David Leslie-Melville, 3rd Earl of Leven and 2nd Earl of Melville (5 May 1660 – 6 June 1728) was a Scots aristocrat, politician, and soldier.

The third son of George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville

George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville

George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville was a Scots aristocrat and statesman during the reigns of William and Mary.In 1643, he succeeded his father as Lord Melville.-Career:...

 and his second wife Catherine Leslie-Melville, he shared the Whig

British Whig Party

The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

 political and the Presbyterian religious sympathies of his father.

In 1681, with the death of the rival claimant, John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes

John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes

John Leslie , son of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes, was the 7th Earl of Rothes and 1st Duke of Rothes. He was a descendant of Princess Beatrix, sister of King Malcolm III of Scotland...

, he was permitted to enter into the Earldom of Leven

Earl of Leven

Earl of Leven is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641 for Alexander Leslie. He was succeeded by his grandson Alexander, who was in turn followed by his daughters Margaret and Catherine...

.

In 1683 Leven and his father were suspected of complicity in the Rye House Plot

Rye House Plot

The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother James, Duke of York. Historians vary in their assessment of the degree to which details of the conspiracy were finalized....

, a Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 and his brother James, Duke of York

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

. To escape arrest they fled to the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 where they joined the band of British Protestant exiles at the court of Prince William of Orange

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

.

Here Leven was used by William to obtain the support of German princes for his invasion of England in 1688, Leven himself having raised a regiment for that invasion, in the course of which he received the surrender of the town of Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 in south Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

shire.

In 1706 he was appointed as one of the Commissioners for the Union of England and Scotland.
Privy Councillor [S] 1689; fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie 1689; Constable of Edinburgh Castle 1689-1702 and 1704–12; a Commissioner for the Pacification of the Highlands 1689; a Commissioner of the Scottish Exchequer 1689; Governor of the Bank of Scotland 1697-1728; Brig General 1702; Maj General 1704; Master of the Scottish Ordnance 1705; Commander in Chief of the forces in Scotland 1706; Lieut General 1707; a Commissioner for the Union 1707; one of the original Representative Peers for Scotland 1707-10; dismissed from all offices 1712

He succeeded his father as Earl of Melville

Earl of Melville

Earl of Melville is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1690 for the Scottish soldier and statesman George Melville, 4th Lord Melville. He was made Lord Raith, Monymaill and Balwearie and Viscount of Kirkcaldy at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland...

20 May 1707.