Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
CRAWFORD, EARLS OF
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: COR-CRE
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:CRAWFORD, EARLS OF . The See also:house of See also:Lindsay, of which the See also:earl of Crawford is the See also:head, traces its descent back to the barons of Crawford who flourished in the 12th See also:century, and has included a number of men who have played leading parts in the See also:history of See also:Scotland. It is said that " though other families in Scotland may have been of more historic, none can in genealogical importance equal that of Lindsay," and the Lindsays claim that " the predecessors of the 1st earl of Crawford were barons at the See also:period of the earliest See also:parliamentary records, and that, in fact, they were never enrolled in the See also:modern sense of the See also:term, but were among the pares, of which See also:kings are primi, from the commencement of recorded history." Again we are told, " the earldom of Crawford, therefore, like those of See also:Douglas, of See also:Moray, See also:Ross, See also: 4th earl (d. 1454), called the " See also:tiger earl," was, like his See also:father David the 3rd earl, who was killed in 1446, one of the most powerful of the Scottish nobles; for some See also:time he was in arms against King James II., but he submitted in 1452. His son David, the 5th earl (c. 1440-1495), was lord high See also:admiral and lord chamberlain; he went frequently as an See also:ambassador to See also:England and was created See also:duke of See also:Montrose in 1488, but the See also:title did not descend to his son. Montrose fought for James III. at the See also:battle of Sauchieburn, and his son See also: But the 9th earl, although he had at least two sons, named the wicked master's son David as his See also:heir, and consequently in 1558 the earldom came back to the See also:elder See also:line of the Lindsays, the 9th earl being called the " interpolated earl."
David Lindsay, loth earl of Crawford (d. 1574), was a supporter of See also:Mary See also:Queen of Scots; he . was succeeded by his son David
(c. 1547–1607) as 11th earl. This David, a See also:grandson of See also:Cardinal See also:Beaton, was concerned in some of the risings under James VI.; he was converted to See also:Roman Catholicism and was in communication with the Spaniards about an invasion of England. After his death the earldom passed to his son David (d. 1621), a lawless See also:ruffian, and then to his See also:brother, Sir See also: He See also:left no issue.
The earl of Lindsay, who thus supplanted his kinsman, belonged to the See also:family of Lindsay of the Byres, a See also:branch of the Lindsays descended from Sir David Lindsay of Crawford (d. c. 1355), the grandfather of the 1st earl of Crawford. Sir David's descendant, Sir John Lindsay of the Byres (d. 1482), was created a lord of parliament as Lord Lindsay of the Byres in 1445, and his son David, the 2nd lord (d. 1490), fought for James III. at the battle of Sauchieburn. The most prominent member of this line was See also:Patrick, 6th Lord Lindsay of the Byres (d. 1589), a son of John the 5th lord (d. 1563), who was a temperate member of the reforming party. Patrick was one of the first of the Scottish nobles to join the reformers, and he was also one of the most violent. He fought against the See also:regent, Mary of See also:Lorraine, and the See also:French; then during a temporary reconciliation he assisted Mary, queen of Scots, to crush the See also:northern rebels at Corrichie in 1562, but again among the enemies of the queen he took part in the See also:murder of David See also:Rizzio and signed the See also:bond against See also:Bothwell, whom he wished to meet in single combat after the affair at Carberry See also: In 1578, however, he was among those who tried to drive See also:Morton from See also:power, and in 1582 he helped to seize the See also:person of the king in the plot called the " See also:raid of See also:Ruthven," afterwards escaping to England. Lindsay had returned to Scotland when he died on the 11th of See also:December 1589. His successor was his son, James the 7th lord (d. 16o1).
Patrick's great-grandson, John Lindsay, 17th earl of Crawford and 1st earl of Lindsay (c. 1598–1678), was the son of Robert Lindsay, 9th Lord Lindsay of the Byres, whom he succeeded as loth lord in 1616. In 1633 he was created earl of Lindsay, and having become a See also:leader of the See also:Covenanters he marched with the Scottish See also:army into England in 1644 and was See also:present at Marston Moor; in 1644 also he obtained the earldom of Crawford in the manner already mentioned. In the same See also:year he became lord high' treasurer of Scotland, and in 1645 See also:president of the parliament. Having fought against Montrose at See also:Kilsyth, the earl of Crawford-Lindsay, as he was called, changed sides, and in 1647 he signed the " engagement " for the See also:release of Charles I., losing all his offices by the See also:act of classes when his enemy, the See also:marquess of See also:Argyll, obtained the upper See also:hand. After the defeat of the Scots at See also:Dunbar, however, Crawford regained his See also:influence in Scottish politics, but from 1651 to r66o he was a prisoner in England. In 1661 he was restored to his former dignities, but his refusal to abjure the See also:covenant compelled him to resign them two years later. His son, See also: Mr See also:Andrew See also:Lang says this earl was " very poor, very presbyterian, and his letters, almost alone among those of the statesmen of the period, are See also:rich in the texts and unctuous See also:style of an older See also:generation." William's grandson, John Lindsay, loth earl of Crawford and 4th earl of Lindsay (1702–1749), won a high reputation as a soldier. He held a command in the See also:Russian army, seeing service against the Turk, and he also served against the same foe under See also:Prince See also:Eugene; Having returned to the See also:English army he led the See also:life-See also:guards at See also:Dettingen and distinguished himself at See also:Fontenoy; later he served against France in the See also:Netherlands. He left no sons when he died in December 1749, and his kinsman, See also:George Crawford-Lindsay, 4th See also:Viscount Garnock (c. 1723–1781), a descendant of the 17th earl, became 21st earl of Crawford and 5th earl of Lindsay. When George's son, George, the 22nd earl (1758–1808), died unmarried in See also:January 18o8, the earldoms of Crawford and Lindsay were separated, George's kinsman, David Lindsay (d. 1809), a descendant of the 4th Lord Lindsay of the Byres, becoming 7th earl of Lindsay. Both David and his successor Patrick (d. 1839) died without sons, and in 1878 the (1827–1894), also a descendant of the 4th Lord Lindsay of the Byres, was entitled to the earldom. In 1894 John's cousin, David See also:Clark Bethune (b. 1832), became 11th earl of Lindsay. The earldom of Crawford remained dormant from 18o8, when this separation took See also:place, until 1848; when the House of Lords adjudged it to James Lindsay, 7th earl of Balcarres. The earls of Balcarres are descended from John Lindsay, Lord Menmuir (1552–1598), a younger son of David Lindsay, 9th earl of Crawford. John, who bought the See also:estate of Balcarres in Fifeshire, became a lord of session as Lord Menmuir in 1581; he was a member of the Scottish privy See also:council and one of the commissioners of the See also:treasury called the Octavians. He had great influence with James VI., helping the king to restore See also:episcopacy after he had become, in 1595, keeper of the privy See also:seal and a secretary of See also:state. Menmuir, a See also:man of great intellectual attainments, left two sons, the younger, David, succeeding to the family estates on his brother's death in 16or. David (c. 1586–1641), a notable alchemist, was created Lord Lindsay of Balcarres in r633, and in 1651 his son Alexander was made earl of Balcarres. Alexander Lindsay, 1st earl of Balcarres (1618–1659), the " See also:Rupert of the Covenant," fought against Charles I. at Marston Moor, at See also:Alford and at Kilsyth, but later he joined the royalists, See also:signing the " engagement " for the release of the king in 1647, and having been created earl of Balcarres took part in See also:Glencairn's rising in 1653. See also:Richard See also:Baxter speaks very highly of the earl, who died at See also:Breda in See also:August 1659. His son Charles (d. 1662) became 2nd earl of Balcarres, and another son, See also:Colin (c. 1654–1722), became 3rd earl. Colin, who was perhaps the most trusted of the advisers of James II., wrote some valuable See also:Memoirs touching the Revolution in Scotland, 2688–16po; these were first published in 1714, and were edited for the See also:Bannatyne See also:Club by the 25th earl of Crawford in 1841. Having been allowed to return to Scotland after an See also:exile in France, the earl joined the Jacobite rising in 1715. His successor was his son Alexander, the 4th earl (d. 1936), who was followed by another son, James, the 5th earl (1691–1768), who fought for the Stuarts at See also:Sheriffmuir. Afterwards James was pardoned and entered the English army, serving under George II. at Dettingen, This earl wrote some Memoirs of the Lindsays, which were completed by his son Alexander, the 6th earl (1752–1825). Alexander was with the English troops in See also:America during the struggle for See also:independence, and was See also:governor of See also:Jamaica from 1794 to 18o1, filling a difficult position with great See also:credit to himself. He became a See also:general in 1803, and died at Haigh See also: It was not until the 18th of See also:July r882 that the See also:police, acting on the See also:confession of an See also:eye-See also:witness of the desecration, found the remains, which were then reinterred at Haigh Hall, Wigan. His only son, James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th earl of Crawford (1847– ), See also:British astronomer and orientalist, was born at St Germain-en-Laye, France, on the 28th of July 1847. Educated at Eton and Trinity See also:College, See also:Cambridge, he devoted himself to See also:r2 See also:astronomy, in which he early achieved distinction. In 1870 he went to See also:Cadiz to observe the See also:eclipse of the See also:sun, and, in 1874, to See also:Mauritius to observe the transit of See also:Venus. ' In the See also:interval, with the assistance of his father, he had built an See also:observatory at Dunecht, See also:Aberdeenshire, which in 1888 he presented, together with his unique library of astronomical and mathematical works, to the New Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill, See also:Edinburgh, where they were installed in 1895. His services to See also:science were recognized by his See also:election to the presidentship of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878 and 1879 in See also:succession to Sir William See also:Huggins, and to the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1878. He also received the degree of LL.D. from Edinburgh University in 1882, and in the following year was nominated honorary See also:associate of the Royal Prussian See also:Academy of Sciences. An enthusiastic bibliophile, he became a trustee of the British Museum, and acted for a term as president of the Library Association. To the See also:free library of Wigan, See also:Lancashire, he gave a See also:series of See also:oriental and English See also:MSS. of the 9th to the 19th centuries in See also:illustration of the progress of See also:handwriting, while for the use of specialists and students he issued the invaluable Bibliotheca Lindesiana. He represented Wigan in the House of See also:Commons from 1874 till his succession to the title in 1880. Another title held by the Lindsays was that of Spynie, Sir Alexander Lindsay (c. 1555–1607), created Baron Spynie in 1590, being a younger son of the loth earl of Crawford. The and
Lord Spynie was Alexander's son, Alexander (d. 1646), who served in See also:Germany under Gustavus See also:Adolphus and assisted Charles I. in Scotland during the Civil War; and the 3rd lord was the latter's son, George. When George, a royalist who was taken prisoner at the battle of See also:Worcester, died in 1671 this title
became See also:extinct.
The dukedom of Montrose, which had lapsed on the death of
the 5th earl of Crawford in 1495 and had been revived in 1707 in the See also:Graham family, was claimed in 1848 by the 24th earl of Crawford, but in 1853 the House of Lords gave See also:judgment
against the earl.
The Lindsays have furnished the Scottish See also: See Lord Lindsay (25th earl of Crawford), Lives of the Lindsays (1849) ; A. Jervise, History and Traditions of the Land of the Lindsay's (1882); G. E. C(okayne), See also:Complete See also:Peerage (1887–1898); H. T. Folkard, A Lindsay See also:Record (1899) ; and Sir J. B. See also:Paul's edition of the Scots Peerage of Sir R. Douglas, vol. iii. (1906). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] CRAVEN, WILLIAM CRAVEN, EARL |
[next] CRAWFORD, FRANCIS MARION (1854–1909) |