John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose

John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose (1548 – 9 November 1608) was a Scottish peer and Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1599 to 1604. He was Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland, from 1605 to 1606.

Family background

He was the son of Robert Graham, Master of Graham, and Margaret Fleming, a daughter of Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming. He father was killed at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh on 10 September 1547.

His maternal grandmother, Janet Fleming was a daughter of James IV of Scotland.

Career

A contemporary provided the following summary:

He is an Erle of small power, havinge but few gentlemen of his surname except the Larde of Fyntra situate in the Leuenax and dwellinge in the north. His revenues are not greate, yet being a man civil and gyven to quyet he hath matched with the houses of E[rskine].[1]

In July 1584 Montrose was at court at Falkland Palace and wrote to the lawyer Patrick Vaus of Barnbarroch asking him to help in the legal case of his friend Patrick Montcur of Montcur.[2]

The English politician Sir Robert Cecil noted that Montrose was a supporter of the Earl of Huntly in the "slaughter of Moray".[3]

The Graham family had a feud with Sir John Sandilands, who was the legal tutor of Sandilands of Calder. John Sandilands fought with the Master of Montrose on two occasions. James VI made Sandilands and Montrose agree in November 1599.[4]

Montrose was made Chancellor of Scotland in 1599. Soon after when he was at Holyrood Palace speaking with Anne of Denmark in her chamber, they were interrupted by James Forman, an Edinburgh burgess, who complained about various policies and a tax on wine and criticised the comptroller David Murray and the king. Around the same time, the chancellor's clothes and some silver were stolen from his house and sold on.[5]

After James VI had gone to England in 1603 at the Union of the Crowns, Montrose wrote to him on 10 May and 13 May about Anne of Denmark.[6] She had gone to Stirling Castle to collect her son Prince Henry without authority. Montrose also arranged and paid for the accommodation in John Kinloch's house of some English ladies who had come to meet Anne of Denmark.[7]

Marriage and children

Montrose married Jean Drummond, a daughter of David, Lord Drummond and Lilias Ruthven. Their children included:

Ancestry
John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose's ancestors in three generations
John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose Father:
Robert Graham, Master of Montrose		 Paternal Grandfather:
William Graham, 2nd Earl of Montrose		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
William Graham, 1st Earl of Montrose
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Annabella Drummond
Paternal Grandmother:
Lady Janet Keith		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
William Keith, 2nd Earl Marischal
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Lady Elizabeth Gordon
Mother:
Margaret Fleming		 Maternal Grandfather:
Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
John Fleming, 2nd Lord Fleming
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Eupheme Drummond
Maternal Grandmother:
Lady Janet Stewart		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
James IV of Scotland
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Isabel Stewart

References
  1. Alexander Hay, The Scottish Nobilitie in An.Dom.1577 (London, printed for the Grampian Club, 1873), pp. 11-12.
  2. Robert Vans-Agnew, Correspondence of Sir Robert Waus of Barnbarroch, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1887), p. 295.
  3. John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 436.
  4. John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:2 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 579.
  5. David Masson, Register of the Privy Council, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1884), pp. 859-61.
  6. James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), pp. 48-51.
  7. Leeds Barroll, Anna of Denmark (Pennsylvania, 2001), pp. 28-30, 32.
  • Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Graham, John (1547?-1608)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
  • The Scots Peerage. https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun06pauluoft
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