James Campbell (British Army officer, died 1745)
Lieutenant-General Sir James Campbell KB, (c. 1680 – 2 May 1745) of Lawers, Perthshire was a British Army officer and a Scottish Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1741.
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Campbell was the third and youngest son of James Campbell, 2nd Earl of Loudoun and his wife Margaret Montgomerie, daughter of Hugh Montgomerie, 7th Earl of Eglinton. He was the younger brother of Hugh Campbell, 3rd Earl of Loudoun. He was commissioned a Captain in the 21st Regiment of Foot in 1702, then was Lieutenant-Colonel in the 2nd Dragoons (later Royal Scots Greys) in 1706. He served under Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession and fought in the Battle of Blenheim. After the war, he was Colonel of the 9th Regiment of Foot from 1715 to 1717, and of the 2nd Dragoons (later Royal Scots Greys) from 1717 until his death.[1]
Campbell was married by contract dated 29 March 1720 to Lady Jean Boyle, eldest daughter of David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow by his second wife Jean, daughter and heiress of William Mure of Rowallan.[1]
Campbell was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for Ayrshire at the 1727 British general election. He was also made Groom of the Bedchamber to King George II in 1727. He was returned in a contest at the 1734 British general election. In 1735, he was promoted to Brigadier-General, and in 1738 was appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He was promoted to Major-General in 1739. At the 1741 British general election he was defeated at Ayrshire by a combination of the anti-Walpole elements in Ayrshire, backed by the 2nd Duke of Argyll. Their opposition was because of his connection with the Administration and not on any personal grounds. He retained both his offices until his death.[1]
In 1742, Campbell was promoted to Lieutenant-General and in the course of the War of the Austrian Succession he accompanied the King to Germany in command of the British cavalry and fought at the battles of Dettingen in 1743, where he was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and of Fontenoy in 1745, where he lost a leg. He subsequently died of his wounds on 2 May 1745.[1]
Campbell had two children:
- James, born 11 February 1726, and
- Margaret, born 17 May 1727.
His wife Jean had died on 19 December 1729 and was succeeded in her estate of Rowallan by their son James, who assumed the name of Mure. On 27 April 1782 he also succeeded his cousin as fifth Earl of Loudoun.
References
- Richard Cannon, Historical Records of The Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons, now The Second Royal North British Dragoons, commonly called the Scots Greys (1840) p. 124.
- Richard Cannon, Historical Record of the Ninth, or the East Norfolk Regiment of Foot (1848) p. 117-118.
- Charles Dalton, English Army Lists and Commission Registers 1661-1714, volume VI (1904) p. 314.
- Francis J. Grant, "Campbell, Earl of Loudoun" in Sir James Balfour Paul ed., The Scots Peerage, volume V (1908) p. 510-511.
- Romney R. Sedgwick, CAMPBELL, Hon. James (c.1680-1745), of Rowallan, Ayr. in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754 (1970).
- Henry Morse Stephens (1886). . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Henry Morse Stephens, rev. Jonathan Spain, Campbell, Sir James, of Lawers (c.1680–1745) in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Montgomerie |
Member of Parliament for Ayrshire 1727–1741 |
Succeeded by Patrick Crauford |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Ross |
Governor of Edinburgh Castle 1738–1745 |
Succeeded by Lord Mark Kerr |