His Grace
The Duke of Montrose
KG KT PC
President of the Board of Trade
In office
7 June 1804 – 5 February 1806
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt the Younger
Preceded byThe Earl of Liverpool
Succeeded byThe Lord Auckland
Personal details
Born(1755-09-08)8 September 1755
Died30 December 1836(1836-12-30) (aged 81)
NationalityBritish
Spouses
  • Lady Jemima Ashburnham
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1785; died 1786)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1790)​
Children6, including Georgiana, Lucy, and James
Parents

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 byCharles DundasWilliam Norton Member of Parliament for Richmond 1780–1784 With: Sir Lawrence Dundas 1780–1781George FitzWilliam 1781–1784 Succeeded byMurrough O'BrienCharles Dundas Preceded bySir Merrick BurrellPaul Methuen Member of Parliament for Great Bedwyn 1784–1790 With: Robert Manners 1784–1790Lord Doune 1790–1792 Succeeded byLord DouneViscount Stopford Political offices Preceded byWilliam Grenville Vice-President of the Board of Trade 1789–1790 Succeeded byDudley Ryder Preceded byWilliam Grenville Co-Paymaster of the Forces 1789–1791 Succeeded byDudley Ryder Preceded byThe Duke of Montagu Master of the Horse 1790–1795 Succeeded byThe Earl of Westmorland Preceded byThe Earl of Liverpool President of the Board of Trade 1804–1806 Succeeded byThe Earl Bathurst Preceded byThe Earl of Carnarvon Master of the Horse 1807–1821 Succeeded byThe Duke of Dorset Preceded byThe Marquess of Hertford Lord Chamberlain 1821–1827 Succeeded byThe Duke of Devonshire Preceded byThe Duke of Devonshire Lord Chamberlain 1828–1830 Succeeded byThe Earl of Jersey Legal offices Preceded byThe Earl of Mansfield Lord Justice General 1795–1836 Succeeded byLord Granton Academic offices Preceded byThe 2nd Duke of Montrose Chancellor of the University of Glasgow 1781–1836 Succeeded byThe 4th Duke of Montrose Honorary titles Preceded byThe Duke of Montagu Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire 1790–1793 Succeeded byThe Duke of Manchester New office Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire 1794–1836 Succeeded byThe Lord Abercromby Preceded byThe Lord Elphinstone Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire 1813–1836 Succeeded bySir James Colquhoun, Bt Peerage of Scotland Preceded byWilliam Graham Duke of Montrose 1790–1836 Succeeded byJames Graham
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