John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort
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Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
KT
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
PC
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
(1649–1714) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
nobleman.
He joined the army and was captain of the Scottish Footguards in 1673. He secured the post of deputy governor of Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
in 1679, followed by Lieutenant-General and Master of the Ordnance in 1680. He served as Secretary of State
Secretary of State, Scotland
The Secretary of Scotland was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland.The office appeared in the 14th century when it was combined with that of Keeper of the Privy Seal. Called Clericus Regis , he was regarded as an Officer of State...
in Scotland under James II and VII
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...
from 1684 until 1688, and with his brother the Earl of Perth
James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth
James Drummond, 1st Duke of Perth KT PC , also 4th Earl of Perth and 7th Lord Drummond, was a Scottish statesman, and Jacobite.-Family:...
, the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
practically ruled Scotland until James' abdication. He converted to Roman Catholicism. After the landing of the Prince 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...
, he advocated a wholesale seizure of influential Whigs
He was created Viscount of Melfort and Lord Drummond of Gillestoun in 1685, and a member of the Privy Council of England
Privy Council of England
The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
in the same year, and Earl of Melfort, Viscount of Forth and Lord Drummond of Riccartoun, Castlemains and Gilstoun in 1686, all titles in the Peerage of Scotland
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
. In 1687, he was appointed one of the founder Knights of the Order of the Thistle
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
. He was further created Baron Cleworth in the Peerage of England
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
on 7 August 1689.
He escaped to France on 16 December 1688, and attended the exiled monarch as Secretary of State for a time in Ireland. However, he was in conflict over policy with the Duke of Tyrconnell and the French ambassador the Comte d'Avaux. This led to his return to France, reaching St Germain in October 1689. Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...
, the queen, then sent him as James' ambassador to Rome. At Rome, he enjoyed considerable social success, but none politically for Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII , born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 1689 to 1691.-Early life:Pietro Ottoboni was born of a noble Venetian family, and was the son of Marco Ottoboni, chancellor of the Republic of Venice...
had adopted an anti-French position in the Nine Years War. He remained in Rome until after the election of Pope Innocent XII
Pope Innocent XII
Pope Innocent XII , born Antonio Pignatelli, was Pope from 1691 to 1700.-Biography:He was born in Spinazzola to one of the most aristocratic families of the Kingdom of Naples, which included many Viceroys, and ministers to the crown, and was educated at the Jesuit college in Rome.In his twentieth...
, but the new pope was no more willing to aid James to regain his crowns than his predecessor. Accordingly, Melfort was recalled to St Germains, where he became James' Secretary of State until June 1694, though the Earl of Middleton
Charles Middleton, 2nd Earl of Middleton
Charles Middleton, 2nd Earl of Middleton, Jacobite 1st Earl of Monmouth, PC was a Scottish and English politician who held several offices under Charles II and James II & VI...
became joint Secretary with him on his arrival from England in spring 1693.
James created him Duke of Melfort, Marquess of Forth, Earl of Isla and Burtisland, Viscount of Rickerton and Lord Castlemains and Galston in the Peerage of Scotland on 17 April 1692, all with a similar remainder to the 1685 viscountcy. He was also made KG at St Germain
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale ....
in 1691. On his resignation, Melford retired to Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
and then Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, but was allowed to return to court in 1697.
He was outlawed by the government of William III
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...
in Britain on 23 July 1694, and attainted
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...
by Act of Parliament on 2 July 1695, when his honours became forfeit, though the attainder did not affect the children of his first marriage. In 1701, after the death of James II and VII, the Duke of Melfort was granted the honours and precedence of a French peer by Louis XIV. John and his descendants used the title "Duc de Melfort" in France, but this was a French translation of their Jacobite Scottish duchy and not a French duchy.
In 1701, he wrote to his brother, then at St Germain, a letter from Paris, which was sent by mistake to London, ascribing to Louis XIV the intention of restoring James II. He was suspected of treachery to Jacobite interests, and sent to Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
. He was allowed to return to Paris in 1705, but did not re-engage in politics. He died at Paris.