James Ross, 4th Lord Ross

Lord Ross

The title of Lord Ross was a Lordship of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1499 for Sir John Ross, of Halkhead.The second Lord died at the Battle of Flodden. The 12th Lord was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Renfrew in 1715...

 of Halkhead (died 2 April 1581) was a Scottish nobleman and an adherent to the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Origins

Ross was the second, but oldest surviving son of Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross

Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross

-Origins:Ross was the son and heir of John Ross, 2nd Lord Ross and Christian, the daughter of Sir Archibald Edmonstone. The Rosses of Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire, were a Lowland family, not apparently related to the Earls of Ross or the Highland family of Ross of...

, who died in February 1555/6. The Rosses of Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, were a Lowland

Scottish Lowlands

The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....

 family, not apparently related to the Earls of Ross

Earl of Ross

The Mormaer or Earl of Ross was the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly.-Origins and transfers:...

 or the Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 family of Ross

Clan Ross

Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.-Origins:Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan first named as such by King Malcolm IV of Scotland in 1160...

 of Balnagown

Kildary

Kildary is a small village in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.The village is located on the Balnagown River and is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate, owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods department store...

.

Career

Having promised on 5 September 1565 to faithfully serve Queen Mary and Lord Darnley

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...

 against the rebellious lords, Lord Ross was ordered on 10 October 1565 to accompany the vanguard of the Queen's army in pursuit of the rebels. Mary and Rizzio were frequent visitors to Ross's estate at Melville, though there were later suggestions by Lord Ruthven that Rizzio and Ross fell out when Ross refused to give Rizzio the lordship of Melville.

On 19 April 1567, Ross was among the Lords signing the Ainslie Tavern Bond

Ainslie Tavern Bond

The Ainslie Tavern Bond was a document signed on about 20 April 1567 by a number of Scottish bishops and nobles...

 to indicate their agreement to the marriage between Bothwell

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell

James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...

 and the Queen and, on 8 May 1568, he signed a bond for defence of the Queen at Hamilton. He took part in the Battle of Langside

Battle of Langside

The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a mother fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son...

 on 13 May 1568, but was captured by the Regent Moray

James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray

James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray , a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570...

. Ten years later, in 1578, he appeared in a list of nobles still adhering to the Queen.

As a Roman Catholic, he was excommunicated on 20 June 1573, alongside his brother-in-law, Lord Sempill

Lord Sempill

Lord Sempill is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in circa 1489 for Sir John Sempill, founder of the collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch. Sempill was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. His grandson, the third Lord, was known as "The Great Lord Sempill"...

.

He died on 2 April 1581.

Family

Ross married Jean, daughter of Robert, 3rd Lord Sempill, who died 28 February 1593. By her, he had issue:

• Robert Ross, 5th Lord Ross
  Robert Ross, 5th Lord Ross
  -Origins:Ross was the eldest son and heir of James Ross, 4th Lord Ross, who died on 2 April 1581, by Jean, daughter of Robert, 3rd Lord Sempill. The Rosses of Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire, were a Lowland family, not apparently related to the Earls of Ross or the Highland family of Ross of...
  
  
• William Ross, 10th Lord Ross
  William Ross, 10th Lord Ross
  -Origins:Ross was the second son of James Ross, 4th Lord Ross, who died on 2 April 1581, by Jean, daughter of Robert, 3rd Lord Sempill. He succeeded to the peerage following the death of his great-nephew William in August 1648, to whom he was served heir on 20 March 1649...
  
  
• Elizabeth, who married (contract 20 November 1582) Allan Lockhart
• Jean, who married first Sir James Sandilands of Calder and secondly (contract 29 July 1580) Henry Stewart of Craigiehall
• Dorothy
• Alison, or Alice, or Helen, who married Sir John Melville of Carnbee
• Grisel, who married (contract 18 March 1589/90) Sir Archibald Stirling of Keir and died on 3 October 1618.