COLVILLE,
a surname derived from Colvile, a castle on a hill, col in old
French meaning hill, and vile a castle. A town in Normandy,
whence the race originally sprung, is still called Colville.
The original
ancestor of the Colvilles, Gilbert de Colavilla, de Colville, or
Colvyle, accompanied William the Conqueror, when he came over to
England, and he and his descendants acquired various possession in
that country. An account of the English Colvilles is given by Dugdale
in his Baronage, vol. i. page 626. He does not, however, mention the
origin of the family. The first noticed by him is Philip de Colville,
in the reign of King Stephen. About that time a branch of them settled
in Scotland, and founded a house which produced the two noble lines of
Colville of Culross and Colville of Ochiltree, both barons in the
peerage of Scotland. The latter title, however, has been dormant since
the death of David, the fourth lord, in 1782.
_____
COLVILLE OF
CULROSS,
lord, in the peerage of Scotland, a title possessed by a family, the
first of whom in North Britain was Philip de Colville in the twelfth
century. Along with Robert, bishop of St. Andrews and others, he was
witness to a general confirmation by King Malcolm the Fourth of all
donations made by his predecessors to the monastery of Dunfermline
before 1159, in which year Robert died; also, another by the same
monarch of several donations to the priory of St. Andrews in 1160. He
was one of the hostages for the release of King William the Lion from
captivity in 1174. The first possessions which he obtained in Scotland
were Heton and Oxenhame (now Oxnam) in the county of Roxburgh. He also
acquired lands in various parts of the country, particularly in
Ayrshire.
His son,
Thomas de Colville, is witness to several charters of King William the
Lion betwixt 1189 and 1199. In 1210, being unjustly suspected of a
conspiracy against that monarch, he was imprisoned in the castle of
Edinburgh, but was liberated after six months’ confinement and
received again into favour. On the 28th April 1214, a
discharge was granted by King John to William de Harcourt of several
hostages put into his majesty’s hands, among others Thomas de Colville
and Gervase Avenel, obsides regis Scotiae. He died in 1219. By
Amabilia his wife he had a son, William de Colville, who granted to
the monks of Newbattle, the lands which belonged to his father “super
le Ness.” He settled at Morham under William the Lion. He was
proprietor of the barony of Kinnaird in Stirlingshire, as appears from
a lease granted by him of part of these lands to the abbot and convent
of Holyroodhouse, confirmed by King Alexander the Second, 15th
September 1228. Eustace, the heiress of Sir William Colville of Oxnam,
who possessed also the lands of Ochiltree in Ayrshire, married Sir
Reginald Chene of Inverugie, who died soon after 1291, an aged man.
She survived her husband, and having sworn fealty to Edward the First
in 1296, she had livery of her lands in the shires of Aberdeen, Ayr,
Banff, Forfar, Inverness and Kincardine. This lady, according to the
Remarks on the Ragman Roll, in ‘Nisbet’s Heraldry,’ (appendix,
vol. ii. page 27) was the heiress of the principal house of Colville.
In the reign
of Alexander the Third Sir John Colville was proprietor of Oxnam and
Ochiltree. In 1296 Thomas de Colville swore fealty to King Edward the
First, as did also Adam de Colville. During the reign of Robert the
First, Eustace de Colville granted to the monks of Melrose the church
of Ochiltree with all its pertinents, a grant which was confirmed by a
charter from Robert de Colville, dominus de Oxnam, designed also
Baro baroniae de Ochiltree, in 1324. [Great Chartulary of
Melrose.] This Robert, who is also witness to a donation to the
monastery of Kelso in 1350, had a charter of the barony of Ochiltree
in Ayrshire from King David the Second. Among the charters of that
monarch are two to Duncan Wallace and Malcolm Wallace of the lands of
Oxenham, and lands in the county of Dumfries, forfeited by Robert
Colvill. The family, however, retained the title of Oxnam till the
reign of King James the First, when they assumed the designation of
Ochiltree, and were among the greatest barons below the degree of
lords of parliament in the kingdom.
Robert
Colville of Oxenham, probably the son of the above Robert, is witness
to a charter of John Turnbull of Myntou (Minto), to Sir William
Stewart of Jedworth (Jedburgh), his grandson, of the lands of Myntou,
8th December 1390, which was also witnessed by his son,
Thomas Colville of Oxenham. This Thomas had been witness to a charter
of Margaret countess of Douglas and Mar in 1384, and in the reign of
King Robert the Third granted a charter to Henry Preston of his part
of Formertein (Formartyn) in Aberdeenshire, with the castle and tolls
of the burgh of Fyvie. He was one of the numerous train of knights and
esquires who in 1436 attended Margaret of Scotland into France, on her
marriage with Louis the Dauphin.
Robert de
Colville of Oxenham was one of the hostages for King James the First,
in room of Robert Stewart, allowed to return home, 22d June 1432. In
the year 1449, Sir Richard Colville, knight, according to
Balfour, (a mistake evidently for Sir Robert Colville,) set
upon John Auchinleck, a familiar friend of the earl of Douglas, and
slew him with several of his friends, on account of certain wrongs and
injuries done to him by the former, which had remained unredressed,
although reparation had frequently been required from him for the
same. To avenge Auchinleck’s fate, Douglas collected his retainers,
and after pillaging all the lands belonging to Colville, besieged and
took his castle and put him and all that were with him to the sword.
Robert Colville married Margaret Colville, by whom he had a son, Sir
Robert de Colville, who had a charter of the barony of Uchiltree, 26th
May, 1441, on his father’s resignation, and another to himself and
Christina de Crichton, daughter of Sir Robert Crichton of Sanquhar,
knight, of the barony of Uchiltree, 16th February 1450-1.
He and Andrew Ker of Auldtounburn entered into an indenture binding
themselves to stand by, assist, and defend one another against all
mortals, the king and the earl of Douglas excepted, dated at Jedburgh
10th June 1453. He gave in a complaint to the lords
auditors concerning the wrongous occupation of the lands of Maxtoun,
belonging to him, and got a decree in his favour, 17th
October 1467. As heir of his father, he was pursued before the lords
auditors by Sir John Achilike (Auchinleck) of that ilk, knight, for
withholding from him sixty-five marks, contained in an obligation of
his father, for himself and his heirs, to the deceased James
Auchinleck, father of Sir John, and decreet was given against him, 18th
July 1476. He was succeeded by his son, Sir William Colville of
Ochiltree, knight. Chalmers, in his Caledonia, mentions, “that, as
early as the year 1498 there had been a feud between Hugh Campbell of
Loudoun, the sheriff of Ayr, and Sir William Colville of Uchletree,
knight,” when the king granted an exemption to Sir William Colville
and his tenants and servants from the jurisdiction of Hugh Campbell
and his deputies, “because it was notoriously known that there is a
deadly feud betwixt them.” Sir William died in 1508-9, leaving two
daughters his coheiresses, Elizabeth, who married Robert Colville, son
and heir of William Colville of Ravenscraig, without issue; and
Margaret, said to have been married to Patrick Colquhoun of Drumskeath,
nephew of the laird of Luss. The names of the daughters seem by some
mistake to have been exchanged, for in the public registers there are
two charters to Patrick Colquhoun of Drumskeath and Elizabeth
(not Margaret) Colville his wife, of date 12th July 1527
and 8th February 1531-2. They had an only daughter and
heiress, Frances or Francesca, married to Robert Colville of Cleish,
ancestor of the Lords Colville of Ochiltree, of whom afterwards.
Robert
Colville of Hilton, the heir-male of the family, had the office of
steward to Margaret, queen of James the Third, and had a charter from
that monarch to himself, senescallo Margaretae Reginae, and Margaret
Logan his wife, of the lands of Hilton, in the barony of Tillcoultry,
in the county of Clackmannan, 10th October 1483. He appears
to have joined actively the party of King James the fourth against his
father, as six days after his accession to the throne the office of
director of the chancery was conferred on him by royal charter 17th
June 1488. He obtained charters of various lands in Ayrshire,
Clackmannanshire, and Roxburghshire, from August 1502 to April 1508;
and 10th April 1509 he had a charter of half of the lands
and barony of Ochiltree, with the castle, Barnwell and Symontoun, and
thereafter was styled of Ochiltree. He fell with his royal master at
the battle of Flodden 9th September 1513. In his Caledonia,
Chalmers says, “After the disastrous battle of Flodden, many violent
acts were committed in Scotland, particularly in the south. In
Ayrshire, the strong houses of Cumnock and Uchletree were both
violently taken possession of; their owners having fallen on Flodden
Field.” This Robert Colville was twice married; first to Margaret
Logan; and, secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of Walter
Arnot of Balbarton, and had two sons, James and Robert.
Sir James
Colville of Ochiltree, the elder son, was appointed to the office of
comptroller before 1527. In that year he granted an annual rent of ten
pounds for the support of a chaplain, to officiate at St. Mary’s altar
in the church of Ochiltree, and the grant was confirmed by the king in
1527-8. In 1530, he exchanged the lands of Ochiltree with Sir James
Hamilton of Finnart, a natural son of James first earl of Arran, for
the barony of East Wemyss and Lochorshyre in fife, and obtained a
charter of the same in December of that year. In 1528 he had been
appointed a director of the chancery. He was one of the commissioners
of parliament on the 24th April and 13th May
1531, 15th December 1535, and 29th April 1536.
He was nominated lord of the articles on 13th May 1532 and
7th June 1535, and on the same day was chosen by the barons
one of their commissioners for the taxation of six thousand pounds,
granted by the three estates to King James the Sixth on his
approaching marriage.
At the first
institution of the college of justice, 25th May 1532, Sir
James Colville of Easter Wemyss, as he was now designed, was appointed
one of the judges on the temporal side of the bench. He was one of the
commissioners at the truce of Newcastle, on the 1st October
1533, shortly previous to which date he had been knighted, and in the
following year he was again sent to England to treat of peace. He lost
the king’s favour and brought on his own ruin, by siding with the
Douglases.
In 1538 the
comptroller’s place was taken from him and conferred on David Wood of
Craig, and on 30th May 1539, a summons of treason was
executed against him, charging him with having, on the 14th
of July 1528, when comptroller, director of the chancery, and a privy
councillor, made a pretended assignation of the ward, relief, and
marriage of John Kennedy of Culzean, to certain individuals, for the
benefit of Archibald Douglas of Kilspindy, although he knew that a
summons of treason against the latter had been at that time executed;
and further, with having afforded treasonable assistance and counsel
to the earl of Angus, and keeping a treasonable convocation with his
brother George Douglas at Newcastle. He appeared personally in
parliament 18th July 1539, to answer the summons, and the
king’s advocate having passed from the latter charges, he submitted
himself, as to the former, “to the king’s will,” as the phrase was in
those days of arbitrary power. On the 21st August he was
ordered to enter himself in ward in the castle of Blackness. This
order he disobeyed, and retiring to England, associated with
“Archibald sum tyme earl of Anguiss, and George Donglace, his
broder-german, his grace’s rebellis, and traitouris, traitand with
yame ye destructioune of his grace, his lieges and realme.” This rash
and treasonable proceeding, however, he did not long survive, having
died previous to the 10th of January 1541, on which day a
summons was executed against his widow and children, to see and hear
that “the said deceased James Colville, while he lived, had incurred
the crime of lese-majesty, for his disobedience to enter himself in
ward, as just mentioned.” He was accordingly forfeited on the 15th
March 1541. His estate was annexed to the crown, but was afterwards
given to Norman Leslie of the family of Rothes. The forfeiture was
rescinded in parliament on 12th December 1543, under the
direction of Cardinal Bethune, which so offended the Leslies that,
according to Father Hay, it was the proximate cause of his murder by
Norman Leslie. [Hay’s Memoirs, MS., vol. ii. p. 108.] Sir James
Colville married, first, Alison, eldest daughter of Sir David Bruce of
Clackmannan; secondly, Margaret Forrester, who survived him. Besides
other children, he had a son, James, and two daughters; Margaret,
married to James Lindsay of Dowhill, Kinross-shire, and Alison,
mentioned in the records of parliament, 1540. He had likewise two
natural sons, specified in the charter of Easter Wemyss, dated in
1530-1; namely, Robert, ancestor of the Lords Colville of Ochiltree,
and James, who had a charter of the lands of Crummy, 31st
May 1565.
Sir James
Colville, his legitimate son, was only eight years of age at his
father’s death. His father’s forfeiture, as already stated, was
rescinded by parliament 12th December 1543 in his favour,
and he had a charter of the lands of Easter Wemyss in 1554. He died in
1580. By his wife, Janet, second daughter of Sir Robert Douglas of
Lochleven, sister of William, sixth earl of Morton, he had two sons;
Sir James, and Alexander, commendator of Culross and a lord of
session, who carried on the line of the family, of whom afterwards.
Sir James
Colville of Easter Wemyss, the elder son, first Lord Colville of
Culross, served with much reputation in the French wars, under Henry
of Navarre, afterwards Henry the Fourth of France. On Friday 27th
July 1582, he returned to Scotland in company of Francis Stewart, earl
of Bothwell, bringing letters from the king of Navarre and prince of
Conde to King James. He was one of those who were engaged in the raid
of Ruthven, on the 22d August following, and his name appears among
others in the sentence of forfeiture afterwards passed against the
members of the raid. They subsequently got a remission from the king,
which was confirmed by the estates. He had a charter of the manor of
Culross, Valleyfield, &c., erected into the temporal barony of
Culross, 20th June 1589, but was not designed Lord Culross.
Having obtained a grant of the landed property of the Cistercian abbey
of Culross, on the resignation of his nephew, John, they were erected
into a temporal lordship, and Sir James Colville was created a peer,
by the title of Lord Colville of Culross, to him and the heirs male of
his body, which failing, to his heirs male whatsoever, 20th
January 1609. In Carmichael’s Tracts the date of his creation is fixed
at 25th April 1604, and Lord Colvil of Culross is, in the
list of the nobility settled by the decreet of ranking, 5th
May 1606, placed before the Lord Scoon.
According to
the Old Statistical Account of Scotland, (vol. xv. page 212), after
his return from France, he resided at Tilliecoultry, in
Clackmannanshire, that estate being in the Colvill family from 1483 to
1634, when it was sold to William Alexander of Menstrie, afterwards
earl of Stirling, the distinguished poet. In his old age, Lord
Colville revisited the French court. As he appeared in the
old-fashioned military dress, which he had formerly worn in the wars,
the courtiers were all amazed when he entered the royal presence. But
no sooner did King Henry observe the old warrior than he clasped him
in his arms, and embraced him with the greatest affection, to the
utter astonishment of all present. In his latter years Lord Colville
spent much of his time at Tilliecoultry. He was particularly fond of
walking on a beautiful terrace, at the north end of the Kirkhill, and
of reposing himself under a thorn-tree, the venerable truck of which
still remains. It unfortunately happened that standing one day on a
stone, and looking up to the thorn-tree, describing his battles, he
fell down the sloping bank of the terrace, and it is sais was killed
on the spot in the year 1620. His lordship was twice married, first,
to Isabel, second daughter of Patrick, Lord Ruthven, sister of
William, first earl of Gowrie, and secondly to Helen Shaw, relict of
Robert Moubray, younger of Barnbougle. By his first wife only he had
issue; namely, two sons, James and Robert, who both died before their
father; and a daughter, Jane, married to Sir James Campbell of Lawers,
and the mother of John, earl of Loudoun, lord high chancellor of
Scotland
Robert,
master of Colville, the second son, had charters of the barony of
Easter Wemyss in 1598, and on his death in 1615, he left a son, James,
second Lord Colville of Culross, who succeeded his grandfather, the
first lord, in 1620, and died, without issue, in 1640. His cousin,
John Colville of Westercumbrie, son of Alexander Colville commendator
of Culross, younger brother of the first Lord Colville, fell heir to
the title, but id not assume it, and it remained dormant till May
1723, when it was taken up by his descendant as after mentioned. About
the period of the death of James second Lord Colville the lands of
Easter Wemyss were purchased by John first earl of Wemyss, and joined
to the barony of Wemyss, after a separation of two hundred years.
We now
revert to Alexander Colville, abbot or commendator of Culross, who was
the second son of Sir James Colville of Easter Wemyss, above
mentioned. He had a charter for all the days of his life, of the abbey
of Culross, 4th February 1566-7, and it was declared by act
of secret council, 20th January 1574, that five hundred
marks only should be paid by him for the thirds of this benefice. He
adhered to the party of King James the Sixth, in the civil wars in
Scotland of the sixteenth century, and during the regency of the earl
of Morton was appointed one of the judges of the court of session,
before the 20th October 1575. On the 15th July
1578, a commission was appointed by parliament to “visit, sycht, and
consider” the laws, of which he was named a member; and he was at the
same time constituted one of the parliamentary arbiters to stanch a
deadly feud then existing between the great families of Gordon and
Forbes, to the decision of which the ordinary judicatories were deemed
unequal. On 11th November 1579, he was named a privy
councillor by act of parliament, and was also appointed a lord of the
articles, and a commissioner for settling the jurisdiction of the
church. He was present at Holyrood House on the 19th
October 1582, when James was forced to emit a declaration approving of
the raid of Ruthven, but he does not appear to have taken any very
prominent share in that enterprize. In 1585, after the return of
Hamilton, Angus, and the other banished lords, he was again chosen a
privy councillor with advice of parliament. In the end of May 1587, on
account of illness he resigned his seat on the bench, and on the first
of June, his nephew, John Colville, precentor or chanter of Glasgow,
was appointed in his place. This transaction appears to have been only
a family arrangement, as on the 21st of the same month of
June, the uncle, having in the meantime recovered his health, made his
appearance in court, with his nephew, when the latter dutifully
resigned his seat on the bench, which he had held only nineteen days,
and the former was re-appointed. In 1592, the commission for
reformation of hospitals was revived, the commendator of Culross being
again appointed a member. He died in 1597, it is supposed in May, as
his successor was appointed on the 24th of that month. Lord
Culross collected the decisions of the court of session from 1570 to
1584. By his wife, Nicolas, daughter of Alexander Dundas of Fingask,
he had, with two daughters, two sons, John of Wester Cumbrie, and
Alexander, professor of divinity in the university of St. Andrews, and
appointed justice depute 2d June 1607. Of John Colville, chanter of
Glasgow, above mentioned, an account is given below.
John
Colville of Wester Cumbrie, elder son of Alexander Colville,
commendator of Culross, became of right, in the death of his cousin in
1640, third baron, but he did not assume the title; and he died
shortly afterwards. By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John
Melville of Hallhill, he had three sons, His eldest son, Alexander
Colville of Kincardine, of right fourth Lord Colville of Culross, like
his father, did not assume the title. He was professor of divinity at
Sedan in France, and by his wife, Ann le Blanc, had two sons. The
elder, John Colville of Kincardine, who also declined to assume the
title of Lord Colville, married Mary, second daughter of Sir George
Preston of Valleyfield, baronet, by whom he had two sons, and was
succeeded by the elder, Alexander, by right sixth baron, who likewise
declined the title. By his wife, Mary, daughter of the Hon. Sir
Charles Erskine of Cambo, baronet, lord lyon king at arms, a younger
brother of the second and third earls of Kellie, he had five sons and
six daughters.
John
Colville, the eldest son, of right seventh Lord Colville of Culross,
was an ensign at the battle of Malplaquet in 1709. On 2d April 1722 he
was served heir to John second Lord Colville of Culross; and at the
general election on the 21st of that month, he requested to
be added to the roll of peers, but was refused on the ground that the
peerage was not upon the roll at the time of the Union. Next year he
presented a petition to the king, under the designation of “John Lord
Colville of Culross,” claiming the peerage. Being referred to the
House of Lords, 27th May 1723, the claim was determined in
his favour, and his lordship was accordingly placed on the roll, after
Lord Cardross and before Lord Cranston. In 1727 Lord Colville was an
officer in the 26th regiment of foot or Cameronians, at the
siege of Gibraltar, and the same year was promoted to a company of the
25th foot. In 1739, when war was declared against Spain,
his lordship was appointed, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, to
the command of a battalion in Colonel Gooch’s American regiment, and
in 1741 proceeded to Carthagena, where he fell a victim to the
epidemic disease so fatal to thousands, on board a transport in the
harbour, in April 1741, in the 52d year of his age. When in Ireland in
1716, his lordship married a Miss Johnston, by whom he had six sons
and three daughters.
His next
brother, the Hon. Charles Colville, born in 1691, was a distinguished
officer in the army, and commenced his military career as a cadet at
the battle of Malplaquet in 1709. In the following year he had an
ensign’s commission in the 26th or Cameronian regiment of
foot, in which also his elder brother was an officer. In 1715 he was
wounded at the attack on the rebels at Preston, in Lancashire. In 1727
he served at Gibraltar during the siege of that fortress, and was
there in 1735, when he was promoted to a company in the same regiment.
In 1741 he was appointed major to the 21st regiment of
foot, or Royal North British fusileers, which he accompanied to
Flanders. At the battle of Dettingen in 1743, his horse was shot under
him, and he received three cuts in the arm. In 1745 he commanded his
regiment at the battle of Fontenoy, in which three of the fingers of
his left hand were shot off, and besides other slighter hurts, he
received a severe wound in his foot. The same year he was, with the
fusileers, at Ostend, when it was besieged by the French, and in 1746
he commanded his regiment at the battle of Culloden. The following
year he was ordered back to Flanders, and commanded the regiment at
the battle of Lafeldt, in 1747. He rose to the rank of
lieutenant-general in 1770, and died at Edinburgh, unmarried, 29th
August, 1775, in his 85th year. The Hon. Alexander
Colville, the next brother, entered the royal navy in 1710, but on the
reduction of the naval force at the peace he retired from the service,
and was appointed collector of the customs at Dundee, whence he was,
in 1735, removed to Inverness, where he died, unmarried, 20th
April 1765.
Alexander,
eighth baron (but the fourth who assumed the title), eldest son of the
seventh baron Colville of Culross, distinguished himself as a naval
officer. He was born 24th February 1717, and entered the
navy in 1731. On the breaking out of the war in 1739, he was appointed
lieutenant of a bomb vessel, and sailed to the West Indies under
Admiral Vernon. He was employed in the bombardment and destruction of
Fort Chagre, and then proceeded to the expedition against Carthagena,
where, in 1741, he performed the mournful office of closing the eyes
of his father. He soon afterwards returned to England, lieutenant in
the Hampton Court, and then, sailing to the Mediterranean, joined the
fleet under Admiral Matthews, who appointed him master and commander,
and, 6th March 1744, promoted him to the rank of
post-captain with the command of the Leopard of 50 guns. After the
peace in 1749, his lordship returned to England, and was appointed to
the Success frigate, destined for the Boston station. He subsequently
got the command of the Northumberland, a guardship at Plymouth, on
board of which he went to America under Admiral Boscawen in 1755. Two
years afterwards he accompanied Admiral Holburne in the ineffectual
expedition against Louisburg, and was left at Halifax, in Nova Scotia,
in command of the ships on that station, with a commodore’s broad
pendant, in the winter of 1757-8. In the latter year he served under
Admiral Boscawen at the reduction of Louisburg, and was again left in
command of the ships in North America. When Quebec was besieged by the
French in the winter of 1759-60 Lord Colville received directions to
proceed with a squadron to the relief of that place, as soon as the
navigation of the St. Lawrence was open. He arrived at Quebec, 18th
May 1760, at a period of the year earlier than it was ever known that
a ship of war, far less a squadron, had ever gone so high up the
river. On receiving notice of his approach, the French raised the
siege, and made a precipitate retreat two days previous to his
arrival. After an expedition from Halifax to drive the French out of
Newfoundland, which they had got possession of by surprise, and
recovering that important island, his lordship returned to England,
and was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the white, 21st
October 1762. The preliminaries of peace at this time only prevented
him from obtaining the chief command in the Mediterranean. He
continued with his flag flying at Spithead, and doing the duty of
port-admiral at Portsmouth, till peace was concluded, when he was
appointed to the same station at Plymouth. At the earnest request of
Lord Sandwich, then first lord of the admiralty, he consented to
resume the command in North America, and hoisting his flag on board
the Romney of 50 guns, proceeded to Halifax, in order to protect the
coast of North America, and the new conquests in the gulf and river of
St. Lawrence. There he remained till 1766, when he retired from the
service. In 1768 he fixed his residence in Scotland, and in 1769 was
promoted to the rank of vice-admiral. He died, without legitimate
issue, at Drumsheugh, near Edinburgh, 21st May 1770, in the
54th year of his age. He married, 1st October
1768, Lady Elizabeth Erskine, eldest daughter of the sixth earl of
Kellie, widow of Walter MacFarlane of MacFarlane, the eminent
antiquary. He was succeeded by a younger brother, John, fifth
(properly ninth) Lord Colville of Culross, His next brother, Charles,
died an infant. George, the third brother, an officer in the army, was
nominated in 1739 one of the thirty lieutenants sent out to North
America, to discipline Colonel Gooch’s new raised regiment, destined
for the Carthagena expedition, but died of a fever at New York, in his
twentieth year. Another brother, also named Charles, born April 21,
1726, was an officer in the same regiment as his uncle, the Royal
North British fusileers, and first served as a cadet at the battle of
Dettingen. At the battle of Fontenoy he was shot through the cheek. He
was subsequently at Ostend, then besieged by the French, and
afterwards, under the duke of Cumberland, pursued the rebels into
Scotland. In 1747 he was at the battle of Lafeldt, and in 1751
accompanied his regiment to Gibraltar. Being ordered, with a
detachment of that garrison, on board the fleet commanded by Admiral
Byng, he was present in the action with the French off Minorca, for
which that unfortunate naval commander was tried and executed. Captain
Colville returned to England with his regiment in 1759, and in 1761
was in the expedition against Belleisle. He died at Newcastle, on his
march with the 21st into Scotland, 15th March
1763, in the 37th year of his age, unmarried. The Hon.
James Colville, the seventh and youngest son, entered the royal navy
in 1744, and sailed to the East Indies with Admiral Watson. He
commanded the Newcastle in the engagement betwixt Admirals Pocock and
D’Ache, 3d August 1758, when the French were defeated. He had the rank
of captain in the royal navy 17th October of the same year,
and commanded the same ship in the engagement between the same
admirals, 10th August 1759, when, after a very severe
action, the French were obliged to retreat. Subsequently he was
promoted to the command of the Sunderland of 60 guns, one of Admiral
Stevens’ squadron employed in the blockade of Pondicherry, and from
his spirit and ardour to carry on the important service in which he
was engaged, he would not put to sea on the approach of a dreadful
hurricane, because no signal to that effect was made by the admiral;
in consequence of which the Sunderland, with other ships of that
squadron, foundered on the 21st of January 1761, and
Captain Colville perished, with all his ship’s company, except two
black sail-=makers, in the 27th year of his age, unmarried.
John, the
fifth who assumed the title of Lord Colville, was born at Dundee 24th
January 1724, old style, and entering the army in January 1741, served
in the West Indies, under General Wentworth. His regiment being
disbanded, he returned to England early in 1743, and in the following
June, became first lieutenant in the 21st foot, or Royal
North British fusileers, in which also his brother and uncle held
commissions. He was at the battle of Fontenoy; in Ostend, when
besieged the same year; served under the duke of Cumberland, at the
taking of Carlisle that winter; at the battle of Culloden, and at the
action of Lafeldt. In 1761 he accompanied his regiment to Belleisle,
in the Bay of Biscay, which was reduced after the capture of the
citadel of Palais, the capital of the island. In 1764 he retired from
the army, after a service of twenty-four years, and had the office of
inspector-general of the outposts in Scotland. He succeeded to the
title, on the death of his brother, in 1770. He married at Gibraltar,
18th July 1758, Miss Webber, by whom he had eight sons and
four daughters. His lordship died in 1811, and was succeeded by his
fourth son, the Hon. John Colville; his two eldest born having died
while infants, and his third son, the Hon. James Colville, a naval
officer, having died, unmarried, 18th February, 1786, in
the 23d year of his age.
John, sixth
Lord Colville of Culross who assumed the title, but the tenth baron,
born 15th March 1768, entered the navy in 1780, and was
present in Lord Rodney’s action with Count de Grasse, 12th
April 1782. He served at the capture of the West India Islands in
1794. He attained the rank of post-captain 6th December
1796, and was in command of the Ambuscade frigate of 36 guns, when the
peace of Amiens took place, March 27, 1802. On the renewal of
hostilities he was appointed to the Romney of 50 guns, which was
wrecked on the coast of Holland, 25th November 1804, but
was saved and sent home, with his officers, by the humane Dutch
admiral, Derkert. He commanded L’Hercule in the expedition to
Copenhagen in 1807, and attained the rank of admiral of the white in
February 1847. He was one of the representative peers of Scotland and
an extra lord of the bed-chamber to Prince Albert. His lordship
married first, at Weeford, in Staffordshire, 14th October
1790, Elizabeth, third daughter of Francis Ford of the island of
Barbados, sister of Sir Francis Ford, baronet, M.P., by whom he had a
daughter, who died an infant. Lady Colville died in 1839, and his
lordship married secondly, 15th October 1841, the Hon. Anne
Law, third daughter of the first Lord Ellenborough, but by her had no
issue. His lordship died in December 1849. His next brother and his
youngest brother, both died infants. The Hon. Sir Charles Colville,
the sixth son of the fifth (properly ninth) Lord Colville, born in
1770, was an officer in the army, and in 1796 became
lieutenant-colonel of the 13th regiment of foot, which he
commanded in the memorable campaign in Egypt in 1801, and in the
various active services in which that regiment was subsequently
employed. He had the rank of colonel in the army, 1st
January 1805, was afterwards a brigadier-general in the West India
staff, and commanded a brigade at the capture of Martinique in 1809.
He was G.C.B., G.C.H. and K.T.S., a general in the army, and colonel
in the 5th foot, and distinguished himself in the late war.
He married in 1818, Jane, eldest daughter of William Mure, Esq. of
Caldwell in Ayrshire, by whom he had two sons and three daughters, and
died 27th March, 1843. On the 21st of May,
scarcely two months after his death, his widow, Lady Colville, expired
at her residence, Rosslyn House, Hampstead, from the effects of
injuries she received from her dress taking fire. His next brother,
the Hon. George Colville, was a lieutenant in the 41st
regiment of foot, and after having survived all the dangers and
fatigues of a most active (light infantry) service, at the siege of
Fort Bourbon, and in the reduction of the three islands under Sir
Charles Grey, fell a victim to the pestilential fever at St. Domingo
on 24th June 1794, in the 24th year of his age.
The tenth
baron was succeeded by his nephew Charles John Colville, eleventh
baron and seventh Lord Colville of Culross, eldest son of the Hon.
General Sir Charles Colville, G.C.B. He was born at Edinburgh in 1818,
succeeded his uncle in Dec. 1849, and was at one period a captain in
the eleventh hussars. He was elected a representative peer of Scotland
in August 1851; for some time chief equerry and clerk marshal to her
majesty. He married in 1853 the eldest daughter of second Lord
Carrington; issue, a son, Hon. Charles Robert, master of Culross, born
1854, and a daughter.
_____
COLVILLE OF
OCHILTREE,
Lord, a title in the peerage of Scotland, first conferred on 4th
January 1651, on Robert Colville of Cleish, great-grandson of Robert
Colville, natural son of Sir James Colville of Easter Wemyss, above
mentioned, who granted to his said son and Francesca Colquhoun his
wife (by whom he had a son and three daughter) a charter of the barony
of Cleish, in Kinross-shire, 15th July 1537, confirmed on
the 21st of the same month. This Robert colville, the first
styled of Cleish, was forfeited by parliament, 10th
December 1540, for treason, having, like his father, favoured the
Douglases; but his forfeiture was rescinded, 12th December
1543. He held the office of master of the household to Lord James
Stewart, afterwards the regent Murray, and was a hearty promoter of
the Reformation. He joined the lords of the Congregation, and in June
1559, when Knox had announced his intention of preaching in the
Cathedral church of St. Andrews, Archbishop Hamilton desired him to
tell the lords that in case John Knox presented himself to the
preaching place in his town and cathedral church he should be saluted
with a dozen of hacquebuts. Knox set the proud prelate’s threats at
defiance, and preached in spite of him. He was in their army in the
attack upon the french at Leith, 7th May 1560, when he
received a shot in the thigh, and died two hours afterwards. Knox
describes him as “a modest, stout, and wise man.”
Robert,
first Lord Colville of Ochiltree, was the elder of two sons of Robert
Colville of Cleish, grandson of the above, by his wife Beatrix,
daughter of John Haldane of Gleneagles. He was served heir to his
father, 12th September 1643, and was knighted by Charles
the First. On the 4th January 1651, as already stated, he
was created a peer by Charles the Second, by the title of Lord
Colville of Ochiltree, by patent, to him and his heirs male. He
married Janet, second daughter of Sir John Wemyss of Wemyss, sister of
the first earl of Wemyss, but had no issue. He died at Crombie, 25th
August 1662, and was succeeded by his nephew Robert, the son of his
brother David.
Robert,
second Lord Colville of Ochiltree, married Margaret, daughter of David
Wemyss of Fingask, by whom he had, with two daughters, (the elder,
Margaret, wife of Sir John Ayton of Ayton, and the younger married to
the Rev Mr. Logan, minister of Torry,) a son, Robert Colville, third
Lord Colville of Ochiltree, who died without issue. Robert Ayton, his
grandnephew, his heir of line, took the name of Colville, and was
designated Robert Ayton Colville of Craigflower. The title was assumed
by David Colville, son of William Colville, tenant at Balcormie Mill
in Fife, but he never voted at the elections of Scots representative
peers. He held the rank of major, and died unmarried in London 8th
February 1782, when his pretensions to the peerage descended to his
cousin, Robert Colville, whose vote, registered at the election of
1788, was subsequently disallowed by the house of Lords.
The Colvills
of Clontarf house, county Dublin, Ireland, are descended from James
Colvill (stated to be a brother of John, third Lord Colville of
Culross, and of the Rev. Alexander Colville, D.D., professor of
divinity at St. Andrews, Fife, and afterwards surrogate of Down,
father of Sir Robert Colvill, and great-grandfather of the first
countess of Mountcashell), who went to Ireland in 1630, and settled in
the north.
COLVILLE, JOHN,
a controversial writer, of a turbulent and restless disposition, of
the family of Colville of Easter Wemyss, was some time minister of
Kilbride and chanter or precentor of Glasgow. In 1578, for
nonresidence at his church, he was ordered by the General Assembly “to
be taken order withal by the synod of Glasgow, for deserting of his
ministry;” and having obtained an introduction to Court, he was
appointed, in 1579, master of Requests. He was soon after engaged in
the treasonable conspiracy of the raid of Ruthven, and was on that
occasion sent by the conspirators as their representative to Queen
Elizabeth, who had favoured the enterprise. When the king recovered
his liberty, Colville was ordered to enter in ward, but instead of
doing so, he retired to England, and August 22, 1584, forfeited in
parliament. He was soon, however, restored to favour; and on June 2d,
1587, he was appointed by the king a lord of session in the room of
his uncle, Alexander Colville, commendator of Culross, who had
resigned from illness. This office, however, he did not hold long,
for, on the 21st of the same month, his uncle having
recovered his health, resumed his seat on the bench, and the nephew,
who, about the same time, represented the burgh of Stirling in
parliament, seems to have been afterwards appointed collector of the
taxation granted for King James’ marriage expenses.
Being
disappointed in his expectations at court, Colville joined the
turbulent earl of Bothwell, and was with him when he made his attack
upon the king on the night of the 27th December 1591, for
which he was again forfeited in parliament. On the 24th
July 1593, he again accompanied Bothwell to Holyroodhouse, when they
both went on their knees and craved pardon for their former attacks,
to the great alarm of James, and the disturbance of the court and
city. On Bothwell’s flight, Colville obtained his pardon, by betraying
his associates. He had treacherously given assurance of his life to
Bothwell’s natural brother, Hercules Stewart, who, nevertheless, was
hanged in 1595. Finding, in consequence, that he had fallen into
disgrace and discredit in his own country, he went to France.
Subsequently he made several attempts to obtain his recall, but in
vain. He then became a Roman Catholic, and wrote bitterly against the
protestants. In 1600, a treatise by him was published at Edinburgh,
entitled, ‘The Palinode,’ which he represented to be a refutation of a
former work of his own against James’ title to the English crown. This
was merely a menoeuvre to ingratiate himself with that monarch, as no
such work had he ever written. He died while on a pilgrimage to Rome
in 1607. – His works are:
The
Palinode. Edin., 1600, 8vo.
Paraenesis
ad Ministros Scotos super sua conversatione, or Admonition of John
Colville (lately returnit to the Catholic Roman Religion, in whilk he
was baptesit and brocht up till he had full 14 years of age) to his
countrymen; which was translated and published at Paris in 1602, 8vo.
He was also
the author of ‘Capita Controversa,’ and ‘De Causa Comitis Bothwellii.’
Qcharters, in his
Lives of Scotch Writers, (MSS., in Advocates’ Library) adds to
Colville’s works, ‘Oratio funebris Exequis Elizabeth destinata.’
The author
of the History of Sutherland speaks of a MS. relating to the affairs
of Scotland, by Mr. John Colvin, as the name Colville was sometimes
spelled in Scotland.
COLVILLE,
sometimes called COLWIL, ALEXANDER,
a Scottish episcopalian divine, of right fourth lord Colville of
Culross, was born near St. Andrews, in Fifeshire, in 1620. He was
educated at the university of Edinburgh, where he took his degree of
D.D., and was settled minister at Dysart. In early life he had been
professor of theology in the university of Sedan in France, under the
patronage of the Reformed churches in that country. Besides delivering
lectures on theology, he also taught Hebrew in that seminary, – the
revival of the study of which language was much attended to by
protestants on the continent. He wrote several pieces against the
presbyterian, all of which are now forgotten, except a humorous poem,
entitled ‘The Scotch Hudibras,’ written in the manner of Butler. He
died at Edinburgh in 1676. There seems to have been another Colvil,
who also wrote an imitation of Butler; as, in 1681, one Samuel Colvil
published at London, ‘The Mock Poem, or the Whig’s Supplication,’
12mo.
This
Alexander Colville is often confounded with a Mr. William Colville,
who was elected principal of the university of Edinburgh, on the death
of Principal Adamson in 1652. He was at this time minister of the
English church at Utrecht. He accepted the invitation, but owing to
some obstruction, it is thought, on the part of Cromwell’s government,
he did not at that time take possession of the office, and it was
declared vacant on 17th January 1653. As he had given in
his demission to his church and left Holland, he was allowed a year’s
stipend for his trouble and expense; and Dr. Leighton, afterwards
bishop of Dunblane, was elected principal. On the promotion of Dr.
Leighton to the see of Dunblane in 1662, Mr. William Colville was
admitted principal of the university of Edinburgh. Although a member
of the General Assembly, he had espoused the episcopal doctrines of
divine right and absolute obedience as early as 1648, and he even went
so far as to attempt forming a party, between the presbyterians and
episcopalians. On this account he had been, along with Mr. Andrew
Ramsay, suspended from the office of the ministry, by the Assembly,
which sentence was revoked in 1655. The episcopalian party, says Bower
in his History of the University of Edinburgh, (vol. i. p. 176,)
represented him as a man of a very moderate temper, and alleged that
he had been offered several Scottish bishoprics, but he would never
accept of preferment. He was the author of a work entitled ‘Ethica
Christiana,’ which was in considerable repute in those days. His
sermons on the ‘Righteous Branch’ discover a great vein of piety, as
well as show that his religious opinions corresponded with the
doctrines of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
