The Jacobite Rebellions
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The Jacobite Rebellions - People

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The Jacobite Rebellions - Key People

There were many important people involved with the Jacobite Rebellions.

Discover more about the people that made history.


 
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  James Francis Edward Stuart 

People

James Francis Edward Stuart

Born: 10 June 1688

Died: 1 January 1766


Father: King James II of England

Mother: Mary of Modena

Also known as: The Old Pretender

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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, studio of Alexis Simon Belle (c.1712)
 NPG 348 © National Potrait Gallery, London

Born in St. James Palace (London), the son of King James VII (1633-1701), who was forced off the throne the following year. On the death of his father he became the focus of the Jacobite cause, and was recognised by France as King James III (of England). The unpopularity of the 1707 Act of Union rekindled some support, and James took full advantage by leading an expedition in 1708, but this was aborted before landing in Scotland. Again there was support for the Jacobite cause following the Hanoverian succession in 1714, and the rising of 1715 resulted. The incompetence of John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, ensured that the initiative had been lost and James, who had landed at Peterhead, left for France from Montrose just six weeks later. James never returned to Scotland, instead heading an intrigue-ridden court in exile, and passed the baton to his son Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788).

He died in Rome and is interred in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, by Nicolas de Largillière (1691)
 PG 2191 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart; Princess Louisa Maria Theresa Stuart (1695)
 NPG 976 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, by Alexis Simon Belle (1700)
 PG 1215 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, after Alexis Simon Belle (c.1712)
 NPG 273 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, by E Gill (1725-28)
 PG 1836 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, attributed to Anton Raphael Mengs (1740s)
 NPG 433 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, by Louis Gabriel Blanchet (1741)
 NPG 5573 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, by or after Francesco Ponzone (c.1741)
 NPG 4535 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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King George I

People

George I (r. 1714-1727)

Born: 28 May 1660

Died: 11 June 1727


Father: Ernest Augustus

Mother: Sophia of Hanover

George was elector of Hanover and, from 1714, the first Hanoverian king of Great Britain

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 King George I, by Georg Wilhelm Lafontaine (c.1720-27)
 Royal Collection © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

As Sophia, Electress of Hanover, had died two months before Queen Anne (who died in 1714), Sophia's eldest son George, Elector of Hanover, inherited the throne under the Act of Settlement (there were some 50 Roman Catholic relatives with stronger claims).

His claim was challenged by James Stuart, Roman Catholic son of James II, who landed in Scotland in 1715, following a rising of Scottish clans on his behalf; this was unsuccessful and he soon withdrew.

George I spoke German and French and a little English; he regularly visited Hanover to fulfil his duties there.

Family tensions (George imprisoned his wife in 1694) and political plotting led to differences and intense dislike between George and his son, George.

In 1719 and 1720, and during most of the King's absences in Hanover, power was delegated to a Regency Council and not to the Prince of Wales.

Unfamiliar with the customs of the country and lacking fluent English, George was very dependent on his ministers and they dominated Parliament during his reign.

George died in 1727, during a visit to Hanover.

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 King George I, studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (c.1714)
 NPG 4223 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 King George I, studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1714)
 NPG 544 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 George in 1718, by George Vertue, after Sir
 Godfrey Kneller

 

Left: A 1718 quarter-guinea coin from the reign of George I, showing him in profile.

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King George II

People

George II (r. 1727-1760)

Born: 30 October 1683

Died: 25 October 1760


Father: King George I

Mother: Sophia Dorothea of Celle

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.

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 King George II, studio of Charles Jervas, (c.1727)
 NPG 368 © National Potrait Gallery, London

George II was born November 10, 1683, the only son of George I and Sophia. His youth was spent in the Hanoverian court in Germany, and he married Caroline of Anspach in 1705. Like his father, George was very much a German prince, but at the age of 30 when George I ascended the throne, he was young enough to absorb the English culture that escaped his father.

George had three passions: the army, music and his wife. He was exceptionally brave and has the distinction of being the last British sovereign to command troops in the field (at Dettingen against the French in 1743). He inherited his father's love of opera, particularly the work of George Frederick Handel, who had been George I's court musician in Hanover.


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 King George II, by Thomas Hudson (1744)
 NPG 670 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 George II, 1683-1760 by John Shackleton (1755)
 PG 221 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 King George II by or after Thomas Worlidge (c.1753)
 NPG 256 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 George II, by David Morier (c.1745)Royal Collection © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 

George's reign was threatened in 1745 when Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, landed in Scotland.

George's son, William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, led the government army at the Battle of Culloden where he defeated the Jacobites led by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

George gave the Duke of Cumberland instructions that the Scots had to be punished for supporting Charles. Many of those who had joined Charles' army were executed and their land was given to those who had remained loyal to the king. Scotsmen were also banned from wearing kilts and playing bagpipes.

During his reign the British army won important military victories at Plassey (1757) and Quebec (1759). George II died in 1760.


 King George II
 after Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
 oil on canvas, (1716)
 NPG 205
 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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King William III (of Orange)

People

William III (of Orange) (r.1689-1702)

Born: 4 November 1650

Died: 8 March 1702


Father: William II of Orange

Mother: Mary, Princess Royal

Spouse: Mary II of England

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 William III Landing at Brixham, Torbay, 5 November 1688, by Jan Wyck
 BHC3095 © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Early years

William was born on 4 November 1650 in The Hague. It was not an auspicious entry into the world. His father, William II of Orange, had just died of smallpox and his English mother, Mary, had her bedchamber swathed in black to mourn him. Mary's father and William's grandfather, Charles I, had been brutally beheaded in London only the previous year. Mary in turn died of smallpox when William was 10 years old.

The young William was groomed to lead the powerful House of Orange and to become a 'Stadtholder', or head of state of the Dutch Republic. He learned to be astute and distrustful from an early age.

William and Mary

In 1677, William married his cousin Mary. It was his 27th birthday. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, who was the brother of Charles II and heir to the English throne. James was a convert to Catholicism and had married a Catholic princess from Italy. Protestants worried that any son born to the couple would eventually become a Catholic king.

The marriage of William and Mary had been encouraged by Charles II, Mary's uncle and James's brother. By encouraging James's Protestant daughter Mary to marry William of Orange, it raised the prospect of a Protestant heir to the throne. Through this, Charles II hoped to allay concerns that James would establish a Catholic dynasty.

William had his own reasons for marrying Mary. He hoped their union would cement an Anglo-Dutch alliance against Louis XIV and bring another important ally into his struggle with the French king.

James II

Charles II died in 1685 and James became King James II. Many in Protestant England were deeply suspicious of the new Catholic monarch. When his wife gave birth to a son in the summer of 1688 it confirmed their worst fears of a Catholic succession.

This meant that James II's Protestant daughter, Mary, wife of William of Orange, was no longer next in line to the throne. Alarmed by the situation, a group of James's Protestant opponents secretly invited William to invade England and oust his father-in-law.

Many Englishmen supported William and, after some prominent English nobles defected to the invader, James II chose not to fight. He was subsequently captured and then allowed to escape to exile in France.

The Glorious Revolution

Early in 1689, the English Parliament formally offered William and Mary the throne as joint monarchs, an event known as the 'Glorious Revolution'.

William III of Orange was now William III of England and Ireland, and William II of Scotland.

The new monarchs could not rule with the same direct power as their predecessors. They accepted Parliament's 'Declaration of Rights', later called 'Bill of Rights'. This restricted the king's power and marked an important transition towards the system of parliamentary rule that exists to this day.

After their coronation, William and Mary moved into Hampton Court Palace.

Battle of the Boyne

In March 1689, James landed in Ireland with French troops supplied by William of Orange's sworn enemy, Louis XIV. James planned to use Ireland as a base from which to invade England and recover his throne.

In response William raised a huge invasion force, the largest Ireland had ever seen. In July 1690 he decisively defeated James at the Battle of the Boyne. James fled once again to France.

The Grand Alliance

Defeating Louis XIV of France remained William's focus throughout his life. In 1689 he had brought Britain into the League of Augsburg against France, transforming it into the 'Grand Alliance'. For the next eight years he was often away fighting, leaving his wife to rule in his absence.

In 1694 William set up the Bank of England in order to fund his war against Louis XIV.

Under William's leadership, the diverse Grand Alliance held together and in 1697 Louis XIV relinquished much of the territory he had won by conquest.

Felled by a mole

In 1694 William's wife Mary died of smallpox. Inconsolable with grief, he fainted at her bedside.

He continued to rule alone. Then in February 1702, William's horse stumbled on a molehill at Hampton Court and he was thrown, breaking his collarbone. His health, which had never been strong, deteriorated rapidly. He died on 8 March.

When courtiers undressed the king they found he was wearing Mary's wedding ring and a lock of her hair close to his heart.

William had no heir and his death brought an end to the House of Orange.

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 King William III after Cornelius Johnson (1657)
 NPG 272 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 King William III by Unknown artist (c.1690)
 NPG 1026 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 King William III by Jan de Baen (c.1668)
 NPG 6269 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 King William III after Sir Peter Lely (1677)
 NPG 1902 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 King William III attributed to Thomas Murray
 NPG 5496 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 King William III by Unknown artist (c.1690)
 NPG 4153 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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William III + II and Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers
of England in 1689

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Memorial to William III, 1702
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General Hugh Mackay

People

General Hugh Mackay

Born: 1640, Scourie

Died: 3 August 1692


Father: Hugh Mackay of Scourie

Children: Hugh, Margaret and Maria

Known for: General and inventor of the ring-bayonet

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 General Hugh MacKay, after Sir Godfrey Kneller (c.1690)
 NAM 7806 © National Army Museum, London

Born in Scourie (Sutherland), the son of the local laird, Mackay joined the army in 1660. He served in France, Italy and was part of the French army which invaded the Netherlands in 1672. However, the following year he married a Dutch lady, became convinced he was fighting on the wrong side and joined a Scottish Regiment supporting the Dutch. He returned to England in 1685 to assist James VII to put down the rebellion by James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth (1649-85). However, when James next needed their help, Mackay and most of his officers felt they could no longer support their King and his policies, so remained in Holland. Mackay assisted William of Orange to take the British crown and became Commander-in-Chief of the army in Scotland in 1689. In the same year Mackay was roundly defeated by Graham of Claverhouse at Killiecrankie and Mackay's younger brother was killed in that engagement. However, Mackay went on to subdue the Highlands, establishing Fort William as a military base. After his experience at Killiecrankie, where his forces were unable to hold back the charging Highlanders, Mackay designed the ring-bayonet which allowed a rifle to be fired with the bayonet in place, saving valuable time in the heat of battle.

Mackay served with distinction in the bloody Battle of Aughrim in Ireland (1691). He then returned to the Continent, fighting the French in Flanders and was killed at the Battle of Steenkirk (1692). Sources suggest he was to have been rewarded for his successes by being created the Earl of Scourie, but this intention was frustrated by his opponents or perhaps his early death.

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 The Battle of Killiecrankie, 1689 by Alan B HerriotKIL 004 © National Trust for Scotland 
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 Lord George Murray 

People

Lord George Murray

Born: 4 October 1694

Died: 11 October 1760


Father: John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl

Mother: Catherine, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Hamilton

Achievements: An important Jacobite general


Lord George was a very important person in the 1745 Jacobite rising. He was in charge of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army.

  • He was seen as a good leader and he won many battles before the Jacobites were beaten at Culloden.
  • He was a very proud man and not very easy to get along with.
  • Bonnie Prince Charlie didn't like him that much but he knew that he needed him.
  • Lord George had fought in a Jacobite rising before. In 1715 he had tried to help Charlie's father, James Francis get the crown back. That rising failed as well.
  • He was defeated at the Battle of Glenshiel in 1719 and fled to France.
  • Lord George helped make one of the biggest decisions of the 1745 rising. He talked Charlie into going back to Scotland rather than attacking London.
  • After the failure of the rising, Murray escaped to France and later died in Holland aged 66.

Source: BBC - Around Scotland - Jacobites


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 Lord George Murray by Sir Robert Strange (c.1746)
 PG 2754 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Lord George Murray

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 Lord George Murray, collected by Walter Blaikie
 © National Library of Scotland
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 Lord George Murray (1694-1760)

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 The beautifully ornamented gravestone of Lord George Murray in
 Medemblik, Holland

"My life, my fortune, my expectations, the happiness of my wife and children, are all at stake (and the changes are against me), and yet my duty to Scotland in which my Honour is too deeply to withdraw, this matter of principles outweighs everything"

Left: "The Battle of Glenshiel 1719" by Peter Tillemans. Figures probably include Lord George Murray, Rob Roy MacGregor, and General Joseph Wightman

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General George Wade

People

George Wade

Born: 1673, Ireland

Died: 14 March 1748


Father: Jerome Wade

Years of Service: 1690-1748

Rank: Field Marshal

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 Field-Marshal George Wade, by Johan van Diest (c.1731)
 PG 2416 © National Galleries of Scotland

George Wade (1673-1748) was a soldier and a road builder. Soldiering led him into road-building. From 1724 to 1740 he was Commander in Chief of the army in North Britain, and during this period he built 240 miles of military roads to open up the Highlands, many of which are still in use.

Wade was an Irishman. As a young man he did military service in Flanders and Spain. When he made his first visit to the Highlands in 1724, he found them in "a state of anarchy and confusion", and virtually inaccessible to his troops.

Wade had garrisons built with good Hanoverian names - Fort William, Fort Augustus and Fort George. He made new roads across the area and 30 bridges over major rivers - including a five-arch bridge over the Tay at Aberfeldy that is still in use (pictured to the right).

His roads included Dunkeld to Inverness (today's A9) and Fort William to Inverness (today's A82) as well as the Corrieyairack (Kingussie to Fort Augustus, now just a track beyond his bridge over the Spey at Garva).

Wade's involvement in quelling the 1745 Jacobite Rising, when he was called back from retirement at the age of 72, was minor and inglorious. His troops failed to intercept the Jacobite army on its campaign south to Derby or, even more amazingly, on its dejected return north to Scotland.

General Wade's roads and bridges helped to impose the Hanoverian government's authority in Scotland; and by 1773 James Boswell and Samuel Johnson were able to make an untroubled tour of the area.

If you had seen this road before it was made.
You would lift up your hands and bless General Wade.

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 George Wade, attributed to Johan van Diest (c.1731)
 NPG 1594 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 The map shows the network of military roads constructed by General
 Wade between 1725 and 1736

Scotland's Military Roads
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 Elegant five-arched road bridge over the River Tay, designed and built by William Adam at the order of Lieutenant-General
 George Wade for the Board of Ordnance in 1733. The finest of the 40 Wade military bridges

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 Surveying in the Highlands, a view near Loch Rannoch by Paul Sandby (1749)
 © The British Library Board (K.Top.50.83.2)
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 Flora MacDonald 

People

Flora MacDonald

Born: 1722

Died: 4 March 1790


Father: Ranald MacDonald of Milton

Residence: Benbecula

Gaelic: Fionnghal NicDhòmhnaill


On the 21st June 1746, an incident occurred which changed the course of Flora MacDonald's life and turned her into one of the most popular, romantic heroines of Scottish history. Neil MacEachen brought Prince Charles Edward Stuart, defeated in battle at Culloden in April of that year and hunted by Hanoverian troops, from the mainland to the Hebrides to her South Uist home.

Flora, born in 1722, was the daughter of a tacksman, a substantial tenant, of the chief, MacDonald of Clanranald, and therefore a member of a staunchly Jacobite clan. On his death, her mother married a MacDonald of Sleat from Skye, and Lady Clanranald herself effectively adopted Flora. The situation meant that Flora had relatives in both Skye and South Uist and was ideally placed to act as a cover for the Prince's flight back to the former island.

The story of the journey from Benbecula to Portree with Charles disguised as Flora's Irish maid, Betty Burke, is one of the best known tales of the Scottish past. The journey was perilous but brief and Charles eventually left the mainland for France, never to return. Flora, when her part in the escape became known, was arrested but even the vengeance of the Hanoverians was tempered by the popular appeal of the courage and ingenuity shown by the young woman. During imprisonment on board ship and in the Tower of London, she was well treated and even feted.

Release came fairly quickly and by 1750, Flora had returned to the life from which she came with marriage to a relative, Allan MacDonald of Kingsburgh in Skye. She remained, however, an object of curiosity and was in 1773 visited by Dr Johnson and James Boswell during their well-documented tour of the Hebrides.

Like so many Scots at their time and later, Flora and her husband emigrated to the American colonies. In 1774, they were in North Carolina seeking a better fortune than post-Culloden Scotland could offer them and the family's final reconciliation to the British crown was perhaps illustrated by Allan MacDonald's enlistment as a Brigadier-General in the army opposing the 'American War of Independence'. He and their son, Alexander, were captured, and after his release, the family attempted unsuccessfully to settle in Canada.

Flora returned to Scotland in 1779, to be followed by Allan in 1784. All former colonists were able to file claims against the loss of their property in North America but the returns were disappointing for the MacDonalds and they lived a simple existence at Kingsburgh until Flora's death in 1790.

She was buried in the churchyard of Kilmuir at the north end of Skye and her funeral cortege was reported to have been more than a mile in length with people from Skye and adjacent islands.

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 The Prince, disguised as Betty Burke, by J. Williams (after 1746)
 NPG D34735 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 Flora Macdonald. Jacobite heroine, by Richard Wilson (1747)
 PG 1162 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Flora Macdonald, by Richard Wilson (1747)
 NPG 5848 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 Flora Macdonald with miniature of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, after I. Markluin
 NPG D5656 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 Ramsay, Allan (1713 - 1784), Flora Macdonald
 WA1960.76 © 2006 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum

 
Statue of Flora MacDonald at Inverness Castle
Statue of Flora MacDonald at
Inverness Castle


MUSIC


The Lament of Flora MacDonald


The Skye Boat Song

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 Earl of Mar 

People

John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar

Born: 1675, Scotland

Died: May 1732, France


Nationality: Scottish

Wars and battles: Jacobite Uprising of 1715, Battle of Sheriffmuir

Spouse: Lady Frances Pierrepont

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 Sir Godfrey Kneller, John Erskine, 22nd or 6th Earl of Mar
 GAC 0/137 © Crown Copyright, Government Art Collection

John Erskine, who was variously entitled the 6th or 11th Earl of Mar, was born on the Erskine estates at Alloa, Clackmannanshire in 1675. He succeeded his father as Earl in 1689.

Politically, Mar began his career as a Whig and was one of the leading architects of the 'Act of Union' between Scotland and England in 1707. Alongside the Earl of Loudoun, Mar held the office of Secretary of State, but found himself dismissed in 1709. By 1711, he was already doubting the worth of the union. When Queen Anne died in 1714, Mar was snubbed by the new Hanovarian King, George I. As a result, Mar was quick to join the Jacobite cause.

Heading north from London, he raised the standard at Braemar for the 'Old Pretender', Prince James Francis Edward Stewart and was joined by many landowners from north-east Scotland. James was proclaimed king in his absence at the Mercat Cross in Aberdeen. However, Mar was no soldier and deployed his support poorly. A part of his force moved into England, but was forced to surrender at Preston, Lancashire, while Mar himself met the Duke of Argyll in battle at Sheriffmuir. Technically a stalemate, Mar was the moral loser of this battle because he was forced to withdraw from his position.

James himself now belatedly arrived and was crowned as James VIII at Scone. However, by February 1716, he was on his way back to France with Mar at his side. As a result, the 1715 Rebellion was over before it had hardly started and John Erskine, the Earl of Mar, or 'Bobbing John' as he came to be called, was much ridiculed for his part in its failure and for his ability to change sides.

Mar's position, however, was not entirely of his own making. The aftermath of the 'Act of Union' had been a particularly confusing spell in Scottish politics. Discontent with the economic and political consequences of the union came to focus on the Stewarts as champions of Scottish liberty. Mar's flexibility of allegiance was not in the context unusual or surprising. The Rising itself nevertheless had failed to attract much support from the highland clans, and the English Jacobites, although loyal, had refused to move into Scotland. In addition, the Scots had lost their expected French support when Louis XIV died only a few days before the outset of the rebellion.

In France, Mar was made a Duke by Prince James but lost his enthusiasm for the Jacobite cause and may even have been prepared to betray it on one occasion. He died in 1736 at Aix-la-Chapelle. Mar seems to have taken a genuine interest in architecture and formal gardens, suggesting the need for the development of Edinburgh's New Town and also for a canal in central Scotland between the Rivers Forth and Clyde. It seems that he may have been more successful in pursuits other than politics and warfare.

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 John Erskine, 22nd or 6th Earl of Mar by John Smith, (1703)
 NPG D11580 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 Sir Godfrey Kneller, John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, 1675-1732
 PG 110 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Prince Charles Edward Stuart 

People

Charles Edward Stuart

Born: 31 December 1720

Died: 31 January 1788


Father: James Francis Edward Stuart

Grandfather: King James VII of Scotland and II of England

Also known as: Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender

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 Prince Charles Edward Stuart. By William Mosman (c.1750).
 © PG 1510 National Galleries of Scotland

Charles Edward Stuart, known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' or 'the Young Pretender', was born in 1720. He was the grandson of King James VII of Scotland and II of England, and he believed - along with his Jacobite followers - that the British throne was his birthright.

In 1745 the Prince sailed from France and raised his flag at Glenfinnan, in the West Highlands, hoping to raise an army and overthrow King George II. He nearly succeeded.

Many Highland clans supported him - others opposed him, siding with the Hanoverian monarch. Most Lowland Scots and English people were against him and he gained little support from English Jacobites.

After an eight-month campaign, the Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland - son of the King George II - obliterated what was left of the Jacobite army at the Battle of Culloden. Charles Edward Stuart had ignored the advice of more experienced commanders.

Charles Edward Stuart fled the battlefield, escaped Scotland and returned to France. He lived out the remainder of his life in exile; trying to gain support for his cause, conducting a string of affairs and drinking excessively.

'Bonnie Prince Charlie' became a tragic romantic hero. He appeared youthful and handsome - fleeing to Skye with the aid of Flora MacDonald. He was a hunted man with a price of £30,000 on his head.

Charles Edward Stuart's final days were rather less romantic. He grew old, ugly and embittered; blaming his Scots supporters for his defeat. He died, fat and alcoholic, at the age of 67.


Above: "Flora MacDonald's Introduction to Bonnie Prince Charlie" by Alexander Johnston (1846-1860). © National Museums Liverpool
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 The Baptism of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Antonio David (painted in 1725)
 PG 2511 © National Galleries of Scotland
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 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, studio of Antonio David (c.1729)
 NPG 434 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, by Louis Gabriel Blanchet (1738)
 NPG 5517 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 Prince Charles Edward Stuart in Edinburgh, 1745 by William Brassey Hole
 CAC1978/112 © City of Edinburgh Council

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 "Portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart", Studio of Antonio David, 1740
 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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 "Wanted Poster", by Richard Cooper, the Elder
 SP IV 123.49 © National Galleries of Scotland

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 The Prince, disguised as Betty Burke, by J. Williams (after 1746)
 NPG D34735 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, by Hugh Douglas Hamilton (c.1785)
 NPG 376 © National Portrait Gallery, London


"I am come home"
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 "I Am Come Home" by Allan Beattie HerriotGLN 005 © National Trust for Scotland 

FULL NAME

Charles Edward Louis
Philippe Casimir Stuart


MUSIC


Bonnie Prince Charlie, 1830


A slow reel for Prince Charlie


THE LONG MARCH

Explore a map of Prince Charlie's
escape
after the Battle of Culloden.

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Duke of Cumberland

People

William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

Born: 26 April 1721

Died: 31 October 1765


Father: King George II

Mother: Caroline of Ansbach

Also known as: Butcher Cumberland

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 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, by David Morier (c.1745-50)
 Royal Collection © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Prince and Field Marshall. Born in London, the second surviving son of King George II, he was created Duke of Cumberland by his father in 1726. His other titles included: Marquess of Berkhamstead, Earl of Kennington, Viscount Trematon and Baron of Alderney. He joined the army and was wounded at Dettingen (1743) and defeated at Fontenoy (1745), during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-8). However, in a Scottish context he brought about the final defeat of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and the effective end of any chance of Jacobite succession at the Battle of Culloden (1746). However, it was his actions following the battle which gained him an infamous reputation. He ruthlessly pursued and executed Jacobite soldiers and went on to terrorise the Highlands, earning himself the title "Butcher Cumberland". He systematically set about destroying the clan system and Highland way of life in an attempt to prevent any future rebellions.

In 1757, he surrendered to the French during the Seven Years' War (1756-63) and thereafter retired. Cumberland never married, but is said to have had three illegitimate children by the daughter of a Scottish soldier.

He died in London and is interred in Westminster Abbey.

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 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, by Charles Jervas (c.1728)
 NPG 802 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, attributed to Christian Friedrich Zincke (c.1743-1745)
 NPG 6285 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, studio of David Morier (c.1748-1749)
 NPG 537 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, after Sir Joshua Reynolds (c.1758)
 NPG 229 © National Portrait Gallery, London

FULL NAME

William Augustus Hanover

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 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds (c.1758-1760)
 NPG 625 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The Jacobite Rebellions - Key Events

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The Jacobite Rebellions - Events

Here you can fnd out more about the key events of the Jacobite Rebellions.

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After the Battle of Culloden, Bonnie Prince Charlie took flight to escape the Redcoats.