Major General James G. Blunt

James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, KG, KT, PC (8 September 1755 – 30 December 1836), styled Marquess of Graham until 1790, was a Scottish nobleman and statesman.

Background

Montrose was the son of William Graham, 2nd Duke of Montrose, and Lady Lucy Manners, daughter of John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland.[1]

Political career

James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose

Montrose was Member of Parliament for Richmond from 1780, and for Great Bedwyn from 1784 to 1790, when he succeeded his father in the dukedom. According to Robert Bain, Scotland can thank him for the repeal in 1782 of the Dress Act 1746 prohibiting the wearing of tartans.[2] He served as a Lord of the Treasury from 1783 to 1789, and as co-Paymaster of the Forces from 1789 to 1791. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor and Vice-President of the Board of Trade in 1789. He was Master of the Horse from 1790 to 1795, and from 1807 to 1821, Commissioner for India from 1791 to 1803, Lord Justice General of Scotland from 1795 to 1836, President of the Board of Trade from 1804 to 1806, Lord Chamberlain from 1821 to 1827 and from 1828 to 1830.

He was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1793, resigning from the Order when appointed a Knight of the Garter in 1812. He was Chancellor of the University of Glasgow from 1780 to 1836, Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire from 1790 to 1793, Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire from 1795 until his death, and Lord Lieutenant of Dumbartonshire from 1813 until his death.

Graham was a very effective member of the House of Commons, especially when speaking on Scottish topics. Early in his career as a minister under William Pitt the Younger, Graham was attacked in the Rolliad:

——Superior to abuse,
He nobly glories in the name of GOOSE;
Such Geese at Rome from the perfidious Gaul
Preserv'd the Treas'ry-Bench and Capitol, &c. &c

Family

Buchanan Place, ancestral seat of Dukes of Montrose, burn down in 1850s, rebuilt as Buchanan Castle by William Burn.

Montrose was twice married. He married firstly Lady Jemima Ashburnham, daughter of John Ashburnham, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham, in 1785. His first wife died in September 1786, aged 24 (following the death of their only son born on 4 September 1786, who died as an infant in April 1787).

After her death, he married secondly Lady Caroline Montagu, daughter of George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester and Duchess of Manchester, on 24 July 1790. They had seven children:

  1. Lady Georgiana-Charlotte, born 1791. Married George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea.
  2. Lady Caroline, born September 1792.
  3. Lady Lucy, born October 1793. Married Edward Herbert, Viscount Clive (Later 2nd Earl of Powis). Grandson of Clive of India.
  4. James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose, born 16 July 1799.
  5. Lady Martha, died in infancy.
  6. Lady Emily, born in 1805. Married Edward Thomas Foley, grandson of Lord Foley.
  7. Montagu-William, born February 1807.[3][4]
Shield of arms of James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, KG, KT, PC

Montrose died at Grosvenor Square in December 1836, aged 81, and was succeeded in the dukedom by his son, James. The Duchess of Montrose died in March 1847, aged 76.[5]

References

  1. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1970). Armorial families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour. Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle. p. 790.
  2. ^ Bain, Robert (1959). Margaret O. MacDougall (ed.). Clans & Tartans of Scotland (revised). P.E. Stewart-Blacker (heraldic advisor), foreword by The R. Hon. C/refountess of Erroll. William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. p. 108.
  3. ^ Collins, Arthur (1812). Collins's Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical. F. C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and son.
  4. ^ Innes, Anne (1827). Sams's annual peerage of the British empire [ed. by A., E. and M. Innes].
  5. ^ Lodge, Edmund; Innes, Anne; Innes, Eliza; Innes, Maria (1877). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. London: Hurst and Blackett. p. 423.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Richmond
17801784
With: Sir Lawrence Dundas 1780–1781
George FitzWilliam 1781–1784
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Great Bedwyn
17841790
With: Robert Manners 1784–1790
Lord Doune 1790–1792
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Vice-President of the Board of Trade
1789–1790
Succeeded by
Preceded by Co-Paymaster of the Forces
1789–1791
Succeeded by
Preceded by Master of the Horse
1790–1795
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Board of Trade
1804–1806
Succeeded by
Preceded by Master of the Horse
1807–1821
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Chamberlain
1821–1827
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Chamberlain
1828–1830
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Lord Justice General
1795–1836
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
1781–1836
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire
1790–1793
Succeeded by
New office Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire
1794–1836
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire
1813–1836
Succeeded by
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Duke of Montrose
1790–1836
Succeeded by