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose
- William Graham of Braco, who married (1) Mary Keith, daughter of William Keith, Master of Marischal, and (2) Mary Cunningham, daughter of Sir James Edmonstone of Duntreath, and widow of John Cunningham of Cunninghamhead
- Robert Graham of Scotston, who married Anne Lindsay, daughter of Alexander Lindsay, 1st Lord Spynie and Jean Lyon, a daughter of John Lyon, 8th Lord Glamis
- Lilias Graham, who married John Fleming, 1st Earl of Wigtown
Ancestry
John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose | Father: Robert Graham, Master of Montrose |
Paternal Grandfather: William Graham, 2nd Earl of Montrose |
Paternal Great-grandfather: William Graham, 1st Earl of Montrose |
Paternal Great-grandmother: Annabella Drummond | |||
Paternal Grandmother: Lady Janet Keith |
Paternal Great-grandfather: William Keith, 2nd Earl Marischal | ||
Paternal Great-grandmother: Lady Elizabeth Gordon | |||
Mother: Margaret Fleming |
Maternal Grandfather: Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming |
Maternal Great-grandfather: John Fleming, 2nd Lord Fleming | |
Maternal Great-grandmother: Eupheme Drummond | |||
Maternal Grandmother: Lady Janet Stewart
|
Maternal Great-grandfather: James IV of Scotland | ||
Maternal Great-grandmother: Isabel Stewart |
References
- ^ Alexander Hay, The Scottish Nobilitie in An.Dom.1577 (London, printed for the Grampian Club, 1873), pp. 11-12.
- ^ Robert Vans-Agnew, Correspondence of Sir Robert Waus of Barnbarroch, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1887), p. 295.
- ^ John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 436.
- ^ John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:2 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 579.
- ^ David Masson, Register of the Privy Council, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1884), pp. 859-61.
- ^ James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), pp. 48-51.
- ^ Nadine Akkerman, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts (Oxford, 2021), p. 26: Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows: The Life of Lucy, Countess, Countess of Bedford (London: Hambledon, 2007), p. 49.
- ^ Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), p. 50 modernised here.
- ^ Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James VI (Edinburgh, 1838), pp. 57-8.
- ^ Leeds Barroll, Anna of Denmark (Pennsylvania, 2001), pp. 28-30, 32: British Library Add MS 19401 ff. 185r-186v
- Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [better source needed]
- The Scots Peerage. https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun06pauluoft