Rosslyn, Earls Of
ROSSLYN, EARLS OF. The first earl of Rosslyn was Alexander Wedderburn (see below), who was succeeded by his nephew, James St Clair Erskine (1762-1837), a son of Wedderburn's sister Janet by her marriage with Sir Henry Erskine (d. 1765), a Scottish baronet and soldier. Entering the army in 1776, James Erskine served in Portugal, in Denmark and in the Netherlands, and became a general in 1814. From 1782 until 1805, when he became a peer, he was a member of parliament ; a Tory politician and an associate of the duke of Wellington, he was lord privy seal in 1820-30 and lord president of the council in 1834-35. He inherited the estates of the family of St Clair and took this name in 1789, and he died on the 18th of January 1837. His son, James Alexander (1802-1866), became 3rd earl, and in 1890 the latter's grandson, James Francis Harry (b. 1869), became 5th earl.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
