John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort

The Earl of Melfort
Earl of Melfort and Jacobite Duke of Melfort, ca 1688
Jacobite Secretary of State
In office
6 December 1688 – 2 June 1694
MonarchJames II
Succeeded byEarl of Middleton
Secretary of State in Scotland
In office
15 September, 1684 – 4 December,1688
Preceded byEarl of Moray
Succeeded byEarl of Melville
Treasurer-Depute
In office
1682–1684
Preceded byEarl of Lauderdale
Succeeded byEarl of Kintore
Master of the Ordnance
In office
1680–1682
Personal details
Born
John Drummond

8 August 1649 [1]
Stobhall, Perthshire, Scotland
Died25 January 1715(1715-01-25) (aged 65)[2]
Paris
Resting placeSaint-Sulpice, Paris
Political partyJacobite
Spouse(s)Sophia Maitland (died ca 1680)
Euphemia Wallace
ChildrenRobert Lundin (d 1713)
John Drummond, Earl of Melfort (1682–1754)
plus 16 others
Parent(s)The Earl of Perth (ca 1615–1675)
Lady Anne Gordon (ca 1621–1656);
Residence(s)Lundin House, Lundin, Fife
Alma materSt Andrews
OccupationPolitician
AwardsOrder of the Thistle
Order of the Garter (Jacobite)

John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort, styled Duke of Melfort in the Jacobite peerage (8 August 1650 – 25 January 1715), was a Scottish politician and close advisor to James VII & II. A Catholic convert, Melfort and his brother the Earl of Perth consistently urged James not to compromise with his opponents, contributing to his increasing isolation and ultimate deposition in the 1688 Glorious Revolution.[3]

In exile, Melfort became the first Jacobite Secretary of State but his unpopularity with other Jacobites led to his resignation in 1694. He served as James' Papal Ambassador in Rome but failed to regain his former influence and retired from active politics. He died in Paris on 25 January 1715.

  1. ^ David Malcolm (1808). Genealogical Memoir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond. G. Maxwell. p. 181.
  2. ^ George Edward Cokayne; Vicary Gibbs (1932). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom: Lindley to Moate. St. Catherine Press, Limited. p. 644.
  3. ^ Glozier, Mathew (2000). "The Earl of Melfort, the Court Catholic Party and the Foundation of the Order of the Thistle, 1687". The Scottish Historical Review. 79 (208): 233–234. doi:10.3366/shr.2000.79.2.233. JSTOR 25530975.

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