General Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton


Archibald Montgomerie was born on 18 May 1726, the son of Alexander the 9th Earl of Eglington who had 20 children. He entered the army at the age of 13 as a cornet in the Scots Greys. He raised his own regiment, Montgomerie's Highlanders and was their lieutenant-colonel from Jan 1757. They served in North America in the expedition against Fort Duquesne and then against the Cherokee, defeating them at the Battle of War-Woman's Creek in 1761. He was Colonel of the 51st (West Riding) Regiment from 1767 and after being promoted to General in 1793 he was appointed Colonel of the Scots Greys on 2 Dec 1795.

He also had a career in politics as a Whig MP for Ayrshire from 1761 to 1768. He inherited the Earldom of Eglinton from his brother Alexander who was shot by Mungo Campbell on 24 Oct 1769. He was Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1782 and Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire in 1794. He was also well known as the patron of the poet Robert Burns. The Earl was married twice, first on 30 Mar 1772, to Lady Jane Lindsay daughter of the 21st Earl of Crawford, but she died without issue, in 1778. Secondly he married Frances Twysden in Aug 1783 and they had two daughters but the younger one may have been from the 8th Duke of Hamilton with whom Frances had an affair. The marriage ended in divorce in 1788. The Earl died on 30 Oct 1796. The portrait is by Joshua Reynolds, painted c1783.


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by Stephen Luscombe