LENNOX,
an ancient earldom, which comprehended the original sheriffdom of
Dumbarton, consisting of the whole of the modern county and a large
portion of Stirlingshire, with part of the counties of Perth and
Renfrew. The name was originally Leven-ach, a Gaelic term
signifying ‘the field of the Leven,’ or smooth stream. Levenachs, in
the plural number, was the name given to the extensive and
contiguous possessions of the earls of that district, and being
spelled and written Levenax, became naturally shortened into Lennox.
The founder of the original Lennox family was Arkyll, a Saxon baron
of Northumberland, possessing also large estates in Yorkshire, who,
engaging in various insurrections against William the Conqueror,
about 1070 fled to Scotland, with many other Saxon barons, and
received from Malcolm Canmore a large tract of land in the counties
of Dumbarton and Stirling. He is stated to have been the eldest son
of Aykfrith or Egfrith, a powerful Saxon, lord of several baronies
in Yorkshire, who was contemporary with King Canute and Edward the
Confessor. By a Scottish lady, his second wife, Arkyll had a son, of
the same name, whose son, Alwyn, was the first earl of Lennox,
according to the received accounts. This Alwyn, called Mac Arkill,
or filius Arkill, is said to have been son of the first
Arkill, and not the grandson. He is supposed to have died in 1160.
The accurate Lord Hailes doubts the Saxon origin that has been
assigned to him. Mr. Mark Napier, in his History of the Partition of
the Lennox, says: while Lord Hailes “admits the existence of earls
of Lennox so far back as the twelfth century,” he “is sceptical as
to their reputed descent from a Saxon lord called Arkill, and
rejects the theory as belonging to ‘the ages of conjecture.’” Alwyn,
the first earl, witnessed a charter of confirmation by King David I.
to the abbacy of Dunfermline as well as several other charters of
that monarch; also a general confirmation to the same abbacy by King
Malcolm IV., by whom it was that he was raised to the dignity of an
earl.
The elder of his two sons, Alwyn, second earl, being very
young at his father’s death, David, earl of Huntingdon, the brother
of King William the Lion, is said to have received from the king the
earldom in ward, and appears to have held it during a considerable
period. The second Alwyn, however, was in full possession of it
before 1199. Mr. Napier quotes two charters, without dates, which,
he says, materially affect this theory, as they “prove that the two
Alwyns were both at the same time designed earl of Lennox, probably
because the son was fear of the comitatus (or earldom) while
the father was liferenter. It would rather appear, then, that the
elder Alwyn was the first earl of Lennox of his race, but that the
district of the Leven had been previously erected into an earldom,
in favour of David earl of Huntingdon sometime between the middle
and the close of the 12th century.” (Partition of the
Lennox, page 2.) The second earl died about 1224. He had eight
sons and one daughter.
His eldest son, Maldouin or Maldwin, third earl of Lennox, was
one of the guarantees on the part of King Alexander II. when the
differences between that monarch and Henry III. of England were
accommodated in 1237. Up to this time the strong castle of Dumbarton
had been the principal messuage of the earls of Lennox, but after
1238, when he received a new charter of the earldom, it no longer
belonged to them, nor the harbour, territory, and fisheries of
Murrach contiguous to it. The castle has ever since continued a
royal fort, and the town of Dumbarton was in 1222 erected into a
free royal burgh with extensive privileges. Earl Maldwyn had a son,
Malcolm, who predeceased him in 1248, leaving a son, Malcolm, fourth
earl, one of the Magnates Scotiae, who, at the parliament
held at Scone, 5th February 1283-4, swore to acknowledge
Margaret of Norway heir-apparent to the throne, after the death of
Alexander III., and on 18th July 1290, he appeared in the
assembly of the estates at Birgham, and consented to the marriage of
that princess to Edward prince of Wales, son of Edward I. of
England. He died before 1292.
His son Malcolm, fifth earl, was, in 1292, one of the nominees
on the part of the elder Bruce, in his competition for the crown
with Baliol, and in 1296 he assembled his followers, and with other
Scottish leaders, invaded Cumberland and assaulted Carlisle. The
same year, however, he was among those who swore a forced fealty to
Edward I,’ but in 1306 he was one of the foremost to repair to the
standard of Robert the Bruce, and ever after continued to be one of
his principal supporters. His name appears, with those of other
leading Scottish patriots, at the famous letter sent to the Pope in
1320, asserting the independence of Scotland. He was slain at
Halidon Hill, 19th July 1333.
His son, Donald, sixth earl, was one of the nobles present in
the parliament at Edinburgh, 26th September 1357, who
became bound for the payment of the ransom of King David II. He was
present at the coronation of Robert II. at Scone 16th
March 1371, and on the following day swore homage and fealty to him.
His seal was appended to the act of settlement of the crown of
Scotland, 4th April 1373; it is now lost, but the tag to
which it was affixed remains inscribed Levenax. (Douglas’
Peerage, vol. ii. p. 84.) He died the same year, and, having no
male issue, the direct male line ceased with him. The earldom
devolved on his only daughter, Margaret, who married her cousin, and
nearest heir male of the family, Walter, son of Allan de Fasselane,
who in her right, in accordance with the territorial nature of
feudal dignities at that period, became seventh earl of Lennox. In
1385, the countess Margaret and her husband made a resignation of
the dignity in favour of their son Duncan, when Robert II. granted
to the latter, and his heirs, a charter of the earldom, and in
consequence he became earl of Lennox in his father’s lifetime. Allan
de Fasselane, father of Walter, was the son of Amelec, Aveleth, or
Aulay, 4th son of Alwyn, 2d earl of Lennox, and the
extensive territory, then called Fasselane, on the Gairloch, from
which this branch took their name, had been conferred on him by
Malcolm, fifth earl of Lennox.
Duncan, 8th earl, had no male issue, and was left a
widower, with three daughters, the eldest of whom, Isabella,
married, in 1391, Murdoch, duke of Albany, regent of Scotland
1419-1425. The contract of marriage is a curious one. It bears to be
between Sir Robert, earl of Fife, then regent of Scotland, on the
one part, and Sir Duncan earl of the Levenax on the other; that “Sir
Murthow,” as Murdoch is called, son and heir of the former, shall
have to wife Isabella, eldest daughter of the latter, and shall
endow her in the barony of Redhall, with the appurtenances, “in
tenandry and demayne,” and that the said earl was to obtain a new
infeftment of his earldom, limiting it, after himself and his heirs
male, to the said Sir Murthow and Isabella, and to the heirs
lawfully begotten between them, whom failing, to the nearest and
lawful heirs of the forsaid earl. The contract proceeds, “Item, it
is accorded that, in case the said earl of the Levenax shall happen
to have heirs male of his body, or if he chance to take a wife to
himself (or though aventur hum selvyn happyn to be to Mary),
and the said earl of Fife happen to have a marriageable daughter,
the said earl of the Levenax, or his heir male, shall have to wife
that daughter; and if the said earl of Fife happens to have no
daughter, the said earl of the Levenax, or his heirs male, shall
have to wife a ‘nest cosyng’ (next cousin) of the said earl
of Fife, at his assignation, or the said Sir Murdow’s without
disparagement to the said earl of the Levenax, or his heir male.”
The said earl of Fife, or Murdoch, his son, was also to receive with
Isabel 2,000 marks sterling. This contract, dated at Inchmurrin, on
Lochlomond, the principal residence of the earls of Lennox, 17th
February, 1391-2, is printed in full, in modern orthography, in
Napier’s History of the Partition of the Lennox (pp. 4-6). In
accordance with Earl Duncan’s resignation in terms of this contract,
and with the limitations therein agreed to, which became the ruling
investiture of the earldom, King Robert III. granted a charter under
the great seal, dated at Dunfermline, November 8th, 1392,
of the whole earldom of the Levenax to Earl Duncan. His second
daughter, Margaret, married Sir Robert Menteith of Rusky, and
Elizabeth, his other daughter, became the wife of Sir John Stewart
of Dernely. His connection with Murdoch, duke of Albany, made Duncan
earl of Lennox for a time one of the most potent noblemen in the
kingdom, but it proved fatal to him in the end. On the return of
King James I. from his long captivity in England, he was one of the
first victims of the rage of that monarch against all connected with
the house of Albany. He was beheaded at Stirling, with his
son-in-law, duke Murdoch. and his grandson, Sir Alexander Stewart,
on 25th May, 1425, being then about eighty years of age.
His fate was universally deplored.
“During the eventful and turbulent period,” says Mr. Napier,
“which intervened between the dates of the family contract in 1391,
and the second regency in 1420, so unobtrusive had been the conduct
of this earl, so little had he mingled in the affairs of the
distracted realm, or identified himself with the proceedings of its
rulers, that his name can only be traced by means of private deeds,
indicating his possessions of the earldom, and the exercise of his
feudal right of property. With the single exception, that he is
mentioned first of the distinguished cortege of nobles who met James
I. at Durham on his return from captivity, I can find no public
notice of this nobleman, until his apparently cruel and causeless
execution.” (Hist. of the Partition of the Lennox, p. 12.)
Although thus summarily executed, his estates were not forfeited,
but remained in the possession of his daughter, the widowed duchess
Isabella. On the first outpouring of James’ fury on the house of
Albany, she had been conveyed a prisoner to Tantallan in East
Lothian, while her eldest surviving son, Walter, called Walter of
the Levenax, from being the heir of that earldom, the first arrested
of the family, was confined in the neighbouring island of the Bass,
places far removed from their territorial possessions. The latter
was beheaded at Stirling the day before his father and grandfather,
and was thus the first who fell a sacrifice to his incensed
sovereign’s vengeance. His execution is, with much probability,
supposed to be the groundwork of the pathetic ballad of ‘Childe
Waters.’ It is not certain when the duchess was released, but she
spend the remainder of her life at Inchmurrin, the beautiful island
residence of the family, on Loch-Lomond. Thence several of her
charters are dated, particularly in 1440, 1444, 1449, 1450, in which
year she founded the collegiate church of Dumbarton, and gifted it
with various lands of the earldom, and 1451. In the latter year she
granted a charter, with the consent of her sister Margaret, spouse
of the late lord of Rusky, mortifying lands in the parish of
Kilmarnock to the convent of the Black friars, at Dumbarton. To this
charter both her own seal and that of her sister are appended. She
died before 1460. she had never completed her titles in feudal form
to the earldom, and in the retours of all her representatives in the
Lennox, the lands are declared to have been in non-entry from the
year 1425, when Earl Duncan was beheaded. After her decease,
therefore, King James II. seems to have taken advantage of his
feudal casualty of non-entry, as there is an item in the great
chamberlains’ accounts for the year ending 25th June
1460, bearing that the chamberlain does not debit himself with the
revenue derived from the earldom of Lennox, because the king had
assigned the same for building the castle of Stirling.
Both of the duchess Isabel’s sisters appear to have
predeceased her, and at her death took place what is called the
partition or dismemberment of the Lennox. Her sister Margaret had to
her husband, Sir Robert Menteith of Rusky, a son, Sir Murdoch
Menteith, said to have been killed by his own servant, near
Dunblane. He married Christian, daughter of Sir David Murray of
Tullibardine, ancestor of the dukes of Athol. Their only son,
Patrick Menteith, died before 1455, and his two sisters, Agnes and
Elizabeth, became his coheiresses in the half of the lands of the
earldom, as well as extensive lands in Menteith. Agnes married,
about 1460, Sir John Haldane of Gleneagles. Elizabeth married John
Napier of Merchiston, ancestor of the inventor of the Logarithms.
Elizabeth of Lennox, the youngest sister of the duchess Isabel
and wife of Sir John Stewart of Derneley, killed at the siege of
Orleans, 12th February 1429, had a son, Sir Alan Stewart,
who, in 1439, was treacherously slain by Sir Thomas Boyd of
Kilmarnock. His eldest son was the celebrated Sir John Stewart,
created Lord Derneley in 1460 or 1461, who was served heir of his
great-grandfather, Earl Duncan, 23d July 1473, in the half of the
earldom of Lennox, and in its principal messuage, and who became for
a time titular earl of Lennox.
In a ‘Memorial relative to the succession to the ancient earls
of Levenax,’ in support of the claim of Haldane of Gleneagles, as
representative of the ancient earls, drawn up in the course of the
last century, by Mr. Wedderburn, afterwards Lord-chancellor
Loughborough, it is stated that on the failure of Isabel and her
issue a dispute arose as to which of her two sisters was the elder;
the honours of the earldom, – the right to the chief messuages, &c,
and the title of earl, – being the right of the eldest coheiress and
her eldest representatives; that on Sir John Haldane being sent in
1473, ambassador to Denmark, and thence to France, Lord Derneley, in
his absence, got himself served heir to Earl Duncan, and assumed the
title of earl of Lennox, but on Sir John’s return to Scotland in
1475, he applied to the king, and obtained letters under the great
seal, reducing and setting aside the service of Lord Derneley and
the whole proceedings thereon. In 1482, Lord Derneley was one of the
confederated lords who seized King James III. at Lauder.
In May 1471, the earldom of Lennox being then in non-entry,
had been given, during his life, to Lord Avandale, the chancellor of
the kingdom, and after the death of James III. in 1488, Lord
Avandale having died the same year, Lord Derneley, again assuming
the title, sat as earl of Lennox in the first parliament of James
IV., when he received for himself and his son Matthew Stewart, the
ward and revenues of Dumbarton castle, which had been held by Lord
Avandale. In 1489 he took arms against the young king, when his
fortresses of Crookston and Dumbarton were besiege, the latter by
the earl of Argyle. He suffered a night surprise and rout at
Tillymoss, on the south side of the Forth above Stirling, and his
castle of Dumbarton, which was defended by four of his sons,
surrendered, after a vigorous siege of six weeks, the king himself
having appeared before it. He succeeded, however, in making his
peace with the government, and obtaining a full pardon for himself
and his followers. With the Haldane family he entered into a
submission relative to the disputes between them, when the arbiters
agreed that Sir John Haldane and his son, Sir James, should
relinquish to him their fourth part of the earldom, excepting
particular lands therein named, and that his lordship should resign
to Sir James all the right of the superiority of the earldom. In
1493 an indenture was accordingly executed between the parties. On
18th May 1490, an agreement had been entered into between
him and Matthew Stewart, his son and heir, with the other coheiress,
Elizabeth, wife of John Napier of Merchiston, and her son, Archibald
Napier, relative to her share of the earldom, and her disputes with
the Haldanes were finally adjusted 29th June of the same
year, when she was left in peaceable possession of her fourth part
of the estates.
Matthew Stewart, the eldest son, second earl of Lennox of this
name, succeeded his father in 1494. In 1503 he obtained a grant from
James IV. of the sheriffdom of Dumbartonshire, which was united to
the earldom and made hereditary in the family of Lennox. The office
continued a pertinent of the earls and dukes for two centuries, and
was usually executed by deputy sheriffs of their appointment. Earl
Matthew led the men of the Lennox to the fatal field of Flodden,
where he and the earl of Argyle commanded the right wing of the
Scots army, and, with many of their followers, were slain.
John, his son and successor, acted a very prominent part
during the turbulent minority of James V. With the earl of Glencairn
he, in 1514, assailed the castle of Dumbarton, during a tempestuous
night, and breaking open the lower gate, succeeded in turning out
the governor Lord Erskine, and taking possession of the castle. Two
years afterwards he was imprisoned by the regent Albany, to compel
him to surrender the fortress, as the key of the west, and he was
obliged to comply. In 1524 he warmly supported the queen-mother,
when she declared her son, King James, of age, though then only in
his thirteenth year. Having, however, soon after abandoned her
cause, he was one of the leaders of the force of 400 men, which, on
the morning of the 23d November of that year, attacked and took
possession of the capital. He was a member of the new secret council
appointed in 1526, but owing to the undue power and influence of the
Douglases, who kept the young king under the greatest restraint, he
seceded from the earl of Angus, his guardian, and after James had
made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from his thraldom, Lennox, in
consequence of a secret message from the king, assembled a force of
10,000 men, with which he marched from Stirling towards Edinburgh,
for the rescue of his sovereign. His uncle, the earl of Arran, at
the head of the Hamiltons, was sent against him by Angus. The two
armies met near Linlithgow, 4th September 1526. After
despatching an express to Edinburgh, to hasten on Angus and his
forces, and taking possession of the bridge over the Avon, about a
mile from the town, while his main force was stationed on a rising
ground a short distance above, and nearly opposite the monastery of
Mannel, Arran sent some gentlemen to his nephew Lennox, to dissuade
him from his enterprise. With great spirit, the latter returned for
answer “that he was determined to advance to Edinburgh, in spite of
all opposition.” Then dividing his army into three bodies, he
gallantly led them on to the attack, but being thrown into confusion
at the outset, they were forced to give way, and a complete rout
ensued. When Sir Andrew Wood of Largo, who had been sent forward by
the king, arrived on the field of battle, he found the earl of Arran
weeping over his expiring nephew Lennox, deploring his loss, and
exclaiming, “The wisest, the best, the bravest man in Scotland, has
fallen this day.” covering the body with his scarlet cloak, he
placed a guard around, and delivered it up to the king’s servants to
be honourably interred. During the action the earl of Lennox had
been wounded and taken prisoner by John Hamilton of Bardowie, who
was conveying him to a place of safety, when he was met by Sir James
Hamilton of Finnart, Arran’s natural son, who cruelly slew him in
cold blood. A groom of the earl’s, resolving to avenge his fate,
went to Edinburgh, where meeting one of his felloe-servants, he
eagerly demanded if he had seen the bastard of Arran. “I have,” was
the reply, “and but a short time since.” “What!” said he, “and wert
thou so ungrateful a recreant to thy murdered lord, as to permit him
to live? – begone! Thou art unworthy of so noble a master.”
Hastening to Holyrood-house, he arrived there during a muster of the
Hamiltons and Douglass, for a projected expedition to the borders.
Watching his opportunity he saw Finnart cross the court and ascend
the stairs of the palace, when springing upon him as he entered a
dark gallery, he gave him six severe wounds with his dagger. He then
retired and mixed with the crown, but an order being issued for the
palace gates to be shut, and all within the court to draw up against
the walls, the assassin was discovered, with the bloody dagger still
in his hand. He was put to the rack to force him to name his
accomplices, but he had none, and on hearing that Hamilton was
likely to survive, when his right hand was cut off previous to his
execution, he observed that it deserved punishment, not for its
crime, but for its failure. The earl had three sons and one
daughter.
His eldest son, Matthew, the next earl, spent the early part
of his life in the service of the king of France, in the wars in
Italy, where he served with great distinction. In 1531 he obtained
for nineteen years, the tenure of the governorship and revenues of
Dumbarton castle. After the death of James V., he was in 1543
invited by Cardinal Bethune to return to Scotland, to oppose the
regent Arran, having represented to him that the legitimacy of the
latter was very questionable, that the late king had appointed him
successor to the crown after his daughter, and that many were ready
to support his claim to the regency; and holding out a hope of his
obtaining the queen-mother in marriage. On the promise of assistance
in money and men from the king of France, Lennox arrived in
Scotland, and immediately began to oppose the measures of the
regent. He was the rival of the earl of Bothwell for the favour of
the queen-dowager. To rescue the young queen, then residing at
Linlithgow, from the regent, he, with Huntly and Argyle, marched
from Stirling, at the head of a force of 10,000 men, and proceeding
towards the capital, were joined at Leith by Bothwell and his array,
when Arran consented to surrender his royal charge, and the infant
queen, with the queen-dowager, were conducted in triumph by Lennox
to Stirling.
On the reconciliation of Bethune with Angus, the same year,
Lennox, finding himself deceived, deserted the cardinal’s party, and
became a zealous supporter of the projected match between the infant
queen Mary and Edward prince of Wales. A French ambassador had
arrived in the Clyde, with a small fleet, bearing military stores,
fifty pieces of artillery, and 10,000 crowns, to be distributed
amongst the friends of the cardinal. The squadron anchored off
Dumbarton, and Lennox, hurrying thither with Glencairn, seized upon
the whole, and hastily collected his vassals. Being joined by other
malcontent nobles, by a forced march he came suddenly upon the
regent and cardinal at Leith; and a negotiation being commenced, a
treaty was concluded much to the advantage of the regent. On 17th
May 1544, an agreement was entered into at Carlisle between Lennox,
Glencairn, and Henry VIII., in which the latter promised to Lennox
the government of Scotland and the hand of his niece Lady Margaret
Douglas, daughter of Archibald earl of Angus and the queen-dowager,
and consented to settle a pension on Glencairn and his son; while
the two earls engaged to use every effort to seize and deliver the
young queen, with the principal Scottish fortresses, into Henry’s
hands, Lennox agreeing to the surrender of Dumbarton, with the isle
and castle of Bute. Lennox immediately proceeded to Dumbarton,
whence, after the defeat of Glencairn on the common muir of Glasgow,
he said for England, and was received with great distinction at the
English court. Soon after he was united to the Lady Margaret
Douglas, receiving with her lands in England to the annual value of
6,800 marks Scots. On the accounts of his desertion of his country
and his favourable reception in England reaching France, Francis the
First, in whose service was his illustrious brother, the Lord
Aubigny, immediately deprived the latter of his high offices and
threw him into prison.
In August following, Lennox sailed from Bristol, with 18
English ships and 600 soldiers, and arriving in the Clyde, attacked
and plundered the island of Arran, which belonged to the regent,
occupied Bute, and took the castle of Rothesay. He next directed his
course to Dumbarton castle, which was commanded by Stirling of
Glorat, one of his retainers. Stirling received him as his master,
but the earl no sooner mentioned to him his design of giving up the
castle to Henry, than he and his Englishmen were turned out of the
fortress, and compelled to return to their ships. Being fired on in
passing Dunoon, on his way down the Clyde, he landed under cover of
a fire from his own ships, attacked a body of Highlanders when the
earl of Argyle had collected to oppose him, and dispersed them with
considerable slaughter. He next invaded Kintyre, and plundered the
adjacent coasts of Kyle and Carrick; after which he returned to
Bristol.
In the winter of 1544-5, he resided at Carlisle, with an
allowance of four marks a-day from King Henry. In view of an
intended invasion of the west of Scotland by the English,
negotiations were opened, in 1545, through Lennox, with Donald, lord
of the Isles and earl of Ross, who willingly bound himself, with
eighteen of his barons, to assist him with 8,000 men. Henry
appointed Lennox to the chief command of the expedition, but
Hertford, the leader of the English army, which soon after invaded
Scotland and committed great excesses, requesting his presence in
his camp, the western invasion was postponed. At a parliament held
at Stirling in October of the same year, Lennox, and his brother,
the bishop of Caithness, were declared guilty of treason and
forfeited. He afterwards sailed with the earl of Ormond, and an
armament intended for a descent on the western coasts of Scotland,
but does not appear to have even attempted it.
He received from King Henry a grant of the manor of
Temple-Newsom in Yorkshire, and remained in exile in England till
1564, a period of twenty years. He was recalled by Queen Mary, in
December of the latter year, when his forfeiture was rescinded.
Father of the ill-fated Lord Darnley, the husband of Queen Mary, and
grandfather of James VI., he was, on 11th July 1570,
elected regent of the kingdom. Having called a parliament to be held
at Stirling castle on 4th September 1571, the queen’s
party formed a design, planned by Kirkcaldy of Grange, to surprise
what in contempt they called “the black parliament.” Leaving
Edinburgh, on the previous evening, with 300 horse and 80 foot, they
reached Stirling by four in the morning, and easily found access to
the town. They instantly surrounded the lodgings of the chief
nobility, and made prisoners of the regent and ten other noblemen,
with whom they set out in triumph for the capital. The enterprise,
however, was defeated, by the want of discipline on the part of the
borderers, under Scott of Buccleuch, who had dispersed in quest of
plunder, and the sudden attack on the invading party by the earl of
Mar and a force from the castle. Driven from the market-place, they
were forced to abandon their prisoners, who were all found safe,
excepting the regent, whom Captain George Calder, on seeing the
defeat of his party, had stabbed with a broadsword. The regent did
not alight from his horse till he had reached the castle. He died in
the evening, and was interred at the chapel-royal at Stirling, with
an inscription 0n the tomb, in English, in a somewhat homely strain.
His virtues are celebrated in the following Latin epitaph by the
celebrated George Buchanan, who was greatly attached to his lordship
and his family:
“Regis avus, Regis Pater, alto e sanguine Regum
Imperio quorum terra Britanna subest,
Matthaeus: genuit Levinia, Gallia fovit,
Pulso Anglus thalamum, remque decusque dedit.
Coepi invicta manu, famam virtute refeli,
Arma armis vici, consilioque dolos.
Gratus in ingratos, patriam justèque pièque
Cum regerem, hostili perfidia cecidi.
Care nepos, spes una domus, meliore senectam
Attingas fato, caetera dignus avo.
His countess, Lady Margaret Douglas, was born in England. Her
mother, the Queen Dowager Margaret, having taken refuge in that
country, from the tyrannic sway of John, duke of Albany, regent of
Scotland, was delivered of this daughter Oct. 18, 1515.
Lady Margaret was thrice imprisoned: 1st. By her
uncle, Henry VIII., for a design to wed Thomas Howard, son of the
duke of Norfolk, 2d. By Queen Elizabeth, for permitting her son to
espouse Mary, queen of Scots. 3. For corresponding with that
ill-fated queen in her captivity. She had 4 sons and 4 daughters,
all of whom died young, except two sons, Henry, Lord Darnley,
husband of Queen Mary, and Charles, 5th earl of Lennox,
father of the beautiful and unfortunate Lady Arabella Stuart.
The countess died at Hackney, March 9, 1577, in her 62d year,
and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Her portrait, engraved by
Rivers, from the original in the Carteret collection, is subjoined:
[portrait of Lady Margaret Douglas]
The earldom of Lennox, by right of blood, now devolved on
James VI., as heir of his grandfather, and on 18th April
1572, it and the lordship of Darnley, with the whole of the family
estates and heritable jurisdictions, were granted to Charles, Lord
Darnley’s younger brother, and uncle of the king. He died at London
in 1576, without male issue, in the 21st year of his age,
and was buried in Henry VII.’s chapel in Westminster Abbey. He had
married, in 1574, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Cavendish, and
sister of the first earl of Devonshire, a marriage which so highly
excited the jealousy of Queen Elizabeth, on account of his descent
from Henry VII., that the countesses of Lennox and Shrewsbury, the
latter the lady’s mother, were imprisoned for some time, and the
earl of Shrewsbury, her stepfather, was, for a season, in disgrace
at court.
The only offspring of the marriage was a daughter, the
unfortunate Lady Arabella Stuart, commonly called in English
history, the Lady Arabella. She was heiress to a large estate, but
her proximity to the throne rendered her the innocent victim of
state policy. She was held under great restraint by Queen Elizabeth,
who, when her cousin, King James, proposed to marry her to Lord Esme
Stuart, whom he had created duke of Lennox, prevented the marriage.
The Pope had formed the design of raising her to the English throne,
by espousing her to the duke of Savoy, which project is said to have
been approved of by Henry IV. of France, from a wish to prevent the
union of the crowns of England and Scotland. She was afterwards
imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth, for listening to some overtures from
a son of the earl of Northumberland. On Elizabeth’s death, an
abortive conspiracy, of which she was altogether ignorant, was
formed to set aside James from the English throne, in her favour,
and one of the articles of indictment against Sir Walter Raleigh, 17th
November 1603, was that the Lord Cobham, on the 9th June
previously, met with him at Durham house, and had conference with
him to advance Arabella Stuart to the throne. On his accession, King
James allowed her £800 a-year, for her maintenance, with a table for
her people. Having renewed a childish attachment to Mr. William
Seymour, afterwards marquis of Hertford, son of Lord Beauchamp, she
secretly married him in 1610, in consequence of which she was placed
in confinement at Lambeth, and her husband sent to the Tower. After
about a year’s imprisonment, they separately made their escape, on
3d June 1611. Mr. Seymour got safe to the continent, but the Lady
Arabella was retaken, shut up in the Tower, and passed the remainder
of her life in close confinement, which finally deprived her of her
reason. She died September 27, 1615, aged 38, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey, where also most of the subsequent dukes of Lennox
of this family were interred. She is said to have possessed talents
of a superior order, with a very pleasing person.
Robert Stuart, second son of John, third earl of Lennox of
this name, and grand-uncle of James VI., was by that monarch, to
whom the earldom had again devolved, created earl of Lennox, by
charter, dated 16th June 1578, to him and the heirs male
of his body. He had been provost of the collegiate church of
Dumbarton, and in 1542 was preferred to the bishopric of Caithness,
but before he could be consecrated, taking part with his brother,
the earl of Lennox, against the regent Arran, he was obliged to
retire to England, where he lived in exile till 1563, when he was
restored to the revenues of his see. He complied with the
Reformation, and during his brother’s short regency, had the priory
of St. Andrews conferred upon him. Having agreed to accept of the
earldom of March, and lordship of Dunbar, in lieu of the earldom of
Lennox, which the king wished to bestow upon his kinsman, Esme
Stuart, lord of Aubigny, a charter was granted 5th
October, 1582, of the former earldom and lordship in his favour. He
subsequently lived in retirement at St. Andrews till his death, on
29th March, 1586, in his 70th year. Although
married, he had no issue.
Esme Stuart, seventh earl, and first duke of Lennox of this
name, was the son of John Stuart, lord of Aubigny, third son of the
third earl, a captain of the Scottish gens d’armes in France, and
governor of Avignon. Educated in France, he was sent for by James
VI.; he landed at Leith 8th September, 1579, and on the 5th
of the following March was created earl of Lennox. He also received
the abbacy of Arbroath, with many honours and grants of land. On his
arrival it was thought that he was a private legate from the Pope,
the house of Guise, and the king of France, to work alteration in
religion and state. (Calderwood, vol. iii. p. 460). At the
General Assembly which met at Dundee 12th July 1580, a
letter was read from him acknowledging the protestant religion,
notwithstanding of which, and his having previously subscribed the
Confession of Faith, as well as offered to receive a French
protestant chaplain into his house, the ministers would not believe
but that he had some deep design under all his professions of
conformity. He and the notorious Captain Stuart, son of Lord
Ochiltree, became the rival favourites of King James. Lennox is
represented as of amiable manners and mild character, but very unfit
for the intrigues of a court. His name appears, the first after the
king’s, at the second Confession of Faith, commonly called the
King’s Confession, subscribed at Holyrood-house, 28th
January 1581. He was created duke of Lennox, earl of Darnley, and
lord Tarbolton, Dalkeith, and Tantallan, 5th August 1581,
and appointed high chamberlain of Scotland. He was the avowed
protector of the bishops, and by his counsels he encouraged in the
king that strong tendency which he entertained towards episcopacy,
and which was also no doubt greatly confirmed by the conduct of the
more violent of the presbyterian clergy. His power at last became so
great that in a quarrel which he had in 1582, about some rival
appointment in Teviotdale, with the earl of Gowrie, the lord
treasurer, that nobleman plainly told him that “this realm could not
suffer two kings.” After the raid of Ruthven, in August that year,
the object of which was the dismissal of the king’s two favourites,
James was constrained to sign an order for the departure of Lennox
from Scotland. After some delay, during which it is said he
entertained the intention of seizing upon Holyrood-house and the
city of Edinburgh, he went through England to France, and died at
Paris, 26th May 1583. In his last moments he declared his
firm adherence to the Protestant faith. He married a French lady, by
whom he had Ludovick, second duke, Esme, third duke, and three
daughters.
Ludovick, second duke of Lennox and first duke of Richmond of
this name, born 29th September 1574, was, soon after his
father’s death, brought over to Scotland, by order of James VI., who
bestowed upon him all the estates and honours formerly held by his
father, by charter, under the great seal, dated 31st July
1583. He arrived at Leith on 23d November the same year. At the
meeting of the estates at Edinburgh on 18th May 1584,
though then but ten years old, he carried the crown, as he also did
on several future occasions of the meetings of parliament. When
James sailed for Denmark in October 1589, Lennox, though then but
fifteen years of age, was appointed, with the assistance of the earl
of Bothwell, and the advice of the council, governor of the east
parts of the kingdom. In 1591 he married Lady Jane Ruthven, daughter
of the earl of Gowrie, whereby he incurred the displeasure of the
king, and was forbade the court. He had the office of hereditary
great chamberlain, and was appointed high admiral of Scotland, in
the place of Bothwell. He was one of the noblemen and barons who
entered into a bond at Aberdeen in March 1592, for the security of
religion and against the Popish lords. The following year he was
reconciled to the king and again received at court. In November 1594
he was left lieutenant in the north, after the king had quitted
Aberdeen, whither he had marched an army against Huntly and Errol
and their abettors; but returned to Edinburgh on 16th
February following. In 1598 he was sworn of the privy council. He
was with the king at Falkland at the time of the Gowrie conspiracy
in 1600, and as Alexander Ruthven was his brother-in-law, the king
acquainted him with his whole purpose, and asked him if he thought
that young gentleman well settled in his wits. The duke expressed
his surprise at Ruthven’s tale about the money, and thought it very
unlikely, but affirmed that he never perceived anything to make him
think that his brother-in-law was not wise enough. Following him to
Perth, Lennox was one of those who were instrumental in the rescue
of the king at Gowrie house.
In July 1601 the duke was sent ambassador to France, and on
his return, passing three weeks in London, he was entertained by
Queen Elizabeth with great splendour. In 1603 he attended James to
England, on his accession to the English throne, and in 1607 was his
majesty’s high commissioner to the parliament of Scotland. He was
created earl of Richmond in England, 6th October 1613,
and accompanied the king on his visit to Scotland in 1617. In the
Scots parliament held 5th July 1621, he voted for the
five articles of Perth. He was created earl of Newcastle and duke of
Richmond in the English peerage, 17th May 1623. He was
master of the household, first gentleman of the king’s bedchamber,
and a knight of the Garter. Although thrice married, he left no
surviving children. He was found dead in his bed on the morning of
16th February 1624, in his 50th year.
Calderwood (Hist. of the Kirk of Scotland, vol. vii. p. 595)
says: “He was weill liked of for his courtesie, meekness,
liberalitie to his servants and followers. He opposed so farre as he
might the Spanich matche. The king could never induce him to medle
with the affairs of our kirk. The bruit went that he was poysoned.”
His brother, Esme, third duke of Lennox, a faithful adherent
of Henry IV. of France, came to Scotland in 1601, and was created
earl of March in England, 7th June 1619. He succeeded his
brother in his Scottish titles only in 1624, and in his room was
installed a knight of the Garter. He died 30th July the
same year. Of seven sons, three were killed during the civil wars,
fighting on the side of the king. Lord George, the fourth son, Lord
Aubigny in France, killed at Edgehill, 23th October 1642, was the
father of Charles, earl of Litchfield, sixth duke of Lennox; Lord
Ludovick, the fifth son, frequently mentioned by St. Evremond as
Mons. Aubigny, was named a cardinal in 1665, and died at Paris in
November of that year; Lord John, the sixth son, a general of horse
in the king’s service, was killed at the battle of Alresford in
1644; and Lord Bernard Stuart, the youngest, created earl of
Litchfield in 1645, was killed at the battle of Rowtonheath, near
Chester, 26th September the same year.
The eldest son, James, fourth duke of Lennox, born in London,
6th April 1612, succeeded when he was only twelve years
of age. After studying at the university of Cambridge, he travelled
in France, Spain, and Italy, and was created a grandee of Spain. On
his return he was, before reaching his 21st year, sworn a
privy councillor, appointed lord warden of the Cinque Ports, and
master of the household; also installed a knight of the Garter. He
was created duke of Richmond in the English peerage, by patent,
dated 8th August, 1641. He adhered strongly to the king’s
interest, and lent Charles I. at one time £20,000. Clarendon, who
has given a high character of him, says that on the condemnation of
that unfortunate monarch, he was one of the noblemen who offered to
suffer in his stead. He died 30th March 1655, in his 43d
year. By his duchess, Lady Mary Villiers, only daughter of the first
duke of Buckingham, assassinated by Felton at Portsmouth in 1628,
and relict of Lord Herbert, he had, with one daughter, one son,
Esme.
The latter, fifth duke of Lennox, and third of Richmond, died
at Paris in 1660, unmarred, and was succeeded by his cousin,
Charles, earl of Litchfield, already mentioned.
Charles, sixth duke of Lennox and fourth of Richmond, had been
created Lord Stuart of Newbury and earl of Litchfield, 21st
December 1645, and in 1661, after succeeding as duke of Lennox and
Richmond, he was invested with the order of the Garter. Appointed
ambassador extraordinary to the court of Denmark, he died at
Elsinore, in December 1672, without issue. He was thrice married.
His third wife, Frances Therese, eldest daughter of the Hon. Walter
Stuart, third son of the first Lord Blantyre, is celebrated as the
greatest beauty in the court of Charles II. In the Memoires de
Grammont are numerous anecdotes relative to her. The design of
Charles II., of divorcing his queen, and marrying Miss Stuart, was
prevented by the duke of Richmond’s secret marriage with her. In
Pinkerton’s Gallery of Portraits, vol. ii. is another portrait of
this lady, in man’s apparel, of which a woodcut is subjoined:
[portrait of Frances Therese]
In this portrait, engraved by James Huyman, a Flemish artist, from a
painting in Kensington palace, formerly belonging to James II. of
England, she is represented in the dress of a cavalier about the
time of the civil wars; a suit of buff, adored with blue ribbons.
“The likeness,” says Mr. Pinkerton, “corresponds with that on her
tomb in Henry VII.’s chapel, Westminster Abbey, where her figure in
wax may also be seen, with a stuffed parrot, which is said to have
died just before or after her.” The hair of this famous court beauty
was light auburn, and her eyes blue. to a person and face of
wonderful symmetry and beauty, she united the simplicity of a child,
and when the king and his courtiers were occupied in deep gaming,
she would sit building castles of cards, while happy was the peer
who assisted her in this amusement of a fool or a philosopher. She
is the Britannia of our copper coins. Another portrait, by Sir Peter
Lely, from Lord Westcote’s at Hugley, was engraved for an edition of
the Memoires du Comte de Grammont, published in 1793.
On her husband’s death, the whole Lennox estates were settled
on the duchess for life. She died 15th October 1702,
bequeathing the principal part of her large fortune to Lord Blantyre,
who purchased the estate of Lethington, in Haddingtonshire, and
called it Lennoxlove after his benefactress.
The dukedom of Lennox, with all its honours and possessions,
again reverted to the sovereign, by right of inheritance, devolving
on King Charles II., as nearest collateral heir-male, and his
majesty was, on 6th January 1680, served heir in special
of Charles sixth duke, his cousin. The whole male line of Sir John
Stewart of Derneley, first Lord Aubigny, husband of Elizabeth,
daughter of Duncan, eighth and last of the original earls of the
Levenax, ended in Cardinal York, who died at Rome in 1807. Sir John
was one of the leaders of the Scots auxiliaries in France, and got a
grant of the lands of Aubigny and Concressault from the dauphin,
afterwards Charles VII., for his share in the victory over the
English at Beaugé in Anjou in 1421. In January 1426 he also received
a grant of the county of Evereux in Normandy, with permission to him
and his descendants to quarter the arms of France with his own. He
was slain in an engagement near Orleans, 12th February
1428-9.
_____
LENNOX, duke of,
a title in the peerage of Scotland, revived by Charles II., in 1675,
in the person of his illegitimate son, Charles Lennox, by Louise
Renée de Penancoet de Queroualle, whom he created, in 1673, duchess
of Portsmouth, countess of Farneham, and baroness Petersfield, and
who, in 1674, was created duchess of Aubigny in France, by Louis
XIV. Born 29th May 1672, her son by Charles was created,
when little more than three years old, duke of Richmond, earl of
March, and baron Settrington, in Yorkshire, in the peerage of
England, 9th August 1675, and duke of Lennox, earl of
Darnley, and baron Tarbolton in Scotland, by letters patent, dated
at Windsor 9th September the same year, to him and the
heirs male of his body. After the death of the dowager-duchess in
1702, the duke sold the whole of his property in the Lennox, the
marquis of Montrose purchasing the greater portion of it. The king
his father, to whom he is said to have borne a strong resemblance,
had granted to him and the heirs of his body, the sum of twelvepence
for every chaldron of coals shipped at Newcastle-upon Tyne, which
revenue continued till April 1799, when the lords of the Treasury
agreed to give an annuity of £19,000 a-year for the same. Elected a
knight of the Garter 7th April 1681, he was, on the
removal of the duke of Monmouth, appointed master of the horse to
the king. On the accession of James VII., however, he was deprived
of that office, on account of his mother’s having promoted the bill
of exclusion. During the short reign of James, he resided in France,
but returned to England at the Revolution, which he strongly
supported. He served in Flanders, under King William, to whom he was
aide-de-camp, and was one of the lords of the bedchamber to George
I. He died in his mother’s lifetime at Goodwood, the family seat in
Sussex, 27th May 1723, aged 51, leaving an only son, and
two daughters, Louisa, countess of Berkeley, and Anne, countess of
Albemarle.
His son, Charles, second duke of Richmond and Lennox of this
creation, born at London 20th May 1701, was, when earl of
March, chosen M.P. for Chichester in 1722. the following year he
succeeded his father, and in 1734, on the death of his grandmother,
he became duke of Aubigny in France. He was created a knight of the
Bath in 1725, and of the Garter in 1726. He was also one of the
lords of the bedchamber, and aide-de-camp to the king. At the
accession of George II., he officiated as lord high constable of
England, In January 1735 he was appointed master of the horse, and
sworn a privy councillor. He was declared one of the lords justices
during the king’s absence fro England 12th May 1740, and
again in 1745, 1748, and 1750. Brigadier-general in 1742, he
attended George II. during the campaign of 1743, and was at the
battle of Dettingen. He attained the rank of lieutenant-general 6th
June 1745, and was actively employed against the rebels that year
and in 1746, and assisted at the reduction of Carlisle. He died 8th
August 1750, having had eight daughters and four sons.
Charles, third but eldest surviving son, third duke of
Richmond and Lennox, succeeded his father in his sixteenth year, and
soon after entered the army. In 1756 he took his seat in the house
of peers, and attaching himself to the Whig interest, became one of
the most conspicuous members of the opposition of his time. In
command of the 72d regiment, he accompanied, in 1758, the expedition
under the duke of Marlborough to the coast of France. He afterwards
served in Germany, and was at the battle of Minden, 1st
August 1759. On the accession of George III., he was appointed a
lord of the bedchamber, but was soon dismissed for a reason highly
honourable to himself, namely, his having boldly expostulated with
the young monarch for his marked attention to his sister, Lady Sarah
Lennox. In Douglas’ Peerage it is stated that he resigned the post
within a fortnight, in consequence of two junior officers having
been appointed over the head of his brother, Lieutenant-colonel Lord
George Lennox, who had distinguished himself, at the head of the
British grenadiers, at the battle of Clostercampen.
During the administration of the earl of Bute, and of his
successor Lord Grenville, his grace was a firm and active opponent
of the government. On the ministerial arrangement which took place
under the marquis of Rockingham and the old Whigs, supported by the
duke of Cumberland, he was, in 1765, appointed ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the court of France, and sworn
a privy councillor, 23d October of that year. He was accompanied to
Paris by his brother, Lord George, who acted as charge des
affaires during his grace’s absence. Recalled from his embassy
the following year, the duke was appointed one of the secretaries of
state, 23d May 1766. He resigned on 2d August following, and from
that period took an active lead against the measures of the
administration, being particularly opposed to the American war. On
18th May, 1770, he submitted to the house of lords
eighteen resolutions, tending to prevent a rupture with the
colonies, which gave rise to one of the most extraordinary debates
on record. The whole of the misconduct of ministers in relation to
America, for the four preceding years, was laid open in the severest
terms, and the loss of the colonies confidently predicted from their
policy. although continually overpowered by numbers, he never
relaxed in his opposition, and the whole of the spring session of
1775 was remarkable for his repeated contests with the ministry. He
supported Lord Chatham’s motion for the removal of the British
troops from Boston, and moved an address to the king, 5th
May 1776, that he would be pleased to countermand the march of the
Hessian troops, and also give directions for an immediate suspension
of hostilities with America.
On his party being again called into power, he was appointed
master-general of the ordnance, and made a knight of the Garter, 19th
April 1782. He held office till 9th April 1783, when, in
consequence of some changes in the administration, he retired. Soon
after the breaking up of the coalition ministry he distinguished
himself as a strenuous advocate for parliamentary reform, and was
for some time president of the Constitutional Society, established
to effect that object. He also published a letter on the subject. On
the formation of the Pitt administration in December 1783, he was
restored to his post of master-general of the ordnance, and while in
office he proposed a gigantic and most expensive plan for improving
the fortifications of the kingdom, which was thrown out of the House
of Commons by the casting vote of the speaker. He resigned the
master-generalship of the ordnance, 15th July 1795, on
being appointed to the command of the horse-guards, and was made
field-marshal, 30th July 1796. He died at Goodwood, which
he partly rebuilt and greatly enlarged, 29th December
1806, in his 72d year, without issue.
His next brother, Lord George Henry Lennox, second surviving
son of the second duke, an officer in the army, made the campaign of
Germany as aide-de-camp to the duke of Cumberland in 1757. The
following year, when lieutenant-colonel of the 33d foot, he was in
the expedition against the coast of France, and in 1760 and 1761, he
served in Germany under Prince Ferdinand, who, in his despatches to
the marquis of Granby, 6th August of the latter year,
mentions with praise his “distinguished valour.” In 1762 he served
in Portugal as a brigadier-general. He was M.P. from 1761 to 1790.
On 17th February 1784 he was appointed constable of the
Tower, and lord-lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets, and in November of
the same year governor of Plymouth. He rose to the rank of general,
15th October 1793, when he was sworn a privy councillor.
He died 25th March 1805, in his 68th year. By
his wife, Lady Louisa Kerr, eldest daughter of the fourth marquis of
Lothian, he had, with three daughters, one son, Charles, fourth duke
of Richmond and Lennox.
The latter, born in Scotland in 1764, early entered the army,
and was captain in the Coldstream foot-guards in 1789, when he
rendered himself conspicuous by challenging and fighting a duel with
the colonel of the regiment, Frederick duke of York. His royal
highness having stated that at the club in D’Aubigny’s, colonel
Lennox had submitted to certain expressions unworthy of a gentleman,
the colonel, on this being reported to him, sent a letter to the
duke to the effect that, as neither he nor any member of the club
recollected hearing such words addressed to him, he thought his
royal highness”ought to contradict the report as publicly as he had
asserted it.” The duke replied that the words were spoken in his own
presence, and therefore he could not be subject to mistake; he was
only bound to maintain his own opinion that they ought to be
resented by a gentleman. Lennox immediately sent a message to his
royal highness, requiring satisfaction. a meeting accordingly took
place on Wimbledon common on the 26th May 1789, Lord
Rawdon, afterwards marquis of Hastings, acting as second to the duke
of York, and the earl of Winchelsea, one of the lords of the
bedchamber to the king, as second to Colonel Lennox. The particulars
of this transaction were thus detailed by the seconds: “The ground
was measured at twelve paces, and both parties were to fire at a
signal agreed upon. The signal being given, Colonel Lennox fired,
and the ball grazed his royal highness’ curl. The duke of York did
not fire. Lord Rawdon then interfered, and said ‘That he thought
enough had been done.’ Colonel Lennox observed ‘That the duke had
not fired.’ Lord Rawdon said, ‘It was not the duke’s intention to
fire: his royal highness had come out upon the colonel’s desire to
give him satisfaction, and had no animosity against him.’ Colonel
Lennox pressed that the duke should fire, which was declined, upon a
repetition of the reason. Lord Winchelsea then went up to the duke
of York, and expressed a hope ‘That his royal highness could have no
objection to say that he considered Colonel Lennox a man of honour
and courage.’ His royal highness replied ‘That he should say
nothing; he had come out to give the colonel satisfaction, and did
not mean to fire at him: if Colonel Lennox was not satisfied he
might fire again.’ Colonel Lennox said ‘He could not possibly fire
again at the duke, as his royal highness did not mean to fire at
him.’ On this both parties quitted the ground. The seconds think it
proper to add, that both parties behaved with the utmost coolness
and intrepidity.” Having, on the 28th of the same month,
obtained the duke’s permission for a call of the officers to
consider his conduct, they declared their opinion to be that,
subsequent to the 15th, he had “behaved with courage, but
from the peculiarity of the circumstances, not with judgment.” In
consequence of this declaration, he, on the 16th June,
exchanged his company in the guards for the lieutenant-colonelcy of
the 35th foot, then stationed in Edinburgh castle. An
Irish gentleman of the name of Theophilus Swift, a relative and
author of a Life of Dean Swift, having published a pamphlet,
reflecting on his character, Colonel Lennox sent him a challenge,
and on the morning of the 3d July, they met in a field near London,
attended by their seconds, Mr. Swift by Sir William Brown, and Col.
Lennox by Col. Phipps, when the ball from the colonel’s pistol
lodged in Mr. Swift’s body, but he soon recovered from his wound. On
his arrival in Edinburgh, on the 21st of the month, the
castle was illuminated in honour of his joining the regiment. The
incorporation of goldsmiths in Edinburgh made him an honorary member
of their body, and presented him with the freedom in a silver
snuff-box. He had also the freedom of the city conferred on him by
the magistrates. The subjoined is from a full-length portrait of
Colonel Lennox, taken while in Edinburgh, by Kay, and inserted, with
a biographical account of the colonel, in Kay’s Edinburgh
Portraits:
[portrait of colonel Lennox]
In September of the same year he married Lady Charlotte, eldest
daughter of the fourth duke of Gordon, and niece to the celebrated
Lady Wallace.
He afterwards served in the Leeward Islands, and arrived in
St. Domingo from Martinique with eight flank companies of foot, on
the 8th June 1794, just at the breaking out of the yellow
fever, to which 409 officers and 600 rank and file fell victims in
two months. In 1795 he was appointed aide-de-camp to the king, with
the rank of colonel, and in 1798 he became major-general. In 1800 he
was made colonel-commandant of the 35th foot, and in May
1803 was promoted to be colonel of the same regiment. He attained
the rank of lieutenant-general in 1805, and of general in 1814.
At the general election of 1799, on the retirement of his
father from the representation of Sussex, he was elected M.P. for
that county, and gave his support to Pitt’s administration. He was
rechosen in 1796, and again in 1802 and 1806. The same year he
succeeded his uncle as duke of Richmond and Lennox. On the 1st
April 1807, he was sworn a privy councillor, and appointed
lord-lieutenant of Ireland, which dignity he held for six years. His
administration, with Colonel Wellesley, afterwards duke of
Wellington, as chief secretary, was very popular. On quitting
Ireland, his grace removed with his family to Brussels, and both he
and his eldest son, the earl of March, accompanied the duke of
Wellington’s suite to the field of Waterloo.
Soon after, he was appointed governor-general of British North
America. His administration, which had commenced auspiciously,
terminated in a very melancholy manner. Having been bitted by a dog,
he died of hydrophobia, at Montreal, on 28th August 1819,
and was interred in the cathedral church of Quebec. His sufferings
previous to his death were extreme. He had risen early on the
morning of the 27th, and proposed walking through
Richmond wood to the new settlement of that name. In his progress
through the wood he started off on hearing a dog bark, and was with
difficulty overtaken; and on the party’s arrival at the skirts of
the wood, at the sight of some stagnant water, his grace hastily
leaped over a fence, and rushed into an adjoining barn, whither his
dismayed companions eagerly followed him. The paroxysm of his
disorder was now at its height. He was with difficulty removed to a
miserable hovel in the neighbourhood, and expired in the arms of a
faithful Swiss, who had never quitted his beloved master for a
moment. Whilst in this miserable log-hut, reason occasionally
resumed her empire, and his grace availed himself of these lucid
intervals to address a letter to Lady Margaret Lennox; in which he
reminded her that a favourite dog, belonging to the household, being
in a room at the castle of St. Louis, at a time, five months before,
when shaving he had cut his chin, the dog was lifted up to lick the
wound, when the animal, which subsequently went mad, bit him on the
chin. He had seven sons and seven daughters.
His eldest son, Charles Gordon Lennox, K.G., 5th
duke, born Aug. 3, 1791, married April 10, 1817, Lady Caroline Paget,
eldest daughter of the 1st marquis of Anglesey, issue, 4
sons and 3 daughters. He early entered the army, and in 1810 joined
the duke of Wellington in Portugal as aide-de-camp and assistant
military secretary, remaining with him till the close of the
Peninsular war. He was also at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. In 1829 he
was created a knight of the Garter; postmaster-general from 1830 to
1834. On the death of his maternal uncle, the fifth and last duke of
Gordon, in 1836, he assumed the additional name of Gordon, on
succeeding to the greater part of his estates; chancellor of
Marischal college and university, Aberdeen; high steward of
Chichester; a privy councillor; lord-lieutenant of Sussex;
vice-admiral of the coast of Sussex; colonel of the Royal Sussex
militia; and aide-de-camp to the queen. He died Oct. 21, 1860, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles, earl of March and Darnley.
The second son, Lord Fitzroy George Charles Lennox, an officer in
the army, was lost in the President steamer in 1841, coming from
America. His grace’s 2d daughter, Lady Augusta-Catherine, countess
of Dornberg, born in 1827, married in 1851 Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar.
Charles, 6th duke, born Feb. 27, 1818, capt. in the
army when earl of March, M.P., and president of poor-law board;
hereditary constable of Inverness castle. His grace married in 1843,
Frances Harriet, eldest daughter of Algernon F. Greville, Esq.;
issue, Charles Henry, earl of March and Darnley, 2 other sons, and 2
daughters.
