|
FORRESTER,
a surname of great antiquity, originally derived from the office of keeper
of the king’s forests, as appears from their armorial bearings, hunting
horns. There was an ancient family of this name, designed of Renton, in
Berwickshire, which several centuries since terminated in an heiress, who
married Elim of Elimford. From the latter family the estate again passed
with another heiress to the Homes. [Nisbet’s Heraldry, vol. i. p.
432.] From another old family of the name, Forrester of Carden in
Stirlingshire, the Forresters of Denovan were descended. A son of one of
the Forresters of Carden married about 1496 the heiress of Strathenries of
that ilk, and the estate continued in the name of Forrester till the reign
of King Charles the Second, when a younger son of Douglas of Kirkness
married the heiress, and got the lands. In the reigns of Charles the
Second and James the Seventh, a Sir Andrew Forrester was under secretary
of state.
_____
FORRESTER, Lord,
a title in the Scottish peerage, now merged by marriage in the English
family of Grimston, earl of Verulam and Viscount Grimston. The immediate
ancestor of the Lords Forrester was Sir Adam Forrester, a wealthy burgess
of Edinburgh, who, in the reign of King David Bruce, in 1365, obtained a
charter, under the great seal, of lands at Whitburn, in the constabulary
of Linlithgow, with remainder to his heirs male, &c., and in 1370, during
the reign of the same monarch, on the resignation of William de Seton,
received another charter of lands at Nudriff or Niddery, in the same
constabulary, with like remainder. He was possessed of an immense estate,
having got from King Robert the Second no less than six charters, under
the great seal, of different lands and baronies, and is supposed to have
acquired the greater part of his fortune by trading with England. In the
Rotuli Scotiae we find a license granted to him to bring grain into
Scotland, without payment of duty. In 1373 he was provost of Edinburgh,
and in 1382 sheriff of Lothian. The barony of Corstorphine near Edinburgh,
which became the chief designation of his family, he acquired in 1376 from
Gilchrist More, brother of Sir William More of Abercorn. On the accession
of Robert the Third, in 1390, Sir Adam was appointed lord privy seal, and
between the years 1391 and 1404 he was employed no less than seven times
in negociating treaties between England and Scotland. In 1402 he was
present at the battle of Homildon Hill, where he was taken prisoner, and,
with several others, was presented to King Henry the Fourth, in full
parliament, when he made a speech showing the advantages of a solid and
durable peace between the two kingdoms. He was soon exchanged, and in 1405
became depute chamberlain of the southern division of the kingdom, under
the earl of Buchan, eldest son of the regent Robert Duke of Albany. He
died the same year, and was buried in the chapel of St. John the Baptist
at Corstorphine. He was twice married; first, to Agnes, daughter of John
Dundas of Fingask; and, secondly, to a lady whose Christian name was
Margaret, but whose surname is not known, and had two sons.
Sir John
Forrester, the elder son, in 1407 got a charter from the regent Robert
duke of Albany, of the barony of Uchtertyre in Stirlingshire. He succeeded
his father in the office of depute chamberlain of the southern division of
the kingdom. After 1408 he acted as depute chamberlain of the whole
kingdom, under the earl of Buchan, during whose absence in France he
appears to have performed all the functions of lord high chamberlain. In
1416 he was appointed one of the commissioners for treating with the
English about the release of King James the First, and in 1421 he was
constituted lord privy seal by the regent Murdoch duke of Albany. In 1423
he became one of the hostages for the king’s liberation, which was
effected the following year. By that monarch he was so highly esteemed
that on his return to Scotland he appointed h im master of his household,
an office then first instituted. The earl of Buchan being killed at the
battle of Verneuil in Normandy, Sir John was made lord high chamberlain in
1425, and by King James he was continually employed in negociations with
the English. He was one of the jury on the trial of Murdoch duke of Albany
in May 1425. In 1429 he founded and endowed the collegiate church of
Corstorphine, and dedicated it to St. John the Baptist, for a provost,
five prebendaries, and two singing boys. He died in 1440, and was buried
in the chancel of the collegiate church which he had founded, and which is
now the parish church of Corstorphine. The coat of arms of the family of
Forrester is everywhere dispersed over the building, and within the
church, in niches, are several monumental remains of this family, with
effigies cut in stone, as large as life. The male figures are covered with
complete armour, and the female appear richly ornamented according to the
fashion and dress of the times. He had two sons, Sir John, his successor,
and Henry, styled of Liberton.
The elder son,
Sir John Forrester of Corstorphine, took part with the earls of Douglas in
their struggles with the chancellor Crichton and Livingston, and in 1466
led the troops which besieged and demolished Brankston castle. The stone
figure above his grave represents a man of Herculean mould. [New Stat.
Acc. of Scotland, vol. i. p. 211.] He was succeeded by Sir Alexander
Forrester, supposed to be his son, whose name occurs in the records of
parliament, 13th October, 1466, when the lords auditors charged
Sir Alexander Forbes of Pitsligo to cease all intromitting with the lands
of Fingask, and the office of bailliary of the same, belonging to Sir
Alexander Forrester of Corstorphine, till he appear before the lords of
council. Deeply embued with the superstitious feelings of his age, he
headed in 1464 a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas à Becket at
Canterbury, and another, in 1466, to that of John de Amyace in Picardy;
being accompanied on both occasions by several of the neighbouring
proprietors, with thirty followers in their train.
His son, Sir
Archibald Forrester, of Corstorphine, was present in parliament on 27th
February 1469, and again on 6th July 1476. His name also occurs
in the parliamentary records on 7th January 1504-5. His son and
successor, Sir Alexander, married a daughter of Sir Duncan Forrester of
Gardyne, king’s comptroller, and keeper of the forest of Torwood, &c.; and
by her he had a son, Sir James, designed of Meadowhead in the lifetime of
his father, who had bestowed that estate upon him in 1538. Afterwards he
succeeded to the whole barony of Corstorphine. He had two sons, Sir James,
served heir to his father in February 1557, and Henry, who, on the death
of his brother in June 1589, without issue, inherited the estate.
The son of
Henry, Sir George Forrester of Corstorphine, a man of singular capacity,
was by Charles the First, in 1625, created a baronet of Nova Scotia. He
was also appointed high sheriff of the shire of Edinburgh, and raised to
the peerage of Scotland July 22, 1633, by the title of Lord Forrester of
Corstorphine. He married Christian, daughter of Sir William Livingston of
Kilsyth, (father of the first viscount of Kilsyth,) and had five
daughters; but having no son, he obtained a new patent, extending the
title to James Baillie, younger of Torwoodhead and Letham, (eldest son of
the celebrated Lieutenant-general Baillie,) who married his lordship’s
fourth daughter, Joanna, and to their heirs male, whom failing, to his
brother William Baillie, who married his youngest daughter, Lilias, ans
their heirs, and in failure of heirs male the title to descend to the
heirs female. The surname and arms of Forrester were imposed on the two
sons of General Baillie and their heirs by his lordship’s daughters.
In virtue of
this new patent, on the death of the first lord, 23d April 1654, his
son-in-law, James Baillie of Torwoodhead and Letham, born 29th
October 1629, became second Lord Forrester. He signalized himself by his
ardent loyalty, and on one occasion, as related by Nicol in his Diary,
while Cromwell’s soldiers were in Edinburgh, his lordship caused a
proclamation to be affixed on the close heads and other public places of
that city, calling on all persons residing in Mid Lothian to put forth
horse according to their rents for the king’s army. In 1654 he was fined
by Cromwell’s act of grace and indemnity £2,500 sterling, and his estate
was overrun and pillaged by the English troops. His affairs, in
consequence, became much involved, and his rents being attached by his
numerous creditors, he gave himself up to dissipation, frequently spending
whole days drinking in an alehouse in the village of Corstorphine. [New
Stat. Acc. vol. i. p. 212.] On the 26th August he was
murdered in his own garden by Christian Hamilton, the wife of James Nimmo,
a merchant in Edinburgh, the daughter of Andrew Hamilton of Grange, by his
wife the elder sister of Lady Forrester. She was, therefore, the
grand-daughter of the first Lord Forrester, and niece, by marriage, of her
victim the second lord. With this woman he had carried on an intrigue, and
on the day mentioned she arrived at Corstorphine castle, and learning that
he was at the alehouse, she was on her way to it, when they met near the
Pigeon-house, to the east of the castle, and a quarrel ensuing, she, being
of a violent temper, stabbed him with his own sword. She was tried for the
crime on 28th August, and being found guilty, was sentenced to
be executed. She made her escape out of Edinburgh prison, 29th
September, in male attire, but was retaken next day, and beheaded at the
cross of Edinburgh 12th November, 1679. She is said to have
usually carried a sword beneath her gown. [Fountainhall’s Decisions of
the Court of Session, vol. i. p. 56.] A full account of this tragical
event is given in a foot note to page 182 of Kirkton’s History of the
Church of Scotland, edited by Mr. Kirkpatrick Sharpe. It is there
incorrectly stated, however, that Lord Forrester was a presbyterian
zealot, and had erected a meeting-house near Edinburgh, after the
Indulgence granted in 1672. On the contrary, his lordship was an
episcopalian, and both set at defiance the orders of the presbytery, and
urged the minister of Corstorphine to obtain lists of the nonconformists,
with the view of enforcing the laws against them. By his wife, Joanna, his
lordship had one son, William, who died in infancy. He married, a second
time, Lady Jean Ruthven, 2d daughter of Patrick earl of Forth and
Brentford, by whom he had five children, who all took the name of Ruthven.
The succession to the title of Lord Forrester, according to the
destinations of the new patent, being limited to his issue and heirs by
his first wife, his brother, William, became third lord, but did not
assume the title, and died in May 1681, in his 49th year.
William’s only
son by his wife Lilias Forrester, also named William, succeeded as fourth
lord, and on the 31st August 1698, he presented to the
parliament of Scotland the patent in favour of the deceased James, Lord
Forrester, and his heirs, requesting that it might be recorded, which was
accordingly done. It is stated in the New Statistical of Scotland, that
William Lord Forrester having quarrelled with Mr. George Henry, the
minister of Corstorphine, who had been presented to that parish by the
second Lord Forrester, during the prevalency of episcopacy, prevented his
tenants from attending the church, advising them, rather, to go to the
meeting-houses of the presbyterians, and this because Mr. Henry had
demanded payment of some money which he had lent his lordship. This Mr.
Henry was expelled at the Revolution for refusing to proclaim William and
Mary. His lordship died in 1705. He had, with four daughters, six sons,
namely, Andrew, who died in infancy; George, who became fifth lord;
William, who died young; another Andrew, a major of the horse-guards;
James, an officer in the navy; and John, captain R.N., whose only son,
William, succeeded as sixth lord. The family estate had by this time
become deeply involved in debt, and the whole incumbrances having been by
Hugh Wallace of Inglistown, writer to the signet, accumulated in his
person, on 19th December 1679, this gentleman obtained a
charter under the great seal, of the barony of Corstorphine, and his title
was ratified by Lord Forrester in November 1698. The family of Forrester
appear to have resided at Corstorphine castle up to this time. In 1701,
the estate was sold to Sir Robert Dickson of Sornebeg, whose son in 1703
again sold it to Sir James Dick of Prestonfield, in whose family it still
remains. [New Stat. Acc., vol. i. p. 213.]
George, the
fifth lord, born 23d March 1688, voted at the general election of Scottish
peers, 17th June 1708, but his vote was set aside by the House
of Lords on account of his being then under age. Hi was an officer in the
army, and served with reputation under the duke of Marlborough on the
continent. In the attack on the rebels at Preston in Lancashire on 13th
November 1715, he commanded the 26th regiment of foot, or
Cameronians, as lieutenant-colonel, when he showed extraordinary
intrepidity. Ordering his men to halt till he should personally survey the
position of the insurgents, he deliberately rode into the street with his
drawn sword in his hand, and, amidst a shower of bullets, coolly examined
one of the four barriers which had been raised by them. He then sallied
into the street at the head of his men, and whilst with one party he
attacked the barrier, another, under his directions took possession of two
houses which overlooked the whole town. He was, however, unsuccessful in
every attempt to force the barrier, and in the struggle received several
wounds. Appointed colonel of the 30th foot in January 1716, he
was promoted to the command of the 2d troop of horse grenadier guards 17th
July 1717, and in April 1719 was appointed colonel of the fourth or Scots
troop of horse guards. He died in March 1727. He had a son, George, and
two daughters, Caroline, who succeeded as Baroness Forrester, in her own
right, and Harriet, married to Edward Walter, Esq. of Stallbridge,
Dorsetshire, and had a daughter, Harriet, who, in 1774, became the wife of
James Bucknall, third Viscount Grimston, in the peerage of Ireland, and
had a son, James Walter, who succeeded as eighth Lord Forrester, and two
daughters.
George, sixth
lord, was a captain in the navy. In 1741 he commanded the Newcastle in the
fleet under Sir John Norris, sent to the coast of Spain, and the following
year, while in command of the Leopard of 50 guns, he took a Spanish ship
of 24 guns, laden with stores and provisions. In August of the same year
he captured another Spanish vessel laden with plastres, logwood,
cochineal, cocoa, and wine, and having on board a bishop and priest, a
Spanish general and other officers. He was in the Mediterranean fleet
early in 1744, when Admiral Matthews hoisted his flag, and the same year
he commanded the Defiance of 60 guns in the Channel fleet. He died
unmarried, 26th June 1748, and was succeeded as seventh lord by
his cousin William, above mentioned, a lieutenant in the royal navy, only
son of the Hon. Captain John Forrester. The seventh lord also died
unmarried, in November 1763, when the title devolved on his cousin,
Caroline, elder daughter of the fifth lord. She married George Cockburn of
Ormiston, Captain R.N., one of the commissioners and comptroller of the
navy, and had two daughters; the elder of whom, Anna Maria, succeeded her
mother, on her death, 25th February 1784, as Baroness
Forrester, and dying unmarried, Decemb4er 3, 1808, the title devolved on
the Hon. James Walter Grimston, the son of her cousin Harriet, Viscountess
Grimston, grand-daughter of George, fifth lord. On the death of his
father, on the 31st of the same month, he became fourth
Viscount Grimston, and in 1815 he was created earl of Verulam, in the
peerage of the United Kingdom. The paternal name of this family, into
which the Scottish peerage of Lord Forrester has now merged, is Luckyn. In
the seventeenth century Sir Capel Luckyn married the daughter and heiress
of the celebrated Sir Harbottle Grimston. His grandson assumed the name of
Grimston, was created in 1719 Viscount Grimston and Baron Dunboyne in
Ireland, and was grandfather of the first earl of Verulam, eighth Lord
Forrester. Although they possess one of the titles (Verulam) and the
princely seat, Gorhambury, near St. Albans, of Lord Chancellor Bacon,
neither the Grimstons nor the Luckyns are in any way descended from him.
Lady Luckyn’s stepmother was, however, the daughter of Sir Nathaniel
Bacon, K.B.
FORRESTER, THOMAS, the
Rev., a
minister of the seventeenth century, remarkable in his day as a satirical
poet, was the third minister of Melrose after the Reformation, the first
being a Mr. Pont, and the second Mr. John Knox, a nephew of the Reformer.
Forrester succeeded the latter as minister of the parish in 1623, and made
himself conspicuous by his high church notions, his pointed satires, and
his eccentricity of conduct. He scrupled not to declare publicly that some
kinds of servile work might be done on the Lord’s day; and as an example
to his people, he brought home his corn on Sunday from the fields to his
barnyard. He also maintained that the public and ordinary preaching of the
word was no necessary part of divine worship, that the reading of the
liturgy was to be preferred to it, and that pastors and private Christians
should use no other prayers than those prescribed by the church. He was
likewise charged with Arminianism and Popery, and with having declared
that the Reformers had done more harm to the Christian church than the
Popes at Rome had done for ages. He was accordingly deposed by the General
Assembly of 1638. After his ejection he composed a burlesque litany of his
own in verse, in which he strongly ridiculed the chief characters and the
covenanting principles of the times. This strange production, which is
slightly mentioned by Bishop Guthrie in his Memoirs, will be found
preserved in Maldment’s ‘Book of Scottish Pasquils,’ printed in 1828.
Forrester is also said to have written a severe epitaph on Sir Thomas
Hamilton, who was created by James the Sixth, in 1619, earl of Melrose, a
title which he afterwards exchanged for that of earl of Haddington; and
also the epitaph on the earl of Strafford, which is in Cleveland’s Poems.
His subsequent history, with the date of his death, has not been recorded. |
